PrintDecember 9, 2009
They Are All RINOs
Republicans like to point to Ronald Reagan for inspiration. However, we have to resign ourselves to the fact that Ronald Reagan is dead. Worse, his legacy was killed off by his own party, the same Republicans who say he inspired them.
The only lasting legacy of George W. Bush was the nomination of two constructionist judges and a fading response to terrorism. For eight years, we saw GW insist more on getting along than being right. Even the war in Iraq was fought on the cheap, which defies the logic of waging war. In the long run, Bush's own dithering on Iraq cost many lives before finally settling on the surge.
And before GW were Bob Dole and GHW. Both had lengthy though uninspiring résumés. Their only real credentials were that it was their turn. The only conservative voice since Reagan was Newt Gingrich in Congress -- and Bill Clinton co-opted all of Newt's successes as his own. With a willing accomplice in Ross Perot (who probably couldn't stand either GHW or Dole from his Washington days -- Perot, perhaps the ultimate Washington insider, made his billions on Washington contacts, after all), all Clinton had to do to stay elected was refrain from embarrass himself -- and he barely managed that.
We hoped last year that maybe a Republican candidate with common sense would finally step forward. To a man, we heard the same political jargon in the primaries. Again, Republicans were left with another tired candidate in the form of John McCain.
Barack Obama is right on one thing: the Republicans in Congress do what the Democrats say. They have finally voted in unison, which I'm sure Obama expected, but the dissent to his presidency is mere background noise. Obama is playing the Republican establishment like a fiddle only because there is no clear message.
Three primary issues separate the two parties: taxes, size of government, and defense. GW failed on the first two and withered on the third, and his public support withered in lockstep. The current Republican establishment has absolutely no message whatsoever.
Because of this, the American people, even with pent-up demand, must deal with high taxes and high unemployment. Obama will most likely get his takeover of health care, abortion being a straw man among straw men. And Khalid Sheik Mohammed will have the photo op of photo ops in New York. To KSM, it must be better than the 72 virgins. Imagine returning a notorious mass-murder to the site of his handiwork. It will only energize the same terrorists Obama is trying to coddle. The Republican Party cannot succeed by running on somebody else's bad presidency, as Obama did in 2008, because the press won't allow it.
Last year, the American people were deceived by the fog of a war fought by one side only. For a generation, Republicans have been trying to push a brand on the American people, but they are woefully lacking in core ideals. For this reason, they are all RINOs.
Bush, Rove and the rest of the Republican Party hierarchy finally drove the last nail in Ronald Reagan's America. It was all about winning elections and nothing to do with ideals. It seems that all Democrats and most Republicans are there primarily to maintain power. Democrats are just better at it, even if it means destroying this nation. A recent RNC e-mail by John McCain headlines with "They will stop at nothing." They are just now realizing it?
The road to Barack Obama's presidential run started in 2004. It wasn't when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic convention. No, it was when the Republican party backed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey for the Pennsylvania senate seat. This inconsistent and convoluted message greased the skids for Rick Santorum, the true Republican from Pennsylvania. Only in 2009 did Specter formally change sides. So many more lost their seats because of the rudderless Republican establishment
The road to Barack Obama's presidential run started in 2004. It wasn't when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic convention. No, it was when the Republican party backed Arlen Specter over Pat Toomey for the Pennsylvania senate seat. This inconsistent and convoluted message greased the skids for Rick Santorum, the true Republican from Pennsylvania. Only in 2009 did Specter formally change sides. So many more lost their seats because of the rudderless Republican establishment
The groundswell we are witnessing against the presidency of BHO is not because of the Republican Party. They played the government game far too long, and only now are they waking up to Ronald Reagan -- hopefully before it is too late. The time for backbone began long ago.
