On the Brink of Extinction?

The New York Times Magazine has just printed a long article (1) on the fate of the Northern White Rhinoceros. There are only two of them left—Najin and Fatu—both females. Thus, sometime in the near future, there will no longer be any Northern White Rhinos.

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In the United States we have male and female RINOs (Republicans In Name Only), derisively called that by many right-wing members of that political party. Here are two entries on Google:

The latter attack on RINOs is especially suspect, as Trump, after registering as a Republican in 1987, subsequently changed his party affiliation five times:

In 1999, Trump changed his party affiliation to the Independence Party of New York. In August 2001, Trump changed his party affiliation to Democratic. In September 2009, Trump changed his party affiliation back to the Republican Party. In December 2011, Trump changed to "no party affiliation” (Independent). In April 2012, Trump again returned to the Republican Party. (2)

One’s suspicion must be that Trump is hardly a person to adhere to a rigorously-held ideological position.

Yet Trump and his minions have been quick to tar other members of the GOP (many of them past leaders and standard bearers who have espoused long-held Republican policies) as traitors to the party. 

Now if you were good boys and girls and read the previous post on this blog—“See Who Salutes” (3)—you should be able to identify what we have here. That’s right, a classic case of “No-True-Scotsman.”

Labeling those they disagree with as RINOs (read “Traitors”) is an attempt by fanatics to exclude others from the ranks of the party by means of re-definition and, thereby, presumably to purify its soul. The RINOs are not true Republicans, according to the fanatics. Only those who blindly follow Trump down every manhole and through every sewer (4) are true members of the GOP, they scream. 

Since Hamlet’s original quotation has often been misinterpreted, I will offer a paraphrase:

It is more honorable not to follow the Trumpian mishegas than to observe it. 

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(1)  

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/magazine/the-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-on-earth.html?searchResultPosition=6

(2)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Donald_Trump#:~:text=Trump%20registered%20as%20a%20Republican,his%20party%20affiliation%20five%20times.

(3)

https://drnormalvision.blogspot.com/2021/01/see-who-salutes.html

(4)

The GOP nominating convention didn’t publish a party platform. How the RINOs can be ideologically impure when there is no ideology—just the whims of DJT—is a conundrum I leave to others to deal with.