Stupid Republican idea of the day

[Jack Batty]

I think pretty much googling any animal penis, you're going to come up with a horror show.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Jack Batty

I think pretty much googling any animal penis, you're going to come up with a horror show.

A very good rule to follow, but no...ducks and echidnas are a special kind of inadequacy-complex-inducing category of their very own.

[elucidator]

On the other hand (so to speak...), if a silver back gorilla in a trench coat flashes you, you might respond "Oh, I had no idea gorillas were Japanese." He probably won't understand, but I'm not gonna risk it. Nope.

[Morgyn]

Originally Posted by jayjay

Oh, or "echidna penis". You were warned.

Weirdly enough, just yesterday I was googling for the female echidna's reproductive system because a friend of mine on Facebook had described the male's and I wanted to figure out how they fit together. I therefore saw pictures of the male echidna's tackle. It was weird.

And I'm still trying to figure out how they fit together.

[digs]

Originally Posted by Morgyn

Weirdly enough, just yesterday I was googling for the female echidna's reproductive system because a friend of mine on Facebook had described the male's and I wanted to figure out how they fit together. I therefore saw pictures of the male echidna's tackle. It was weird.

And I'm still trying to figure out how they fit together.

See? This is why I never go on the internet. I don't have time for high-end research like this.

And just to stay on topic, more Republican tone-deafness:

Maine Gov says "Get off the couch and get a job!".

"Gov. Paul LePage began his speech Sunday at the Maine Republican Party convention by saying he was glad he wasn’t campaigning.
He then proceeded to give a cheering audience 25 minutes worth of remarks that sounded a lot like a campaign speech, mostly on welfare".

[Maus Magill]

Originally Posted by Jenaroph

Seriously. From an evolutionary standpoint, why the heck would something like that exist? Your body is optimized for getting pregnant and passing on your genes (if everything is working correctly); your uterus seriously doesn't care if you were emotionally traumatized during the procreational event.


I see that idea was from '88, I wonder if he's been corrected in the ensuing 24 years.

Not as of 1995. From my home state:

"The facts show that people who are raped -- who are truly raped -- the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant," said Rep. Aldridge, who is also a periodontist. He went on to insist that "Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever."

[Folacin]

The best part of that quote is the nicely turned phrase "who are truly raped".

[Euphonious Polemic]

Originally Posted by Folacin

The best part of that quote is the nicely turned phrase "who are truly raped".

It's like he read about the "no true Scotsman" fallacy somewhere, and thought "hey, that's a good idea! I'll use that one!"

[gamerunknown]

Could have been reading the Divine Comedy and thought it'd make good source material.

[YogSosoth]

This is nice. Mitt Romney takes credit for the auto industry recovery.

I think this represents a kind of new low for the Republican party, and Mitt in particular. Karl Rove's strategy was to always attack the opponent's main strength and make it into a weakness. I think Mitt's sorta doing the same thing, except he's not even just attacking Obama's strength's, but also his own weakness. He knows that there is an approximately 30-40% of voters who will vote for him no matter what, just because they hate Obama so much. So he's just going keep repeating anything he can in order to appeal to the other 10-20% and know that the likes of Fox News and conservative talk shows are going to back him up.

Tomorrow he could claim Obama eats babies, and Fox News will run that, but they'll run it as "Does Obama eat babies? Find out next!" The 30-40% drones that will vote for Mitt won't care about the lie, but there may be 1 or 2 or 15 or 100 moderates who may look at that and say to themselves "Maybe there's something to it", especially if it comes as part of an avalanche of lies that the conservatives will no doubt be telling the country about Obama. It just makes me sick that these shitty people can even sniff a position of power in the government

[septimus]

This is the thread for Republican stupidity. Is there a separate thread for Republican filth? If not, let me call attention here to a Youtube titled "In this video, each time Barack Obama tells a lie, a half-truth or says something that is otherwise deceptive, a small child will get slammed in the face with a soccer ball."

