# A Poll for republicans, pharisees, and wingnuts. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 22, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160 "2005-01-22T23:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/41 "2005-01-23T06:38:15Z")
Well, I’m not a Republican…but… I’m really not sure if I’m a pharisee or a wingnut. How can I tell? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/42 "2005-01-23T06:44:26Z")
I always thought a wingnut was someone with big ears. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/43 "2005-01-23T06:51:38Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Well, I’m not a Republican…but… > > I’m really not sure if I’m a pharisee or a wingnut. How can I tell? Well, if you skulk around in a sinister way with shifty eyes and a sly expression in Biblical epics, you’re a pharisee. If you’re about 1/2 inch in diameter, shiny and have great big flanges coming out your sides, you’re a wingnut. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/44 "2005-01-23T06:58:06Z")
> [@Primaflora](#): > > Wow, **kam** , I’ve never heard wingnut as a derogatory term for Asian here in Queensland or in NZ. Peter Jackson’s film company is Wingnut Productions and it’s definitely not a racist term there. > > Is it a Melbourne thing? Must be. I have to admit that I haven’t heard it used by anybody else but grumpy old blokes who served in the forces back in WW2 in recent years, but _WingNut_ and _Wingers_ was extremely common around these southern climes back in the 70’s and 80’s in particular. The current generation call their Asian mates Phong and Joe…'cos that’s their names. 😃 Dontcha just love local antiquated colloquialisms. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/45 "2005-01-23T07:02:58Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > …If you’re about 1/2 inch in diameter, shiny and have great big flanges coming out your sides, you’re a wingnut. Or you are miniaturized Mouseketeer. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/46 "2005-01-23T08:04:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > If you’re about 1/2 inch in diameter, shiny and have great big flanges coming out your sides, you’re a wingnut. What if you’re 1/2 inch in diamiter with flanges coming out of your sides, and skulk around in biblical epics? “Jesus of Nazareth must be silenced! Oh, and can someone tighten me?” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/47 "2005-01-23T13:43:29Z")
“Wingnuts” are also hardcore _West Wing_ fans. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/48 "2005-01-23T15:50:38Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I always thought a wingnut was someone with big ears. Now, I’ve heard Ross Perot called a lot of things before now, but a wingnut? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/49 "2005-01-23T16:11:19Z")
Perhaps wingnuts could refer to ardent bird fanciers. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/50 "2005-01-23T16:20:13Z")
I was going to start a thread about this myself. The idea of that tyrannical bastard plagiarizing from Harry Truman and representing himself as a crusader against tryanny is so bitterly vile that were it a snake poison, it would kill its host. Naively, I thought that at last the board’s left and I could find a common ground on which to stand. But come to find out, it’s nothing more to you than something to joke about. What. The. Fuck? How is it that you can blather endlessly about his haircut, his accent, and even his goofy smirk, but the actual danger the man represents flies over your heads like a high altitude jet stream. I mean, are you people on drugs or something? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/51 "2005-01-23T16:20:22Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > In A.D. 2005 > Thread was beginning. > Captain: What the fuck? > Mechanic: Somebody set up us the tilde. > Operator: We get post. > Captain: What ! > Operator: Main screen turn on. > Captain: It’s You !! > Cats: How are you g~!! > Cats: All your coherence are belong to u~!! > Cats: I lumped Republicans and ‘pharisees’ together. > Captain: The fuck you say !! > Cats: Please respond whether you consider yourself to be enlightened. > Cats: HA HA HA HA … > Gaudere: Move ‘thread’. > Gaudere: For great justice. Bravo! 😃 Anyways, a wingnut is a person who is a rabid fan of the Detroit Red Wings. Don’t see what that has to do with Dubya and his Posse, but I’m not the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/52 "2005-01-23T16:27:38Z")
The sole and dreadful consolation in this whole terrible metamorphosis of America is that the vast majority of the people losing their liberty are giving it up voluntarily, and deserve not to have it. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/53 "2005-01-23T17:05:08Z")
> [@](#): > > How is it that you can blather endlessly about his haircut, his accent, and even his goofy smirk, but the actual danger the man represents flies over your heads like a high altitude jet stream. I mean, are you people on drugs or something? Oh, good. I was checking the most recent additions to this thread, and I was thinking to myself, “you know what’s missing from this discussion? A bit of sanctimonious prickery from **Liberal** , that’s what.” Thanks for the scold, Grandma. Now my ship has well and truly been righted. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/54 "2005-01-23T17:21:20Z")
