# Can a Republican explain this to me? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 20, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381 "2016-07-20T01:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/61 "2016-07-21T23:38:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > And it’s TroutMan for the win. > > The Republican base doesn’t believe this sort of bullshit. They know it’s bullshit, and they love that Trump can dish bullshit so transparent nobody believes it, but the news media has to act as if they believe Trump believes it. > > Trump doesn’t lie, he bullshits. For him to lie, he’d have to be telling you something with the expectation that you’d believe him. But he doesn’t think you’ll believe him, and he doesn’t care that you don’t believe him. It doesn’t rise to the level of a lie. That that’s something I’ll never comprehend. I don’t understand how someone can come up with the most lunatic bullshit imaginable, which Trump does daily, and people still support him. It’s just baffling. And as others have pointed out on this thread, it’s not even the worst thing Trump or the RNC has done. It’s just the one thing that had me scratching my head this morning. I mean, they literally had a white supremacist give a racist speech on national television in front of God and everybody… and nobody seems to care! I mean, any one of the terribly and terrifying things Trump has said and done would, in any rational universe, completely disqualify him from the Presidency. And yet not only are people willing to overlook these sins, they actually seem to applaud him for being as cruel, hateful, and dishonest as humanly possible. I can’t comprehend what is going on with our world. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/62 "2016-07-22T11:30:38Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I can’t be too upset that one speechwriter intentionally or unintentionally plagiarized another. Best case scenario the writer read other speeches and liked those parts of Michelle’s speech, hopefully not intending to wholesale copy them but winding up doing it accidentally by not double-checking. > > If someone did it intentionally then they are pretty damn stupid but it’s just a speech. Control-z is what the writer should have done, instead it was control-c/control-v. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/63 "2016-07-22T14:34:30Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > All you haters of freedom are missing the point. > > [93% of Melania Trump’s speech was _not_ plagiarized.](http://www.today.com/news/chris-christie-93-percent-melania-trump-s-speech-differed-michelle-t100943) “Your honor, how can you send me to prison ? 93% of my day is spent not selling drugs !” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/64 "2016-07-22T15:01:33Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Control-z is what the writer should have done, instead it was control-c/control-v. The entire Trump campaign at this point is control-y, control-y, control-y. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/65 "2016-07-22T18:07:30Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > The entire Trump campaign at this point is control-y, control-y, control-y. On a meta level, I’m not sure _anyone_ is in control of the Trump campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/66 "2016-07-22T18:32:56Z")
As is often the case, the Onion got the best line: _“I’d have a pretty hard time filling 20 minutes with praise for Donald Trump too.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/67 "2016-07-23T03:45:26Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I’m not sure what you are confused about. In the 2004 election, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry had to endure almost a year of attacks by the ironically named Swift Boat Veterans for Truth over his military record, awards, and conduct, even though the vast majority of their accusations were clearly contradicted by Kerry’s official military record and by his crewmates. While the Bush campaign never formally supported or endorsed the group, several of his biggest backers (Harold Simmons, Bob Perry, T. Boone Pickens) basically bankrolled the organization as a 527 PAC, so for all practical purposes it was an extension of the Bush campaign that was expressly spreading falshoods to discredit Kerry, who inarguably served in a wartime combat role under direct and regular fire, to enhance George W. Bush, who inarguably took a politically appointed Texas Air National Guard position that he was questionably qualified for to avoid the draft and purportedly did not meet all service commitments (though he was honorably discharged in 1973 into the Air Force Reserve, and from thence discharged in 1974, so the two services apparently decided that he’d met requirements). > > Turning a vulnerability or error into an attack by manufacturing controversy about the other candidate’s culpablity or qualification is nothing new, even (or rather, especially) within recent memory. As with many things, Trump’s campaign has just taken the general Republican strategy and dialed it up to 11. And honestly, this is just about the lease unctuous thing that the Trump campaign has done to date. > > Stranger You know, and I am trying not to be partisan here, but it seems to me in the last 20 years of presidential elections the only people to mock veterans were Republicans. They attacked Kerry for being a Swift Boat Commander and proudly wore their little purple heart band-aids at the convention. Then, Trump stated McCain was not a hero and he (I paraphrase) thinks prisoners of war are losers. Maybe someone can prove me wrong, but I cannot think of anytime Hillary, Bill or Obama ever did anything like this. In all sincerity, how can anyone think Republicans are the party which supports the military? Is it because Republicans vote for, and support the idea of, sending young Americans off to die more than Democrats do? I am not sure that is supporting veterans. Veterans need mental health care, medical care, job placement, transitional assistance and a slew of other things. You do not show support for veterans by waving a flag or asking them to go die for you. You support them by helping them after they have made sacrifices. Think about it. Those last two cop shootings were by ex-military. How much did we fail to support them in a way that stipulated young men could serve in our military and then feel so unsupported by society they had to execute cops? That is the question we need to ask ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381/68 "2016-07-23T04:03:48Z")
> [@Lucky\_Mike](#): > > In all sincerity, how can anyone think Republicans are the party which supports the military? Is it because Republicans vote for, and support the idea of, sending young Americans off to die more than Democrats do? The Republicans are always talking about supporting the troops. And in politics, the less you plan to do about something, the more you must talk about it. That also explains Republicans’ approach to reducing the deficit. I got this piece of wisdom from a BBC comedy called _Yes, Minister_. It has served me well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-republican-explain-this-to-me/760381.md?page=3)