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Blog No. 6 The Supreme Court, Republicans and Race. PART I, Race As a Factor in College Admissions

Issues involving race often provoke strong emotions that make them difficult to discuss. Republicans know that difficulty full well. Although, as we sometimes remind ourselves, our party is “The Party of Lincoln,” we are too often seen as insensitive or even hostile to the rights and aspirations of minorities. Needless to say, Democrats work hard to reinforce that impression and it is an impression that can be costly at the ballot box. Taking thoughtful and constructive positions on racial issues is not only an ingredient of responsible governance, but clearly has electoral consequences. As conservative columnist Ross Douthat recently wrote:Read More »Blog No. 6 The Supreme Court, Republicans and Race. PART I, Race As a Factor in College Admissions

Special Bulletin: Statement From Republican Majority For Choice

RINOcracy.com will ordinarily publish only original commentary by Doug Parker, or perhaps in due course, guest bloggers. But the essay below by Susan Bevan, Co-Chairwoman of Republican Majority for Choice, is so cogent and well-stated that it is reproduced here in full. (The next regular blog, dealing with the recent Supreme Court decisions involving race, will be forthcoming in a few days.)

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Wake Up, GOP! Extreme Social Crusades Are Passé

This week our nation witnessed a series of historic events in the long battle for individual freedom and equality. While the Democratic Party is waving victory flags, applauding progress toward personal freedom and opening its arms to ever-increasing constituencies, GOP elected leaders have once again donned the mantle of ‘grumpy old men’ who bemoan the changing world and attempt to legislate their so-called traditional values.Read More »Special Bulletin: Statement From Republican Majority For Choice

Blog No. 5 Whither the War on Terror? Part II. Of Drones and Guantanamo

Drone Strikes. President Obama’s May 23 speech announced new criteria for drone strikes. Although the previous criteria had not been disclosed, he made it clear that the new criteria were significantly narrower. According to the President, a targeted terrorist must now pose “a continuing and imminent threat to the American people,” and “before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured.” Taken literally and applied conscientiously, those are narrow criteria indeed. But as The New York Times reported, “Even as [Obama] set new standards, a debate broke out about what they actually meant and what would actually change.” Read More »Blog No. 5 Whither the War on Terror? Part II. Of Drones and Guantanamo

Special Bulletins: Abortion Bill Update and Welcome to RINOs Marco Rubio and Reagan

Parts II and III of Blog No. 5. “Whither the War on Terror?” will soon be forthcoming. There were, however, two events this week deserving of   immediate brief comment.  Both events involve difficult issues, immigration and abortion, that will each be the subject of full blogs, but, in the meantime, RINOs should be aware of them.

 

A Salute to the Sensible Six. Whatever one’s views on abortion, the bill passed by the House this week makes little sense. The bill, a severe anti-abortion  measure sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks passed by a margin of 228-196. RINOcracy.com salutes the six Republican members of the House of Representatives who were sensible enough, and courageous enough, to vote against it. They are: Reps. Paul Broun (Ga.), Charlie Dent (Pa.), Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.), Richard Hanna (N.Y.), Jon Runyan (N.J.) and Rob Woodall (Ga.). The Franks bill, would, with limited exceptions, ban the abortion of a fetus older than 20 weeks old (or at 22 weeks of pregnancy under a different measuring system). The bill stands no chance of being enacted into law, and if it were, would be clearly unconstitutional. Read More »Special Bulletins: Abortion Bill Update and Welcome to RINOs Marco Rubio and Reagan

Blog No. 5 Whither the War on Terror? Part I: The President’s Vision

On May 23, President Obama gave a major speech on what has commonly been referred to as the War on Terror. The New York Times hailed it as “the most important statement on counterterrorism policy since the 2001 attacks, a momentous turning point in post-9/11 America.”  The Wall Street Journal took a symmetrically negative view, but described it as “one of the more memorable speeches of [the Obama] Presidency… or for that matter any recent President.”  Yet only a few weeks later, the speech has been swept from not only the front pages, but the editorial and op-ed pages and, no doubt, from most of the public consciousness.Read More »Blog No. 5 Whither the War on Terror? Part I: The President’s Vision

Blog No. 3 Common Core State Standards: A New Cause for the Tea Party

Our friends in the Tea Party have a new cause. A May 30 article in The Washington Post expanded on earlier press reports that Tea Party groups have mounted a nationwide campaign against the Common Core Standards. Some readers of the blog will doubtless respond “Hunh?” But if you are aware of the Standards only vaguely, or not at all, and are not familiar with the growing controversy surrounding them, now’s the time to catch up.Read More »Blog No. 3 Common Core State Standards: A New Cause for the Tea Party

Blog No. 1 Sexual Assaults in the Military

Is there anyone who does not believe that the disclosures of sexual assaults in the military are appalling? The official Pentagon report, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, indicated that, between 2010 and 2012, reported incidents of sexual assaults had increased from 3,192 to 3,374. Even more troubling is the fact that many sexual assaults go unreported, resulting in an estimate that the total number of sexual assaults rose from 19,300 to 26,000. Public concern with the issue has been heightened by a compelling documentary, The Invisible War, the report of a criminal conviction by a military court being overturned by a commanding general, and by the recent arrest, on charges of sexual assault, of the very officer, Lt. Col Jeffrey Kusinski, who had been in charge of the Air Force’s program to prevent sexual assaults.Read More »Blog No. 1 Sexual Assaults in the Military

WELCOME to RINOcracy!

This is a website for RINOs.

For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention to the political world, RINO is a term sometimes applied to Republicans who are deemed insufficiently committed to this or that “principle” of the current Republican Party. Hence, in their view: Republicans In Name Only. While intended as a term of derision (or worse), it is a label I bear proudly. As I wrote in a letter to the New York Times published in April 2013, my motto is: “RINOs, let us unite and put our hides on the line to save our party from itself.” Bold words, I later thought, but apart from the occasional letter to the editor, what am I doing about it? This blog is the answer. A very small step indeed, but possibly one that might encourage others.Read More »WELCOME to RINOcracy!