The all too familiar RINO…their rarity has yet to become a common distinction, but in the current political climate, they’ve shown themselves to be a dying breed, and the potential is out there to actually put a few more on the endangered list.
With the vote forced on Ryan’s Plan in the current makeup of the Senate, there was only one outcome to be expected at this moment in time. But whether a legislative long shot or within reach, there always seems to be a renegade pack of RINOs that all too often turn against their own – even in those instances where the leadership actually drives the herd towards the lush prairies of Principle – to instead stampede towards the Democrat watering hole.
Some would of course blame the hunters (a.k.a. ‘tea party’) for running off the establishment trophies, and leaving the field to be rooted by the wild swine and other vermin, but this is a false assumption. For in many instances where it may have been possible to have a more bountiful field, those same muddled RINOs would have assuredly enabled, sometimes feverishly joining, their noxious associates, as we just witnessed with the Ryan budget vote.
Weasel Zippers was hot on the trail of the predictable lemmings with hilarious commentary to boot! First down that worn trail was one of the Maine twins, Susan Collins, soon followed by Massachusetts’ long-lost Kennedy, Scott Brown, and the other twin, Olympia Snowe. Then bringing up the rear, the icy Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, to which Weasel Zippers responded with an affirmative, “The herd is now complete.”
Now, the opportunities were missed or underestimated or a combination of both towards unseating Collins and Murkowski; however, another chance arises to right the wrongs of Brown and Snowe. We can assuredly depend on the establishment to play the numbers game, rule out any chance of conservative opponents in the primaries, and only consider Party over Principle when supporting these two; but with liberal Republicans like these, truly Party unity suffers as much as Principle! So let’s take a stroll down memory lane to perhaps draw something from the historical lineage of these two seats.
Massachusetts, home to the Adams family, John Hancock and several other Founders, and although home to the first colony, was the sixth to reach statehood of the original 13 colonies. Within its structure of government, we’ve seen a laundry list of parties seated in its Class 1 Senate position from Federalists starting in the late 1700’s through the turn of the 19th century (including George Cabot and John Quincy Adams), Whigs toward the mid-1800’s (notably Daniel Webster), Republicans from mid-1800’s through the turn of the 20th century (including Charles Sumner and Henry Cabot Lodge), then almost exclusively Democrats from the early 1900’s through the turn of the 21st century (including the Kennedy boys, 47 years for Teddy!). In 2010, the opportunity was ripe as the winds of change, or rather what was perceived as responsibility, blew through Massachusetts, and the stage was set for a very popular Republican, who lured tea party support along with the rest of Republicans, to become the first elected since the 1940’s. Scott Brown became Massachusetts’ 27th U.S. Senator to hold the Class 1 position, but has unfortunately, and rather rapidly, proven to be quite the Republican In Name Only.
Maine, originally a district of Massachusetts until reaching statehood in 1820, has also seen its mash-up of parties throughout its Class 1 Senate seat’s history, but actually with far more Republicans in its past 150 years than the few scattered Democrats. Hannibal Hamlin, a Democrat-turned-Republican, became the first Vice President from the Republican Party (under Lincoln). He soon turned Radical Republican, and after being replaced on Lincoln’s second bid for the more Southern-sympathetic choice of Andrew Johnson, finally returned to represent Maine as a Republican Senator for two more terms until his retirement. Hamlin handsomely ushered in a half-century of sustained national influence for the Maine Republican Party, to which Senator Owen Brewster was one of the final beneficiaries. Brewster was solidly conservative and a close confidant of Joseph McCarthy, which also in part led to his political demise as the communist routing became unpopular (too bad, b/c McCarthy’s been vindicated with regard to communism’s influence in America!). In any account, this strong Republican reign was followed by a bought-and-paid-for Republican (thanks Howard Hughes), who was defeated and seceded by a couple of liberal Democrats, eventually leading to the election of one liberal Republican, Olympia Snowe.
Add the contemporary political climates of both states, and we are presented with two distinct stories.
First with Brown, Massachusetts has seen its fair share of Republicans and Democrats; it just so happens that the latter has been where its current compass lies. Taking that under consideration, as well as the duped tea party support, it’s better understood why a faux-Republican was able to seize victory in a state that’s supported the progressive Democrat agenda for the last half-century or more. So for now, residents of Massachusetts like their Democrats progressive and their Republicans watered down, as polls are showing Scott Brown is in strong shape to win re-election with no real opponents on either side to challenge him. Nevertheless, those Founding Fathers of Adams and Hancock must be looking down on this cradle of once-independent land and weeping for an awakening of its countrymen to once again know the true meaning of self-reliant, principled liberty. It will take short of a miracle, or a conservative that can appeal to independents as Reagan did, to unseat this RINO; but all things are possible, and Massachusetts patriots must remain vigilant in their struggle for conservative reform.
As for Snowe, a more profound opportunity may present itself. Not only has history shown a strong showing for Republicans in this position, but voters are thirsting for a principled choice, and the right conservative could even appeal to a section of our union that has been written off by the establishment. In March, polls showed that only 1 in 3 Maine Republicans would re-elect Snowe in 2012, and this time around she has multiple challengers. Now, those challengers still have significant hurdles to exceed before thinking of toppling this powerful RINO; but at least one Republican challenger, Scott D’Amboise, is illustrating his seriousness with the hiring of two consulting firms that brought conservative victories to several of the 2010 mid-term elections, so there is a glimmer of hope on this front. Again, those who’d stand for principle and liberty over the moderate enablers of tyranny need not let their guard down, for this will indeed be a battle.
The simple fact that Republicans currently hold these seats is a testament to something amidst, but it is up to a vigilant constituency and the competing candidates to get the honest information out before the primaries, and not allow the Leftism, or the entrenched establishment and RINOs themselves, to demagogue, mislead, and intoxicate the voters. The extinction of two not-so-great American RINOs, as well as a host of leftist vermin, is within the realm of possibilities come this next election, if and only if the People get their minds set towards a goal of saving and restoring this great Republic.
