Chris Adamo
Smoking out RINOs: the much needed political realignment
By Chris Adamo
Our nation was again unequivocally shown last week that Republicans inside the Beltway are no more to be trusted with the nation's finances than the Democrats. At a cost to the American people of at least $1 trillion, this lesson came at a bitter price. But it must be learned, and its root causes confronted, if the nation is ever to have any hope of extricating itself from its current downward spiral. The alternative is complete financial implosion, followed by destitution and a bleak future of servitude for the American people. And such a prospect is wholly unacceptable.
Admittedly, this grim scenario may not ensue in a single, cataclysmic event as some have speculated. Certainly, the dire predictions of recent years have not unfolded in that manner. Yet it is pathologically myopic to suggest that the American people are not suffering enormously as a direct consequence of their government's short-sighted and self-serving mindset. Median family income has been falling sharply since the advent of the Obama regime, and an ever greater number of Americans are accepting the notion that mere subsistence is their lot, and will be that of their children.
This is not the indomitable spirit that settled a continent, won two World Wars, and put a dozen men on the moon during the course of the past two centuries. But it is the desired end game for collectivists at the highest levels of power, who continue to assemble their new order one piece at a time, while facing little resistance. Worst of all, those entrusted by conservative America as the "opposition party" are regularly proving themselves to be both complicit and deceitful as they aid and abet the leftist onslaught, heaping insult upon injury by continuing to present themselves as champions of traditional America.
The most recent major betrayal, which unmasked phony GOP "conservatism" and revealed the ugly inner workings of the party, was the effort, in collaboration with the Democrats, to give Barack Obama a blank check for the federal budget during the next fourteen months, with no conditions or limitations on his ability to continue squandering the nation's financial resources. In the strictest sense, this outrage could be called a "bipartisan" sellout of the American people, with twelve Republicans scheming in concert with the Democrats to make it happen.
The Senate action came in the immediate aftermath of similar treachery in the House, in which "Republican" Speaker John Boehner aligned himself with the entire Democrat caucus, and a handful of Republican sellouts, to ensure that Obama got the exact spending authority he wanted. When the measure moved to the Senate, Minority "Leader" Mitch McConnell initially hoped he could pull off a procedural ruse by which to perpetuate his charade of feigning conservatism while completely surrendering to the Democrats.
Had the Senate decided unanimously to go along with the ploy, McConnell might have succeeded. Unfortunately for him, Senator Ted Cruz (R.-TX) objected, which forced Republicans to either stand up for conservatism, or vote publicly with the Democrats to end debate and allow the actual vote to proceed. The pretense of opposition could not be maintained, as twelve Republicans joined forces with the Democrats to move the spending measure past any deadlock. For the record, they are Senators John Barrasso (WY), Susan Collins (ME), Bob Corker (R.-TN), Jeff Flake (AZ), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Orrin Hatch (UT), Mark Kirk(R.-IL), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), John Thune (SD), John Cornyn (TX) and McConnell (KY). It is worthwhile to note their names, since they all proceeded to vote against the debt limit increase, once they had assured that it cleared the procedural milestone requiring the sixty vote super majority and was then guaranteed to pass.
No doubt they will all go back to their home states and proudly face their constituents with empty claims that, unlike those nasty Democrats, they seek fiscal responsibility and limitations on the expansion of government. In addition to their abysmal track record on spending, they exhibit flagrant duplicity and total contempt for those they ostensibly represent
Meanwhile, the real motives and loyalties of the GOP Establishment can be discerned by the expressed concerns which they have voiced ever since the shameful vote to raise the debt ceiling. Rather than castigate the Obama White House for its continued profligate spending, they are focused almost entirely on Senator Cruz, whom they consider their real enemy. Obama's mere squandering of trillions of dollars in pursuit of his misbegotten socialist utopia is a relatively inconsequential matter. In contrast, the efforts of Senator Cruz to slow this headlong pitch into the tragedy and squalor of the collectivist state somehow qualifies him as the pariah to be denigrated and shunned.
Interestingly, their effort to deride him is undermined by the odd accusation that Cruz might be "self-serving," as if the remainder of those Beltway insiders on both sides of the aisle are dripping with altruism and virtue. A bipartisan cabal that can engage in self-aggrandizement and moralizing while running up a national debt that will now exceed $18 trillion dollars is beyond shameless. Clearly, those who claim the mantle of civic duty, yet condemn Cruz on this basis (with Senators McConnell and Cornyn among the worst) are relying on their belief in the sheer ignorance, or perhaps even the stupidity, of their constituents.
The serious nature of this situation cannot be underestimated. With the availability of enormous sums of cash and liberal media support (even Republicans who are complicit in the advancement of liberalism briefly become darlings of the "mainstream media"), the RINO contingent may well succeed in convincing voters that its duplicitous behavior was somehow nobler and more principled than Cruz. And if this case can be made, every similar future action by Cruz, as well as others like him, will be seen through the prism of the D.C. mentality. From that point forward, all who attempt to stand as he has done will immediately be consigned to the political "fringe" and thus rendered politically inconsequential. In this manner, the D.C. "Ruling Class" hopes to dismiss, once and for all, the Tea Party movement that has proven to be such an irritation to it since it began in early 2009.
The mere fact that so many Beltway Republicans believe they can marginalize real America, for the sake of their own political fortunes, proves that those among the "inner circles" have become completely detached from the people on Main Street who make up the overwhelming bulk of their voting base. Has the absurd become so commonplace in our current political discourse that Heartland America ceases to be appalled at the division that exists between the GOP Establishment and the Tea Party (real conservatives)? Every American who is truly invested in the reclamation of the country should be outraged, and should make their feelings known to the liberal Democrats in both parties during the coming election season.
