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William769

(58,148 posts)
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 09:15 AM Jan 5

Adam Kinzinger Brutally Sums Up The 'Entire' Republican Party With Just 1 Acronym

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) — a frequent Donald Trump critic after the president-elect’s 2020 election loss — revealed why it’s “interesting” that critics tag him with the “RINO” acronym, which stands for “Republican In Name Only.”

“The reality is the entire Republican Party today is the RINO. They’re Republicans in name only,” said Kinzinger in an interview with Salon shared Saturday.

“They hold the title to the Republican Party, a lot of them still think they’re holding a legacy, but that’s exactly right, it’s gone.”

Kinzinger, the focus of a new documentary “The Last Republican” from “Hot Tub Time Machine” director Steve Pink, said “what it means now to be a Republican” is that you’re “driven by anger” and division.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/adam-kinzinger-brutally-sums-up-the-entire-republican-party-with-just-1-acronym/ar-AA1wZ3F2?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=fde4c5c59b6a453fb83215178679836a&ei=23

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Adam Kinzinger Brutally Sums Up The 'Entire' Republican Party With Just 1 Acronym (Original Post) William769 Jan 5 OP
"What it means now to be an elected Republican" sop Jan 5 #1
That nails it Skittles Jan 5 #4
It's the old "Divide and Conquer" strategy. Frank D. Lincoln Jan 5 #15
Very astute. William769 Jan 5 #2
it was a great interview. posted over on the video page rampartd Jan 5 #3
Thanks for that. Off to find it. William769 Jan 5 #6
So true 👍 TommieMommy Jan 5 #5
And, or greed. nt KPN Jan 5 #7
he is correct state of stupid Jan 5 #8
Very goood idea. William769 Jan 5 #9
From the DNC on down RINO should be used at every opportunity KS Toronado Jan 5 #11
Maybe move them away from Republican thinkingagain Jan 5 #23
Like they drag our name thru the mud,... magicarpet Jan 5 #26
No decent ones left MadameButterfly Jan 5 #29
Adam is a very smart guy LilElf70 Jan 5 #10
Republican fealty to the oligarchy precedes Trump by decades Martin Eden Jan 5 #12
Most of the the old school elected GOP live in fear of Trump's cult. progressoid Jan 5 #24
Succumbing to fear instead of finding courage enables fascism Martin Eden Jan 5 #27
T H I S Cosmocat Jan 6 #31
Ha! Don't F with this guy. Joinfortmill Jan 5 #13
OK, now we need a red, white, and blue rhino icon to replace the GOP elephant icon. eppur_se_muova Jan 5 #14
I hope this doesn't get hidden. William769 Jan 5 #16
Hint: it would be orange. nt eppur_se_muova Jan 5 #17
Gotcha. William769 Jan 5 #20
Just replace those four big stars with the letters RINO.... KY_EnviroGuy Jan 5 #25
He's 100% right. And we need the Republican Party back, or some form of it. paleotn Jan 5 #18
Really, they're only holding on to a single letter.... "R". Hugin Jan 5 #19
The Republican Party is no longer conservative, they're extremist, radical. CaptainTruth Jan 5 #21
This message was self-deleted by its author onecaliberal Jan 5 #22
An elephant in the room question for me is..... KY_EnviroGuy Jan 5 #28
Reagan's veto of the Fairness Doctrine renewal The Wizard Jan 6 #30
K&R Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jan 6 #32

sop

(13,364 posts)
1. "What it means now to be an elected Republican"
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 09:34 AM
Jan 5

You're all employees of the corporate interests running the GOP, and your job is to create anger and division so MAGA morons continue voting "R."

Frank D. Lincoln

(894 posts)
15. It's the old "Divide and Conquer" strategy.
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:14 AM
Jan 5

On a larger scale, the American oligarchy has mastered the art of keeping the American people divided. And with Trump's win, they're now in the position to utterly conquer us by ruthlessly taking our remaining wealth and political power.

state of stupid

(121 posts)
8. he is correct
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 10:30 AM
Jan 5

I have already started calling them RINOS. It took off for real with the Tea Party. Maybe we
should start correcting them when they say Republican Party or any time they try to claim to
be a Republican responding with Don't you mean RINO or something like that to get under their
skin.

KS Toronado

(21,011 posts)
11. From the DNC on down RINO should be used at every opportunity
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:06 AM
Jan 5

RINOs always add "radical" whenever they mention a Democrat.

thinkingagain

(1,295 posts)
23. Maybe move them away from Republican
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 12:17 PM
Jan 5

And call them either Trumpers or Trumpublicans
Really just tie them worst of them to trump and let the ones that are have the tiniest amount of decency be the Republicans

magicarpet

(17,877 posts)
26. Like they drag our name thru the mud,...
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 01:09 PM
Jan 5

.... with naming us the DemocRAT Party,...

We should return the favor and label them the RepubliCAN'T Party.

Tit for tat,.. they play nasty,... we throw it right back on their faces.

MadameButterfly

(2,710 posts)
29. No decent ones left
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 06:48 PM
Jan 5

Those were driven out in the last two elections for speaking out or not voting in lockstep

LilElf70

(797 posts)
10. Adam is a very smart guy
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:00 AM
Jan 5

Probably would have made a good presidential candidate...... That is, if the republican party was actually republicans based on old republican values.