(Someone in the "Is it partisan to use Obama's middle name?" thread linked to a trash Youtube; I clicked on one or two of the "related" videos, got disgusted, but thought I should mention here the stupidity of anti-Obama Youtubers.)

[Revtim]

Originally Posted by septimus

This is the thread for Republican stupidity. Is there a separate thread for Republican filth? If not, let me call attention here to a Youtube titled "In this video, each time Barack Obama tells a lie, a half-truth or says something that is otherwise deceptive, a small child will get slammed in the face with a soccer ball."

Hey, cranial injury is how future Republicans are made, it's sort of a reproductive strategy.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by septimus

This is the thread for Republican stupidity. Is there a separate thread for Republican filth? If not, let me call attention here to a Youtube titled "In this video, each time Barack Obama tells a lie, a half-truth or says something that is otherwise deceptive, a small child will get slammed in the face with a soccer ball."

(Someone in the "Is it partisan to use Obama's middle name?" thread linked to a trash Youtube; I clicked on one or two of the "related" videos, got disgusted, but thought I should mention here the stupidity of anti-Obama Youtubers.)

As opposed to what the kid would look like if they did it for any given Romney speech? I'm thinking that old animated GIF cartoon of the guy banging his head into little bloody bits against his keyboard...

[Balance]

Originally Posted by Revtim

....it's sort of a reproductive strategy.

In that case, how long should we expect it to be before they propose legislation making it illegal to avoid bashing kids on the head with sports equipment at every opportunity?

[Smapti]

I think this thread is stupid enough to qualify as a SRIOtD.

[Voyager]

Originally Posted by YogSosoth

This is nice. Mitt Romney takes credit for the auto industry recovery.

I think this represents a kind of new low for the Republican party, and Mitt in particular. Karl Rove's strategy was to always attack the opponent's main strength and make it into a weakness. I think Mitt's sorta doing the same thing, except he's not even just attacking Obama's strength's, but also his own weakness. He knows that there is an approximately 30-40% of voters who will vote for him no matter what, just because they hate Obama so much. So he's just going keep repeating anything he can in order to appeal to the other 10-20% and know that the likes of Fox News and conservative talk shows are going to back him up.

When this campaign started I thought Romney was the best of a pretty bad lot. Now I have this urge to push my fist through his smarmy face - or loosely tie him to the top of the family car and drive him to Canada.

Maybe Joseph Smith will come down from whatever planet he is occupying and say "Mitt, you are a big fucking liar, and I know big fucking liars."

[L. G. Butts, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Smapti

I think this thread is stupid enough to qualify as a SRIOtD.

While I get that Republicans have lots of stupid ideas on a near daily basis, I am confused about why you think this is one. Ludovic is right, running a surplus during the month of April is not too impressive for the US Federal Government.

From here:

“Because of the large inflows of tax revenues, the federal government usually runs a budget surplus in April — though that did not occur in 2009, 2010 and 2011,” CBO said.

I don't think the articles are an example of Stupid Liberal idea of the day, but I don't think Ludovic is being too dense either. Help me out here.

[Truman Burbank]

Rather than reiterate an existing thread, I'd suggest you read through the dozen or so comments to Ludovic's thread, and see if it doesn't enlighten you.

[BigAppleBucky]

Richard Lugar loses his primary election.

The Bloomberg headline says it all:
Richard Lugar Was Too Polite for Today’s Republicans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...publicans.html

[slumtrimpet]

Originally Posted by Voyager

Now I have this urge to push my fist through his smarmy face - or loosely tie him to the top of the family car and drive him to Canada.

Maybe Joseph Smith will come down from whatever planet he is occupying and say "Mitt, you are a big fucking liar, and I know big fucking liars."

No problem with pushing your fist through his face, but don't you dare drive him to Canada - top of the car, bottom of the car, strapped across the hood - oh hell no! We do NOT want or need him up here.

And old Joe would just give him pointers. (not that he seems to need many).

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by Smapti

I think this thread is stupid enough to qualify as a SRIOtD.

Cite? (For the second letter). (I have a cite. My posts.)

