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What is a RINO?

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The Dude

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4 mins ago, EBHarvey said:

Lol

Their thought process is about a deep as a puddle. I understand people have different mental capacities but this is just embarrassing. Rather than feel eager to engage their obstinance, I just feel bad for them. 

 

I suppose Churchill was correct: 

 

Anyone who was not a liberal at 20 years of age had no heart, while anyone who was still a liberal at 40 had no head.

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8 mins ago, Sqwiddig said:

What’s the difference? Whatever it meant yesterday, it’s clear what it means these days. 


 

Shhhhhhh. Just close the website down and maybe watch some reality tv. Check out what the Kardashians are doing or something and report back. No thinking required. Just observation. 

Edited by occidentalist
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Just now, occidentalist said:

Shhhhhhh. Just close the website down and maybe watch some reality tv. Check out what the Kardashians are doing it something and report back. No thinking required. Just observation. 

Sorry (not sorry) that you can’t handle the truth. 

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11 hours ago, occidentalist said:

So what did RINO mean before Trump? The term has been around for decades. 

 

Google the Vox article below for most complete history I could find.  

 

Teddy Roosevelt was the first true RINO.  Term went somewhat unused until Bill Clinton came into office.  

 

"In the early 1990s, the Republican Party was adjusting to a Democrat in the White House after 12 years of Republican rule. The first generally acknowledged print appearance of the RINO acronym came in a December 1992 article by John DiStaso in the New Hampshire Union Leader, who used it just after Clinton's electoral victory:

 

Bill Clinton would have been proud of what was happening on the third-floor Senate corner at the State House this week ... The Republicans were moving out and the Democrats and "RINOs" (Republicans In Name Only) were moving in."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2021-05-13 at 8.46.47 AM.png

Edited by MaxKatt
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11 hours ago, occidentalist said:

So what did RINO mean before Trump? The term has been around for decades. 

 

Best short definition before Trump below.  Post trump just swap "certain conservative principles" for "anything Trump says."

 

 

RINO:  Republican characterized by insufficient loyalty, in the eye of the beholder, to certain conservative principles.  

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I'm already aware of the history, Max. :howdy:

 

I was stating the question to those who suggested that RINO was some new fangled label created in the Trump era, who defined RINO simply as a Republican who doesn't bend the knee to Trump.

They're missing the point that it's not about Trump. It's about populism.

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1 min ago, occidentalist said:

I'm already aware of the history, Max. :howdy:

 

I was stating the question to those who suggested that RINO was some new fangled label created in the Trump era, who defined RINO simply as a Republican who doesn't bend the knee to Trump.

They're missing the point that it's not about Trump. It's about populism.

Who said it was a new term created in the Trump era?

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20 mins ago, The Dude said:

Who said it was a new term created in the Trump era?

If no one did, then why such a compulsion to tie it to Trump? It's not about him. It never was.

 

You said this:

 

Quote

In other words, it's about personality and loyalty to Trump.

If you defined RINO as being about personality and loyalty to Trump, then logically speaking, it is directly about him and couldn't have existed before him.

If you agree it existed before him, then it's not about him.

Pick one. Can't have it both ways.

Edited by occidentalist
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3 mins ago, occidentalist said:

If no one did, then why such a compulsion to tie it to Trump? It's not about him. It never was.

 

You said this:

 

If you defined RINO as being about personality and loyalty to Trump, then logically speaking, it is directly about him and couldn't have existed before him.

If you agree it existed before him, then it's not about him.

Pick one. Can't have it both ways.

I can have it all sorts of ways as I think the term has a very fluid definition. Currently, it appears to largely be about Trump. Otherwise, why would you call Liz Cheney a RINO? She's one of the most reliable people in the party to the policy platform. Same goes for people that the party chose as their leader. How does Romney go from Presidential nominee for the party to a RINO? What were his sins other than opposing Trump?

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21 hours ago, occidentalist said:

Simple. Someone who is registered as a Republican but does not support the views of the majority of the party. It's often used to impugn those members of the GOP who, as Republicans, don't seem like they're ideologically coming from the same place as what is traditionally understood as 'conservative'.

 

Because the GOP is traditionally a party which requires opposition to the commission of political means, and is somewhat reactionary to the increase of the State (and here, I should point out that I subscribe to the theory that States do typically see their domain expand in breadth and depth with time), ideological purity isn't just capable of being judged on one's policy positions: It's also whether you think the State should be doing things or not.

 

There's a joke in mathematics (I'm an engineer. I like numbers) that the only discrete numerical values that have any meaning for an Analyst are 0, 1, and infinity; or alternatively; 'The only reasonable numbers are zero, one, and infinity'. Someone either is of the disposition that the second amendment shall not be infringed, they are of the disposition that no further infringements shall stand, or else any further lawmaking/infringement is as ideologically acceptable as people calling for bans.

 

That kind of "You're either ideologically committed, or you're just on a sliding scale" thinking is what motivates the use of RINO.

 

Reagan was probably the most salient example of someone articulating the conservative thesis: "Government messes up so often, that when we delegate more and more of our own responsibility and doership to it, we not only lose our freedoms, but the kind of character it would take to properly govern ourselves in the first place, leaving us vulnerable to malfeasance."

 

For conservatives, this is the fundamental break - you're a Republican 'in name only' if you believe in the inherent "goodness" of the State to determine social arrangements for the individuals of society.

 

This doesn't preclude thinking the State has its proper role; strong defense budgets from taxation and robust systems of criminal justice are perennial favorites of the right, but it does mean that conservatism is inherently a little more reactive.

 

The progression of society is something individuals are supposed to pioneer, not something the State is supposed to guide.

 

Thus, the tendency of distrust and disdain for those who do not hedge closely to the ideals of limited government - they aren't just farther along on the scale; they're outright inverted.

 

Mayor Bloomberg was a Republican at one time,  but in name only, you see?

 

It's a perfectly felicitous descriptor at times, but very often is used only to score cheap political points while impugning someone running against you in a primary.

 

By the way, I didn't bother to ask - did you want a serious discussion or just a mud fight? I'm new but it seems like there's 95% mud fights on SOL with very limited serious discussion about extremely complex topics.

Excellent summary.

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7 mins ago, The Dude said:

I can have it all sorts of ways as I think the term has a very fluid definition. Currently, it appears to largely be about Trump. Otherwise, why would you call Liz Cheney a RINO? She's one of the most reliable people in the party to the policy platform. Same goes for people that the party chose as their leader. How does Romney go from Presidential nominee for the party to a RINO? What were his sins other than opposing Trump?

Ok so just spare yourself the risk of carpal tunnel typing all of that out and say, "I'm right no matter what." and I'll know that having a discussion with you is pointless and I'll interact with rational people from here on out.

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Just now, occidentalist said:

Ok so just spare yourself the risk of carpal tunnel typing all of that out and say, "I'm right no matter what." and I'll know that having a discussion with you is pointless and I'll interact with rational people from here on out.

Are you saying there's a hard and fast definition? 

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1 min ago, The Dude said:

Are you saying there's a hard and fast definition? 

I don't like repeating myself. It's annoying to me and it's disrespectful of you - as if you're not a grown adult that hasn't read my long post earlier in this thread explaining, based on accepted political mores, what the definition of a RINO is.

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