Hi onyx. :)
Every now and again, I take the opportunity to ask someone who throws around terms like "RINO" and "true/real conservative" more egregiously than most if they would please define the term.
With RINO, I usually get "Republican in name only" as the definition, meaning that the person completely missed my point and intent.
With "true/real" conservative, I have yet to come across someone who actually defines what that term means to him/her.
To tie it all together, I keep wondering why it is that someone can be a "RINO" for not being a "real" conservative, when the name and history of the party is REPUBLICAN. It is not and never has been the Conservative Party. True, just as the Democrat Party has trended Left for generations, so has the Republican Party trended Right. And conservatism is a Rightist political movement. But -- and here's the key so many "real" conservatives fail to get -- conservatism is not the only Rightist political point of view. It is entirely possible to be have a genuine, classical republican point of view (deliberate small 'r') and fit quite well in the modern conservative-leaning Republican Party.
Exactly so. You're right on all counts, and I enjoy reading your posts --- often learning something new. I loved that the one poster admitted to you that he had forgotten what he was talking about. LOL!