[elucidator]

Originally Posted by slumtrimpet

No problem with pushing your fist through his face, but don't you dare drive him to Canada - top of the car, bottom of the car, strapped across the hood - oh hell no! We do NOT want or need him up here.

And old Joe would just give him pointers. (not that he seems to need many).

Aw, c'mon! He's bland, dull, with all the charisma of mayonnaise. Blend right in. You guys wouldn't even know he was there.

[Rhythmdvl]

Originally Posted by septimus

This is the thread for Republican stupidity. Is there a separate thread for Republican filth? If not, let me call attention here to a Youtube titled "In this video, each time Barack Obama tells a lie, a half-truth or says something that is otherwise deceptive, a small child will get slammed in the face with a soccer ball."

I'm sorry, as a premise I thought that was hysterical, but totally screwed up in execution. If they dialled it down just a notch and used different clips I would have watched through to the end. Bigtime missed opportunity and fail, but the initial thought was pretty funny.

[Gyrate]

Paul Ryan says "Ayn who?"

CONSTITUENT: My question concerns your current and previous feelings toward the author and philosopher Ayn Rand. [...] Mr. Ryan, are you telling us that your political career was founded on the concepts of a rally of hers, but until recently, you never realized Ayn Rand was an outspoken atheist, that she felt altruism was evil, supported abortion, and condemned Christianity for advocating compassion for the poor?

RYAN: [...] Just because you like someone’s novels doesn’t mean you agree with their entire worldview philosophy. She has a worldview philosophy which is completely antithetical to mine because she has an atheist philosophy. [...] It’s really kind of a canard, is what I would say.

CONSTITUENT: You spoke as a keynote speaker for Ayn Rand banquets. You were quoted at length about how you loved her. You say you grew up and Ayn Rand taught you who you are and what your values are. I think we’ve learned the question of your honesty.

RYAN: It’s a great book! It’s a great book! Let’s go on to somebody over here, I think we’ve covered it pretty well. By the way, I don’t require it. I have a reading list. Lots of young people ask me what are good books. I give them Alexis de Tocqueville, I take the Founders, Friedman, Hayek, Atlas Shrugged. There are lots of good books worth reading if you want to study freedom, free enterprise, the Founders, economics. There are a lot of good books out there to read, it doesn’t mean that you subscribe to the person’s worldview and philosophy. That’s really kind of a stretch.

[gamerunknown]

It's not so much a stupid idea as a catchy theme song, but it definitely didn't deserve its own thread:

Jason Paige singing "PokéRon". The stupid idea is probably that there are millions of Pokémon fans willing to vote for Ron Paul (assuming that's what "joining the revolution" entails.

[jsc1953]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBucky

Richard Lugar loses his primary election.

The Bloomberg headline says it all:
Richard Lugar Was Too Polite for Today’s Republicans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...publicans.html

Hopefully this will be a continuation of the trend, where the Teapartiers boot out a moderate in the primaries, and then get their butt kicked in the general (Reid in Nevada, and I-am-not-a-witch whatsername)

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by jsc1953

Hopefully this will be a continuation of the trend, where the Teapartiers boot out a moderate in the primaries, and then get their butt kicked in the general (Reid in Nevada, and I-am-not-a-witch whatsername)

Don't forget that Utah has yet to have their primaries...Hatch looks to be in some trouble...

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by gamerunknown

It's not so much a stupid idea as a catchy theme song, but it definitely didn't deserve its own thread:

Jason Paige singing "PokéRon". The stupid idea is probably that there are millions of Pokémon fans willing to vote for Ron Paul (assuming that's what "joining the revolution" entails.

Well, he's not polling well among grown-ups, and kids eventually get the vote...

[Balance]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

Well, he's not polling well among grown-ups, and kids eventually get the vote...

Well, with Newt out of the picture, it might net him Herman Cain's endorsement.