© Chris Adamo
February 20, 2014
Our nation was again unequivocally shown last week that Republicans inside the Beltway are no more to be trusted with the nation's finances than the Democrats. At a cost to the American people of at least $1 trillion, this lesson came at a bitter price. But it must be learned, and its root causes confronted, if the nation is ever to have any hope of extricating itself from its current downward spiral. The alternative is complete financial implosion, followed by destitution and a bleak future of servitude for the American people. And such a prospect is wholly unacceptable.
Admittedly, this grim scenario may not ensue in a single, cataclysmic event as some have speculated. Certainly, the dire predictions of recent years have not unfolded in that manner. Yet it is pathologically myopic to suggest that the American people are not suffering enormously as a direct consequence of their government's short-sighted and self-serving mindset. Median family income has been falling sharply since the advent of the Obama regime, and an ever greater number of Americans are accepting the notion that mere subsistence is their lot, and will be that of their children.
This is not the indomitable spirit that settled a continent, won two World Wars, and put a dozen men on the moon during the course of the past two centuries. But it is the desired end game for collectivists at the highest levels of power, who continue to assemble their new order one piece at a time, while facing little resistance. Worst of all, those entrusted by conservative America as the "opposition party" are regularly proving themselves to be both complicit and deceitful as they aid and abet the leftist onslaught, heaping insult upon injury by continuing to present themselves as champions of traditional America.
The most recent major betrayal, which unmasked phony GOP "conservatism" and revealed the ugly inner workings of the party, was the effort, in collaboration with the Democrats, to give Barack Obama a blank check for the federal budget during the next fourteen months, with no conditions or limitations on his ability to continue squandering the nation's financial resources. In the strictest sense, this outrage could be called a "bipartisan" sellout of the American people, with twelve Republicans scheming in concert with the Democrats to make it happen.
The Senate action came in the immediate aftermath of similar treachery in the House, in which "Republican" Speaker John Boehner aligned himself with the entire Democrat caucus, and a handful of Republican sellouts, to ensure that Obama got the exact spending authority he wanted. When the measure moved to the Senate, Minority "Leader" Mitch McConnell initially hoped he could pull off a procedural ruse by which to perpetuate his charade of feigning conservatism while completely surrendering to the Democrats.
Had the Senate decided unanimously to go along with the ploy, McConnell might have succeeded. Unfortunately for him, Senator Ted Cruz (R.-TX) objected, which forced Republicans to either stand up for conservatism, or vote publicly with the Democrats to end debate and allow the actual vote to proceed. The pretense of opposition could not be maintained, as twelve Republicans joined forces with the Democrats to move the spending measure past any deadlock. For the record, they are Senators John Barrasso (WY), Susan Collins (ME), Bob Corker (R.-TN), Jeff Flake (AZ), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Orrin Hatch (UT), Mark Kirk(R.-IL), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), John Thune (SD), John Cornyn (TX) and McConnell (KY). It is worthwhile to note their names, since they all proceeded to vote against the debt limit increase, once they had assured that it cleared the procedural milestone requiring the sixty vote super majority and was then guaranteed to pass.
No doubt they will all go back to their home states and proudly face their constituents with empty claims that, unlike those nasty Democrats, they seek fiscal responsibility and limitations on the expansion of government. In addition to their abysmal track record on spending, they exhibit flagrant duplicity and total contempt for those they ostensibly represent
Meanwhile, the real motives and loyalties of the GOP Establishment can be discerned by the expressed concerns which they have voiced ever since the shameful vote to raise the debt ceiling. Rather than castigate the Obama White House for its continued profligate spending, they are focused almost entirely on Senator Cruz, whom they consider their real enemy. Obama's mere squandering of trillions of dollars in pursuit of his misbegotten socialist utopia is a relatively inconsequential matter. In contrast, the efforts of Senator Cruz to slow this headlong pitch into the tragedy and squalor of the collectivist state somehow qualifies him as the pariah to be denigrated and shunned.
Interestingly, their effort to deride him is undermined by the odd accusation that Cruz might be "self-serving," as if the remainder of those Beltway insiders on both sides of the aisle are dripping with altruism and virtue. A bipartisan cabal that can engage in self-aggrandizement and moralizing while running up a national debt that will now exceed $18 trillion dollars is beyond shameless. Clearly, those who claim the mantle of civic duty, yet condemn Cruz on this basis (with Senators McConnell and Cornyn among the worst) are relying on their belief in the sheer ignorance, or perhaps even the stupidity, of their constituents.
The serious nature of this situation cannot be underestimated. With the availability of enormous sums of cash and liberal media support (even Republicans who are complicit in the advancement of liberalism briefly become darlings of the "mainstream media"), the RINO contingent may well succeed in convincing voters that its duplicitous behavior was somehow nobler and more principled than Cruz. And if this case can be made, every similar future action by Cruz, as well as others like him, will be seen through the prism of the D.C. mentality. From that point forward, all who attempt to stand as he has done will immediately be consigned to the political "fringe" and thus rendered politically inconsequential. In this manner, the D.C. "Ruling Class" hopes to dismiss, once and for all, the Tea Party movement that has proven to be such an irritation to it since it began in early 2009.
The mere fact that so many Beltway Republicans believe they can marginalize real America, for the sake of their own political fortunes, proves that those among the "inner circles" have become completely detached from the people on Main Street who make up the overwhelming bulk of their voting base. Has the absurd become so commonplace in our current political discourse that Heartland America ceases to be appalled at the division that exists between the GOP Establishment and the Tea Party (real conservatives)? Every American who is truly invested in the reclamation of the country should be outraged, and should make their feelings known to the liberal Democrats in both parties during the coming election season.
© Chris Adamo
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