Martin Eden

(14,060 posts)
12. Republican fealty to the oligarchy precedes Trump by decades
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:07 AM
Jan 5

Kinzinger and Liz Cheney did not stand up for The People until the atrocity of Jan 6 became a bridge too far.

Many in the Republican establishment opposed Donald Trump in the 2016 primary, but changed their tune when it became apparant that riding his coattails was necessary to win their own next primary.

Kudos to Kinzinger and Cheney for finally doing the right thing. Their courage is a rare commodity in today's MAGA Party, but their entire body of work is not commendable.

Let's not pretend the pre-Trump GOP was in any way commendable, except by comparison.

The last Republican president worthy of respect was Eisenhower, but my vote would have gone to Adlai Stevenson.

Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt are long gone.

progressoid

(51,164 posts)
24. Most of the the old school elected GOP live in fear of Trump's cult.
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 12:25 PM
Jan 5

They know they'll end up unemployed like Cheney and Kinzinger if they don't ride the MAGA train.

What is troubling to me are the millions who willingly gave up the tenets of their party to follow this path. I keep calling them a cult but it's worse than that IMHO. I know someone who is fully MAGA. Prior to this he was a "family values" Reaganite. Apparently a guy who pays off a porn star to keep quiet about having sex with him when his 5th child was just born to his third wife is now considered family values. The speed in which they gave up their principles (I use that term loosely) to follow this man is troubling to say the least. JD Vance is a prime example.

Martin Eden

(14,060 posts)
27. Succumbing to fear instead of finding courage enables fascism
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 01:16 PM
Jan 5

There is no refuge in the coattails of the fascist. Ultimately, the worst fears become reality.

Cosmocat

(15,119 posts)
31. T H I S
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 09:17 AM
Jan 6

I am pushing 60 and it was very clear complete bullshit my entire life.

There are MANY, M A N Y people who are smarter than me who bought into it, and there really is one reason - they hate others more than they care about their best interests.

eppur_se_muova

(38,665 posts)
14. OK, now we need a red, white, and blue rhino icon to replace the GOP elephant icon.
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:10 AM
Jan 5

Or elephant at one end, rhino at the other, pushme-pullyu fashion.

Not familiar w/graphics tools myself, I've been looking for a Russian bear/GOP elephant "hybrid" for ages, with no luck ....

paleotn

(20,196 posts)
18. He's 100% right. And we need the Republican Party back, or some form of it.
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:19 AM
Jan 5

It's current form is unsustainable and will burn out as soon as Donny becomes completely incapacitated or dies. Being fully captured by the uber rich, which got Republicans into this mess to start with, is also unsustainable, even for the uber rich. The country they envision, a repeat of the Gilded Age, is sub optimal for everyone, including them. I firmly believe that thinking more about the betterment of the nation as a whole, and not just themselves, would improve their own situations more than being a greedy individualist. The old Republican party leaned more to that direction. Not as much as Dems, but far more than they do now.

I say we need them, the concept of the old Republican Party, because Dems, like everyone else, can go off the rails to unsustainable land. I see that in my own state capital, Montpelier, or "Montpeculiar" depending on the general mood. To put it succinctly, we need "party poopers" to say..."Yes, that big screen TV is nice, but we don't need it, worse yet, can't afford it, and what we have now is serviceable." Works the other way too. We both give each other a moment of pause, and add to the debate so wiser heads can prevail. There are no more wise heads on the R side. Not with Donny Poopy Pants around riling up the great unwashed.

Hugin

(35,950 posts)
19. Really, they're only holding on to a single letter.... "R".
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:21 AM
Jan 5

The single letter party. That letter is where the votes are. Somehow all of the rest of the alphabet and especially “D” has been made toxic over 70 years of propaganda.

Frankly, that’s why I have reverted to calling the whole shebang Retrumplicans.

Yes, there’s Republicans left around, but they are few and far between. You’ll know them, because they put constitution above party.

CaptainTruth

(7,517 posts)
21. The Republican Party is no longer conservative, they're extremist, radical.
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 11:42 AM
Jan 5

I draw a distinction between Republicans & Conservatives because they're now two different things.

Response to William769 (Original post)

KY_EnviroGuy

(14,678 posts)
28. An elephant in the room question for me is.....
Sun Jan 5, 2025, 01:18 PM
Jan 5

how long can our government, and hence our society, continue to exist while dominated by a major political party built almost entirely on lies and deceptions (along with meanness, racism, misogamy, etc.) and which is led by plutocrats with fascist leanings. This operates like a cancer within us.

I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were driven primarily by their hatred of taxes (1960s, Goldwater, Nixon/Agnew, et al.), yet kept most of their dialog within reason. Back then they had some problems with the truth, as Agnew spread racist hatred throughout the South, but it seemed manageable. At least their platform contained some realism.

Then came Reagan and Gingrich assisted by Limbaugh and Fox and here we are.......

The Wizard

(13,109 posts)
30. Reagan's veto of the Fairness Doctrine renewal
Mon Jan 6, 2025, 08:24 AM
Jan 6

paved the way for the advent of Pox News and hate radio's efforts to turn Americans against each other for political gain. Their strategy for ruling (not governing) is right out of Machiavelli's "The Prince."
Their appeal to the worst fears and lowest instincts has weakened us.
Limbaugh is worm food and Pox News is Putin's voice in America.

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