[ElvisL1ves]

Indiana Senate GOP nominee Richard Mourdock:

CHUCK TODD: You have said that there needs to be more partisanship in Washington. How do you square that with being a legislator?
RICHARD MOURDOCK: Well, what I've said is that I certainly think bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republican point of view. [...] Bipartisanship means they have to come our way [...] To me, the highlight of politics, frankly, is to inflict my opinion on someone else with a microphone or in front of a camera. [...] Even those Republicans who more often than not vote the right way aren't coming back into their states or their districts and getting in front of the unfriendly crowds and unfriendly microphones to make the point as to why our point of view is good. [...] I feel I can defend the purpose of conservatism, and more Republicans should be doing it just as I want to.

Proving the truth of Lugar's Greatest. Concession statement. Ever.

If Mr. Mourdock is elected, I want him to be a good Senator. But that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington. He and I share many positions, but his embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate. In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party. His answer to the inevitable roadblocks he will encounter in Congress is merely to campaign for more Republicans who embrace the same partisan outlook. He has pledged his support to groups whose prime mission is to cleanse the Republican party of those who stray from orthodoxy as they see it.
This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator. Worse, he will help delay solutions that are totally beyond the capacity of partisan majorities to achieve. The most consequential of these is stabilizing and reversing the Federal debt in an era when millions of baby boomers are retiring. There is little likelihood that either party will be able to impose their favored budget solutions on the other without some degree of compromise.

Well, he did go on to add the usual shit, required for approval by the Beltway Heathers, about "both sides do it", but still ...

[waterj2]

Originally Posted by Gyrate

Paul Ryan says "Ayn who?"

Maybe he's just a fan of Rand's nuanced characters, flowing dialogue, and totally not-that-misogynistic sex scenes.

[elucidator]

Her sex scenes make a powerful argument for celibacy.

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by waterj2

Maybe he's just a fan of Rand's nuanced characters, flowing dialogue, and totally not-that-misogynistic sex scenes.

Maybe he, like the grand majority of us, figured halfway through that speech: "you know, I actually don't give a hoot who this John Galt fellow is. But he sure sounds like a cunt".

[Steve MB]

Mitt Romney asks his old classmates for help with his efforts to fog up the latest window into his soul.

So far... he's mostly been getting a Windex-and-squeegee squad, e.g.:

A high school classmate of presidential candidate Mitt Romney told ABC News today that he considers a particular prank the two pulled at Michigan’s Cranbrook School to be “assault and battery” and that he witnessed Romney hold the scissors to cut the hair of a student who was being physically pinned to the ground by several others....

[mhendo]

To be honest, for all the reasons i wouldn't vote for Romney, the fact that he might have been an asshole or a bully in high school doesn't make the top 500.

I was a homophobe and a racist in high school. My school was predominantly Anglo-Australian, and my buddies and i spent plenty of time making racist comments about Vietnamese and Lebanese and Cambodian immigrants, as well as about Australian Aborigines. And anyone who was suspected, on even the flimsiest evidence, of being gay was mercilessly hounded.

I'm not proud of it, but it's how i was. I'm a very different person now, though, and i like to think that my previous self is now only relevant in that it serves as a reminder of how i've changed.

[Steve MB]

The stupidity thickens with Romney's response -- first claiming not to remember the incident (er, I think one President in a generation showing early Alzheimer's symptoms is quite enough, thank you very much...), then issuing a standard "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" non-apology.

[Punoqllads]

Originally Posted by Steve MB

...then [Romney] issuing a standard "I'm sorry if anyone was offended" non-apology.

I disagree. According to the Associated Press, he said, "I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some may have gone too far. And for that I apologize," to Biran Kilmeade on Fox News. That's about as close as you can get to an apology by a politician.

[Steve MB]

"I participated in a lot of hijinks and pranks during high school and some may have gone too far. And for that I apologize,"

As I said, a standard BS "sorry if anyone was offended" non-apology that implies that the problem is not the deed itself, but people's allegedly excessive reactions thereto.

[elucidator]

For me, it's the claim of not remembering the incident that really chaps my hide. If he's lying, that says something not very good. If its true, it says something rather more troubling. So I gather from these posts that he has abandoned that position? Well, good. Sorta. Kinda.

