We assume that the name of Margaret McGirr is as unfamiliar to readers of RINOcracy.com as it was to us. But Ms. McGirr had a letter published in today’s New York Times that was so well-stated that we thought it deserved recognition. The Letters section of the Times is not a place we ordinarily go looking for RINOs, but you never know.Read More »Special Bulletin. RINO of the Week: Margaret McGirr
Although we have indicated our tentative support for Jeb Bush to be the Republican nominee, it is still early days: Bush has yet to articulate his position on several major issues and the dynamics of the primary campaign, including the debates among the candidates – sometimes entertaining and sometimes dismaying – lie well down the road. We are in agreement with Bush on the two issues with which he has been most clearly identified and most sharply criticized from the right – immigration reform and Common Core. More generally, we have favored Bush for reasons suggested in a March 30 New York Times analysis, “Jeb Bush and Scott Walker Point G.O.P. To Contrary Paths.” A principal point was Bush’s distaste for paralyzing polarization:Read More »Blog 64. Jeb Bush: Israel and Indiana
The beginning of 2015 has seen not only a blizzard on the East Coast but a blizzard of activity among potential Republican candidates for 2016. Some observers have seemed as unenthusiastic about the political blizzards as most snow bound residents were for the natural variety: “Oh, no. Do we really need this much, this soon?” The PBS NewsHour has identified no less than 17 individuals who have indicated that they’re “interested” or “actively exploring” a presidential bid. In alphabetical order: John Bolton, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump, and Scott Walker. Just this morning the NewsHour list had one addition and one subtraction. Mitt Romney announced that he had abandoned any plan to run, while Senator Lindsey Graham took the initial step of forming a PAC. Other prominent figures who have made no announcement but are thought to be waiting in the wings include Governors Bobby Jindal and Mike Pence. 
On the day of the President’s State of the Union address, a writer in The Washington Post was moved to wonder “Do we even need a State of the Union address anymore?” It is unlikely that the writer’s doubts were assuaged by the President’s performance that evening. The President assured us on the one hand that everything was really quite splendid both at home and abroad, but also insisted that our domestic tranquility requires a lengthy and expensive set of initiatives. Indeed, listening to the address, one had the feeling that it might have been titled “No Proposal Left Behind.” In fact, however, the President declined to renew many of the proposals that he had presented a year ago and which had been largely ignored by the 113th Congress. (A PBS NewsHour analysis indicated that out of 18 proposals urged in 2014, only 2 rather minor ones had been adopted.) Now that Republicans control the Senate as well as the House, and enjoy an even larger majority in the House, the President’s prospects for legislative achievements are hardly brighter.Read More »Blog No. 59. The State of the Union Address: Barack Obama’s Parallel Universe and the Challenge for Republicans
In recent years, some conservatives have expended time, effort and money in arguing (without benefit of any credible evidence) that recognizing same sex marriage would somehow undermine traditional marriage. The end of that era may be in sight with the action of the Supreme Court in refusing to hear appeals from decisions by three federal circuits (having jurisdiction over 11 states) that struck down bans on same sex marriage. In the meantime, however, such conservatives have generally paid too little heed to the fact that traditional marriage has indeed been undermined, but by factors having nothing at all to do with same sex marriage. Read More »Blog No. 47. Single Parents, Parenting and Poverty.
The surge of unaccompanied children from Central America across our southern border has produced what is generally recognized to be a mess. Sadly, it has been accompanied by the familiar mess in Washington with the usual antagonists, the Administration and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, struggling over how to respond. And the border crisis appears to have made the goal of “comprehensive immigration reform” more elusive than ever.
Read More »Blog No. 41. The Mess at the Border (and in Washington).
There will be hiatus in postings on RINOcracy.com over the next few weeks as we travel to destinations as varied as Lake Como, Rome, London and Santa Fe. It would be tempting to describe at least some part of our itinerary as a fact-finding mission, but that would push the envelope of spin even by Washington standards. On the other hand, if we do come by any new insights along the way, we will not hesitate to share them upon our return.
In the meantime, should you need something to fill in your reading list while we’re away, we have a couple of suggestions.Read More »Special Bulletin. RINOcracy.com on Vacation
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
Rahm Emanuel’s observation has never seemed more appropriate than in the current crisis enveloping Veterans Affairs hospitals. That crisis could bring important and long-needed reforms to the medical service provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.Read More »Blog No. 39 The Mess at the VA and the Need for Bipartisan Solutions.
On a recurring basis a rather troubling vision comes to mind. It is a reprise of that night on August 11, 2011 when Bret Baier said to the assembled candidates:
“I’m going to ask a question to everyone here on the stage. Say you had a deal, a real spending cuts deal, 10-to-1, as Byron [York] said, spending cuts to tax increases…. Who on this stage would walk away from that deal? Can you raise your hand if you feel so strongly about not raising taxes, you’d walk away on the 10-to-1 deal?”
All eight candidates dutifully raised their hand. It was then, if not before, that the image of Mitt Romney as human pretzel began to form.
Read More »Blog No. 38. Climate Change: Will the GOP Ever Warm Up To It?
George Will’s syndicated column provides weekly evidence that, even in 2014, the term “conservative intellectual” need not be an oxymoron. But Will is known not only for his erudite political analyses, but also for a love of baseball. The latter is a passion that has yielded three elegant books on the subject, and his latest, published this year, is A Nice Little Place on the North Side, Wrigley Field at One Hundred. Wrigley Field, as surely everyone knows, is the home of the Chicago Cubs, and Will is not just a baseball fan but a diehard Cubs fan, a distinction he shares with your correspondent. 
Read More »Blog No. 37. Of George Will, the Chicago Cubs and RINOs.