WingNut? Antiquated? Shirley, you jest! I use that term all the time, and so do a lot of my friends. Our friend ~? is using it correctly. WingNut: A nutty person who resides on an extreme political wing. AKA Crazy political fanatic, hopefully only seen in headlines after bombing government buildings or shooting up abortion clinics or spiking trees. Lately seen more and more often in mainstream protests, hosting Fox “news” programs, and in the Oval Office. See also: Biplane WingNut, i.e. Phred Phelps. See also: SchwingNut, i.e. Ann Coulter. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/55 "2005-01-23T17:25:40Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > How is it that you can blather endlessly about his haircut, his accent, and even his goofy smirk, but the actual danger the man represents flies over your heads like a high altitude jet stream. I mean, are you people on drugs or something? Oh, we’re well aware of the actual danger he represents, make no mistake. Making fun of his haircut, accent, and smirk are just fringe benefits. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/56 "2005-01-23T17:33:25Z")
I’ve got it. I’m a pharischwingnut. ::eyes darting with conspiratorial intensity as he madly sports impressive wood:: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/57 "2005-01-23T17:40:52Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > I’ve got it. > > I’m a pharischwingnut. 😃 Help me out here. There must be at least one big-time political extremist from Buffalo, right? Is Frank Perdue a political extremist? How are Rove and Ashcroft going to save this country? On a WingNut and a PrayerNut. Eh, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/58 "2005-01-23T17:48:24Z")
My cousin was once half of a folkie duo called _Wingnut Buckbolt._ I know some Honda Gold Wing owners who call themselves wingnuts. **Liberal,** when I heard about that stuff in the speech about wiping out tyranny in the world, I first thought, “Well, that’s it. He’s gone completely off the edge.” Then, I reconsidered. First, I could be wrong about exactly when he went through the guard rail. Second, if we get out of Iraq in time, he clearly intends to jump into another war right away. After all, we haven’t even worked through the Axis Of Evil yet. I didn’t watch the speech. When it came on, I realized I didn’t have enough Old Crow to get through the speech while watching our warlord president. I read it in the next day’s paper, so I could get it in small, almost bearable chunks. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/59 "2005-01-23T17:52:07Z")
Actually, I turned to drugs in an effort to rid myself of the images of a smirking George Bush that have been haunting me everywhere the past several years. Hasn’t worked all that well, though. Now in these hallucinations, I keep seeing him repeating the word ‘freedom’ like a looped recording as flecks of spittle accumulate near his lips and a strange lump on his back pulses with a strange, deep reddish glow. Freaks me right out, I’m telling you. ---
**Author:** ![rwjefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@rwjefferson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rwjefferson)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160/60 "2005-01-23T18:24:02Z")
> [@Tenar](#): > > **rwjefferson** , you might want to re-think your use of the word “Pharisees” to connote ignorance or craziness. It really has neither implication when used properly. > > Otherwise, rant on if it makes you happy. Frankly, although I think “W” sucks eggs, I think this whole subject is both long-since beaten to death and pointless to puruse for the ka-zillionth time on this board. I do not use pharisee to mean either crazy or ignorant. The crazies and ignorant are nowhere near as great a Threat to Liberty. I Am open for a better word to use that conveys my meaning. Until then, please accept: ``` pharisee (def): One who believes in the Law (or Word) over the Truth or the Ideal. etymology – The Pharisees were a religious sect that believed their Holy Book(s) was law. They do not understand or agree to the Separation of Church and State. They see Truth as a Threat to Law. If they obtain enough power, they take steps to silence or eliminate the messenger(s). ``` Bad news: The pharisees have prospered and multiplied. They still (again?) rule: both Church and State. They may Know the Law, but they cannot Understand the Truth. The main argument I hear about why it’s okay for a certain tyrannies, is that it is WRITTEN. They then point to the Bible or the Constitution. They are not aware that their tyranny violates the spirit of God and Country. “It’s the Law. I Believe. I’m a Christian.” **pharisees** : Admit who you are, if this is not accurate, explain it to me. Yes, we must beat this lumbering elephant of a beast until stops its rampage and is tamed. And yes, I do feel so much better now. Thanks. r~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-poll-for-republicans-pharisees-and-wingnuts/286160.md?page=4)