[Steve MB]

Originally Posted by elucidator

For me, it's the claim of not remembering the incident that really chaps my hide. If he's lying, that says something not very good. If its true, it says something rather more troubling. So I gather from these posts that he has abandoned that position? Well, good. Sorta. Kinda.

If he doesn't remember, then either there's something seriously wrong with him and his mental faculties are breaking down, or there's something seriously wrong with him and he did that kind of stuff so often that no particular incident stands out from the background.

[Rhythmdvl]

Originally Posted by mhendo

To be honest, for all the reasons i wouldn't vote for Romney, the fact that he might have been an asshole or a bully in high school doesn't make the top 500.

I was a homophobe and a racist in high school. My school was predominantly Anglo-Australian, and my buddies and i spent plenty of time making racist comments about Vietnamese and Lebanese and Cambodian immigrants, as well as about Australian Aborigines. And anyone who was suspected, on even the flimsiest evidence, of being gay was mercilessly hounded.

I'm not proud of it, but it's how i was. I'm a very different person now, though, and i like to think that my previous self is now only relevant in that it serves as a reminder of how i've changed.

I wasn't quite a homophonic rasinist, but I wouldn't want to be judged by my conduct in high school. But then again, there were plenty of people in HS that had naturally good disposition that didn't take part in bullying or mean-spirited shenanigans, so perhaps it does have some bearing. Maybe not enough to crack that top 500, but it's not weightless.

I'm also not totally put off by his failure to remember. Forget high school, I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of dumb shit just ten years ago that, if I were suddenly confronted with, would certainly sound memorable but I'd be hesitant to claim ownership at first.

[gamerunknown]

Originally Posted by Rhythmdvl

I'm also not totally put off by his failure to remember. Forget high school, I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of dumb shit just ten years ago that, if I were suddenly confronted with, would certainly sound memorable but I'd be hesitant to claim ownership at first.

On the other hand, Obama remembered an incident of bullying (sort of, where he pushed a girl) from when he was ten. I think it reflects on his character that he remained contrite enough to put it in his memoir as a form of apology.

[ladyfoxfyre]

Originally Posted by Rhythmdvl

I wasn't quite a homophonic rasinist, but I wouldn't want to be judged by my conduct in high school. But then again, there were plenty of people in HS that had naturally good disposition that didn't take part in bullying or mean-spirited shenanigans, so perhaps it does have some bearing. Maybe not enough to crack that top 500, but it's not weightless.

I'm also not totally put off by his failure to remember. Forget high school, I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of dumb shit just ten years ago that, if I were suddenly confronted with, would certainly sound memorable but I'd be hesitant to claim ownership at first.

Best typo ever?

[Baboonanza]

Originally Posted by mhendo

To be honest, for all the reasons i wouldn't vote for Romney, the fact that he might have been an asshole or a bully in high school doesn't make the top 500.

But then by your own admission you were one of the bullies at high school and I wonder how many of the victims out there feel the same way. Even if he's changed, who likes the idea that the sort of person who made their life a misery in high school gets to be president?

It's not like he's lived a life of good deeds to make up for his earlier misdeeds.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Baboonanza

But then by your own admission you were one of the bullies at high school and I wonder how many of the victims out there feel the same way.

I wasn't a bully in the way we're talking about here; i was a racist and a homophobe.

My racism was the sort of generalized prejudice that was never actually directed at individuals. That is, i never used racist language against a member of a minority group, or physically assaulted anyone. The extent of my racism was my mates and i complaining to one another in derogatory terms about immigrants and Aborigines, and using racist epithets to describe them among ourselves.

My homophobia was similarly non-directed; it was more of a general sense of antipathy towards the whole idea. I didn't actually know any gay people, and to the extent that i used homophobic slurs, it was usually as a way of insulting people whom i knew were not gay. There were only a couple of people at our school who were suspected of being gay, and while they were on the receiving end of quite a bit of verbal abuse from their peers, i wasn't involved in this because they were a few years older than me, and most of this sort of peer-group bullying occurred among actual peers, in terms of age.

