In the early nineties, the term RINO was coined. A “Republican in name only” was used to describe members of the GOP who were deemed insufficiently conservative. These days it has been co-opted to include anyone who doesn’t rabidly support the current administration.

(That’s me)

Flash forward to present day and the need for a new moniker. Something to describe the folks who willfully throw out their long-held views in favor of supporting a single person who seems at odds with those beliefs. Let’s call them hippos.

A hippo is a republican who once believed in a limited federal government, but now sees no issue with an administration that thinks checks and balances are merely a suggestion.

A hippo once touted state’s rights, but now thinks the federal government should oversee elections and pull previously approved state funding over partisan issues.

A hippo would have lost their mind over an administration hanging banners of themselves on the Department of Justice, but now thinks it’s fine for an independent government agency to act like a demented fan girl.

Hippos once wanted balanced budgets, but now see our exploding national debt as nothing too concerning. That’s a tomorrow problem. They only live for today.

Hippos would have rioted over knocking down part of the White House if any other administration had done it without consulting congress or preservation organizations. The hippos don’t mind this time. We needed a ballroom and ballrooms can’t be built with pesky restrictions and rules standing in the way.

Hippos were rightfully upset about emails being sent from an unsecured server, but now think a makeshift situation room located just behind a buffet table at Mar A Lago is no biggie.

The problem with hippos is that one day they’ll have to live under a democrat again. 

They’ll want to scream as that democrat uses the same precedents to roll out crazy spending without required congressional approval. 

Hippos will be angry when a democrat spends millions of dollars to once again change the names of a bunch of buildings to suit their own preferences.

They will pull out any remaining hair they may have left as a democrat tries to yank  funding from a red state because their governor disagreed with the president.

The will say crazy things like:

“They can’t do that!”

“What happened to that thing called the CONSTITUTION?”

“They’re disgracing the office!”

Unfortunately, the party once considered the adults in the room will have eroded the very ground they wish to stand on thanks to their seemingly unwavering support of the current administration.

It’s not just politicians. It’s regular folks who will read this column and think I must be a raging lefty for saying things like this. We’ve lost the ability to think critically which is leading to shortsighted decisions that will have long-term ramifications.

It’s increasingly difficult to call something an institution when it bends to the whims of whoever may be sitting in an oval shaped office every few years.

Whether you agree with our current president or not, the point is someone else will be there eventually. Chances are you may not like them. They’ll probably make decisions you disagree with and you’d be well within your rights to do so.

However politics in America tends to act like a pendulum. Too far to the right? Momentum will inevitably shift back to the left and likely just as dramatically. 

Unfortunately your hippo-crazy support of breaking precedent for this administration will make your objections much less effective when that time comes. 

That hippo-crazy indignation will make your arguments sound like what they truly are… hypocrisy.