'The Enemy Within'

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, is sly whispers rustling through the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city; he infects the body politics so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear."

— Marcus Tullius Cicero,
Roman orator, statesman 42 BC

Substitute "political party" for "nation" in Cicero's famous admonition and you begin to understand the problems facing the Republican Party.

The GOP has been betrayed from within. Before it can rebuild and begin the process of returning to power, it must purge itself of the traitors that have damaged the party from within.

Who are the traitors? You can begin with a list of RINOs in the U.S. Senate who have repeatedly sold out the party.

From Human Events.com:

As part of HUMAN EVENTS ongoing campaign against Republicans in name only (RINOs) we have compiled a list of the Top 10 Most Liberal Republican Senators based on the American Conservative Union Ratings for 2008 (110th Congress, second session. The ratings all compare rather unfavorably with that of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), chairman of the Repubican Steering Committee. Sen. DeMint’s score was a perfect 100)

On the conservative scale, the ten lowest-scoring senators are:

1. Olympia Snowe, Maine: (ACU Rating: 12)
(Only one point higher than liberal Democrat Hillary Clinton who the ACU scored an 11, and an astonishing 4 points lower than Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid's 16.)

2. Susan Collins, Maine: 20
(Collins received the same score as liberal Claire McCaskill, and 4 points lower than Russ Feingold's 24)

3. Arlen Specter, PA: 42 (Only 10 points higher than Mary Landrieu's 32)

4. George Voinovich, OH: 52

5. Lisa Murkowski, AL: 58

6. Mel Martinez, FL: 60

7. John McCain, AZ: 63

8. Richard Lugar, Ind: 63

9. Robert Bennett, UT: 64

10. Thad Cochran, Miss: 68

Interesting that the No. 1-2-3 Senators with the worst voting record betrayed the party (and the American people) by supporting the $1 trillion Obama/Pelosi "stimulus" bill.

And what does it say about a party when its most recent presidential candidate has one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate?

(H/T Save the GOP)

Originally posted at TONY PHYRILLAS