RINO.  Republican in name only. 

Matt Towery over at Townhall.com suggests that we conservatives use the term RINO more times than Nancy Pelosi has had botox.  And to boot, Towery suggests that we conservatives are labeling the wrong people, especially those that voted for START.  Towery makes some good points, but then shoots his argument out the window:

Many people are unhappy that the lame-duck Democratic Congress won some final victories before exiting stage left. But Republicans are like us all: They have to play the hand dealt them. I believe they've largely done that.

The hand that was dealt them?  So Sen. Bennett of Utah, Sen. Kirk of Illinois and Sen. Murkowski (to name a few - gasp! - RINOs) were dealt a hand to give Obama, Reid and Pelosi last minute victories?  I think not.  November 2nd wasn't about compromising with the left - God knows they did not compromise with the right during their two year Tyranny of the Majority.  America voted to stop the leftist agenda, but some Republicans went along with it.  That I would say justifies a RINO label.  But Towery continues:

As for those who like to use the label "RINO" like a political bludgeon, allow me to ask this question: Have you ever been pelted by rotten fruit and eggs as you rode in a parade, only because you were a Republican? Have you ever been an active Republican in a state overrun by little else but Democrats? I have. So has Johnny Isakson.

For those that don't know, Sen. Isakson of Georgia voted for START.  He is considered one of the more conservative members of the Senate as well and Isakson has endured being called a RINO for his support of START.  Why pass a treaty limiting our defensive capabilities with a country led by an ex-KGB, Stalin wannabe called Vladimir Putin?  Republicans are supposed to be strong on national defense, and passing START gave President Obama a victory he has long sought on the international stage. 

Pelted by rotten eggs in a parade for being Republican?  No, haven't had that happen.  But I have been called a racist, a bigot, and a Nazi for being a Tea Party leader.  Does that count, Mr. Towery?  Been an active Republican in a state overrun by Democrats?  I live in Illinois... 

Charles Krauthammer in his recent article put it best regarding what the Republicans did in this lame duck.  Krauthammer doesn't name Republicans in his article, but the Democrats did not have the votes to overcome a Republican filibuster without RINO support.  How else did anything get done in the lame duck?  We were warned long before November 2nd that Reid and Pelosi would be pushing leftist agenda items in the lame duck, but who would have thought they would be aided by some Republicans?  The answer is conservatives knew it and they were dreading it. 

We hear the contempt for conservatives by the RINOs rolled into one via the words of Arlen Specter.  Specter, the turncoat Republican slammed Tea Partiers during and after his primary loss.  In one of his final speeches before he goes home for good, Specter takes a parting swipe at conservatives:

Specter complained that some GOP senators had helped tea party challengers beat incumbent Republicans like Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Mike Castle in his Delaware Senate primary.

"Eating or defeating your own is a form of sophisticated cannibalism," he said.

It's not cannibalism if you are not eating your own Senator.  This what the RINO moniker is all about.  There are conservative ideas - fiscal and social - which we adhere to, which Sen. Specter and other "Republicans" do not.  Given this point of history where we have an all but admitted socialist in the White House, our conservative principles are even more important.  Handing the left victories does nothing more than strengthen their voting base and send our country further tilting left. 

A Congresscritter can vote RINO on a variety of issues.  One vote here or there doesn't qualify for me a labeling of RINO status - squishy on some issues, yes.  But to have a track record of voting with the left - in particular Sen. Murkowski, Sen. Snowe, and Sen. Collins - does justify the use of the term RINO.  In union parlance, they would be called scabs.  Hold the picket line and criticize, harass, and ostracize anyone that crosses that line.  In politics, when Republicans cross the party line they are a "maverick" or an "independent thinker".  No.  They are RINOs who help perpetuate the leftist agenda and they deserve to be called such.  The problem is that RINOs don't just infect Congress, the party leadership - national and state - are infested with RINOs.  One by one, we will vote them out.  We will retake the party of Reagan, and we will retake our country.