We’re Humans. Not Programmed Republican Robots.

I’m fascinated with scientific and technological advancements. You don’t have to go far past Adam Fogle’s blog to know that I’m a big Star Trek fan. To that end, I think it would be great to build a colony on Mars as a back-up plan for when we ruin this planet.

But have we reached that level of advancement? Is it even possible? How much would it cost the American taxpayers? And what other programs would suffer from dedicating a stream of money to such a large endeavor?

I have to admit, if the building of a Mars colony was inserted into the Republican platform, I probably would disagree with it for now because too many questions remain to be answered. If I were running for office and some activist demanded that I sign the party platform, I wouldn’t do it, and thus I would most likely be labeled a RINO.

I think the concept of private school choice is a fantastic idea. Aside from the fact that most private school parents, or at least 98% of the ones I’ve ever met, send their kids to private school to get them away from the public school kids like me, competition, in theory, will improve the entire education system. It’s worked just about everywhere else, but it’s still just a theory in this case. South Carolina is a complicated state plagued by a racist past. That past has created segments in our culture where pockets of poor, often minority districts dominate. I don’t see how the economy of South Carolina’s Hampton County, where I spent most of my summers as a child, can handle any sort of educational competition. And let’s all be honest, it’s those areas that are killing South Carolina’s test scores.

I support the idea of private school choice, but like my support of a Mars colony, I have a lot of questions regarding its economic feasibility like – how can we be sure we’re not stripping funding from the fantastic schools in Spartanburg County? As a strong fiscal conservative, I demand answers to those questions before we change the entire structure of our education tax code and dump millions upon millions of dollars into private schools. I’ve heard the rhetoric, yet I’ve seen no convincing poof.

I will not, at this stage in the game, sign a document pledging my support for private school choice legislation. Maybe in the future. Maybe even tonight if someone can show me some good numbers. But not right now at this minute as I write this blog post. (For the record, I think South Carolina should enact a private school choice pilot program.)

That’s what scares me about this dangerous effort afoot to cleanse our party of anyone who disagrees with any part of our platform. There are many activists across the nation who are even demanding that candidates and legislators sign the party platform or else. Or else they’ll be labeled a RINO.

Folks, we really have to get away from this idea that if you’re not with me 100%, then you’re against me.

We are a party that prides ourselves on the examples set by President Ronald Reagan. If I were to say that I disagree with President Reagan, I’d surely be labeled a RINO. Luckily, I almost entirely agree with President Reagan, especially when he said, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor.”

Looking at the South Carolina Republican Party platform, I’m as far right as one can be, except for that one issue, which I support in theory. That doesn’t mean I’m a 1% traitor. That means I’m a 99% friend.

I’m 100% pro-life. I don’t like the idea of any exceptions. But what about the woman who is raped or the husband who is looking at raising his wife’s rapist’s child? Can’t we at least understand where they’re coming from? We don’t have to agree and we can push them toward the adoption alternative, but can’t we at least understand and grant them some compassion instead of labeling them pro-choice? Can’t we withhold the RINO label if they refuse to sign the Republican platform?

I support the NRA and I’m proud to have just bought my first gun. But what about the hard core Republican leader who was held up last night with a semi-automatic Uzi? He’s distraught. He saw his life flash before his young eyes. He agrees with 99% of the Republican Party platform but now he wants to tighten gun laws. He’s as pro-life and anti-tax as anyone we’ve ever met, but is he all of a sudden a Democrat because he disagrees with one leg of our platform?

According to Ronald Reagan, these people are allies. They’re friends. They’re Republicans.

If President Reagan is to remain our party’s hero, wouldn’t those that disagree with him actually be the RINOs? I think so.

I lived most of my childhood in the worst, most economically depressed parts of North Charleston, South Carolina. If groups like the South Carolina Policy Council, who often label legislators as RINOs, are against bringing Boeing to North Charleston, I want to be whatever they’re not. But that’s not a RINO. That’s a reasonable human being. It just goes to show how loosely the term is being thrown around.

There is a time and a place for the RINO label. Senator Arlen Specter was a pretty good example. So is Dede Scozzafava. We should not put up with big government tax and spend liberals who call themselves Republican. That’s obvious. What I’m saying is that we should not use the RINO label so loosely and we especially should not call someone a RINO just because they refuse to sign the large party platform because of one or two issues.

We didn’t win Virginia and New Jersey by telling folks that they’re RINOs. We won by convincing them that they’re more Republican than Democrat.

Let’s save the RINO label for those who really deserve it and cut everyone else a little slack. Let’s pick our fights and take out real RINOs instead of splitting our party in half just because someone doesn’t agree with us on every single issue. We’re humans with different experiences and reasons for believing what we believe. We aren’t programmed Republican robots. That’s something President Ronald Reagan obviously understood.

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