My school had very little actual bullying, and i was never involved in the sort of thing that Romney is talking about here. My racism and homophobia were mainly things i shared with my like-minded peers. That doesn't make it right, but it does mean that i was not a bully in the sense of actually inflicting physical and emotional distress on other students in my school.

[kaylasdad99]

Originally Posted by Steve MB

If he doesn't remember, then either there's something seriously wrong with him and his mental faculties are breaking down, or there's something seriously wrong with him and he did that kind of stuff so often that no particular incident stands out from the background.

He's a Republican, and he wants America to have a Republican President. Of COURSE there's something seriously wrong with him.

[Robot Arm]

Originally Posted by Baboonanza

It's not like he's lived a life of good deeds to make up for his earlier misdeeds.

Oh, but in Republican terms, he has. He's a Job Creator; one of those noble, self-sacrificing individuals who has stepped up to the thankless task of making our economy work. Without him, and others like him, the rest of us would be fighting over nuts and berries. When you think of how much we owe them, it's only right that the government look for new ways to thank them, and encourage their further efforts. And who better to lead that effort than one of the Job Creators, himself?

[Euphonious Polemic]

Originally Posted by mhendo

I wasn't a bully in the way we're talking about here; i was a racist and a homophobe.


... snip...

My school had very little actual bullying, and i was never involved in the sort of thing that Romney is talking about here. My racism and homophobia were mainly things i shared with my like-minded peers. That doesn't make it right, but it does mean that i was not a bully in the sense of actually inflicting physical and emotional distress on other students in my school.

The thing is, you remember what you were like, and you now recognize that you were wrong to act like that around your friends:
You remember.
You acknowledge.
You have changed.
You're now a better man.

As opposed to Romeny who:
Says he does not remember.
Gave a half-assed apology if anyone was offended
Has not changed, or gained any empathy, based on his current stand on gay marriage, and his feelings towards people whose jobs were lost because of him.
Is the same man now as he was when he assaulted a fellow student.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Euphonious Polemic

The thing is, you remember what you were like, and you now recognize that you were wrong to act like that around your friends:
You remember.
You acknowledge.
You have changed.
You're now a better man.

As opposed to Romeny who:
Says he does not remember.
Gave a half-assed apology if anyone was offended
Has not changed, or gained any empathy, based on his current stand on gay marriage, and his feelings towards people whose jobs were lost because of him.
Is the same man now as he was when he assaulted a fellow student.

I tend to agree about this.

My main problem with Romney in this case is not what he did as a teenager; it's the way that he's handling the issue now.

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by mhendo

I wasn't a bully in the way we're talking about here; i was a racist and a homophobe.

My racism was the sort of generalized prejudice that was never actually directed at individuals. That is, i never used racist language against a member of a minority group, or physically assaulted anyone. The extent of my racism was my mates and i complaining to one another in derogatory terms about immigrants and Aborigines, and using racist epithets to describe them among ourselves.

And that is a huuuuge difference.
It takes a very different level of lack of empathy for someone else to take action on someone you look upon as "lesser being" than it is to just look down on them inside. Whether it's insulting them, pushing them around or holding them down and forcibly giving them a haircut, for one to go so far out of their own way to degrade another human being betrays a serious lack of understanding of how they might feel about it, or of course simply not giving a fuck.
Actually, it's worse than not giving a fuck: it's giving a fuck that they are made to feel smaller.

And not even remembering doing something that traumatic to someone else ? Not remembering you once inflicted that kind of harm ? That's mondo fucked up, and it betrays the fact that he hadn't realized what he'd done was a bad thing, not back then, and not in the long years since.
We forget things about our lives, certainly. Names and places, things we've done, things we've said, good or bad - but never things that made us feel worse about ourselves. The shameful shit - that stays with you forever. That's what floats back up to the surface, unbidden, on long nights when we'd rather remember how the first time we touched a tit felt like. The things you did that you knew were wrong and you knew you shouldn't have done but did anyway and immediately regretted doing. Those leaves scars. Those should leave scars.
And if they didn't, then it must be that they never really wounded you, or bothered you.