# "Family Values" Republican Hoisted by his Own Petard **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474 "2009-09-09T21:01:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/41 "2009-09-10T17:01:55Z")
“Lobbyist” is a so much nicer word than “whore.” It looks better on the resume. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/42 "2009-09-10T17:29:42Z")
Petard is a funny word. It’s fun to say, petard, petard, petard! ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/43 "2009-09-10T18:05:24Z")
What I found most distasteful was the utter classlessness of it all. Listening to him extolling his own exploits like that sounded like some of the clueless jerks I knew in high school. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/44 "2009-09-10T18:19:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Petard is a funny word. It’s fun to say, petard, petard, petard! Especially when you consider that it means “Fart” in French > [@](#): > > The word petard comes from the Middle French peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas, from Latin peditum, from neuter of peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind; akin to Greek bdein to break wind. (Merriam-Webster) Petard remains a French word meaning a firecracker today (in French slang, it means a handgun, or a joint). > **[Petard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard)** > > A petard is a small bomb used for blowing up gates and walls when breaching fortifications, originally invented in France in 1579. A typical petard was a conical or rectangular metal device containing 2–3 kilograms (4–7 lb) of gunpowder, with a slow match for a fuse. > Pétard comes from the Middle French péter, to fart, from the root pet, expulsion of intestinal gas, derived from the Latin peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind. In modern French, a pétard is a firecracker (and it is th... Which makes its use as the name of a small bomb particularly interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/45 "2009-09-10T18:25:32Z")
[Did you read what he said?](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/gop_lawmakers_graphic_sex-bragging_caught_on_tape.php) \ ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/46 "2009-09-10T18:29:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Which makes its use as the name of a small bomb particularly interesting. Not accidental, however: [Origin of the phrase](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hoist%20by%20your%20own%20petard.html) > [@](#): > > A petard is, or rather was, as they have long since fallen out of use, a small engine of war used to blow breaches in gates or walls. They were originally metallic and bell-shaped but later cubical wooden boxes. Whatever the shape, the significant feature was that they were full of gunpowder - basically what we would now call a bomb. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/47 "2009-09-10T18:36:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Not accidental, however I kinda thought that was too obvious to spell out. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/48 "2009-09-10T18:38:42Z")
Well, it is. But because you seemed to be marveling at it, it sounded as though you thought it was just a neat coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/49 "2009-09-10T18:39:34Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > [Story Here](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/duvall_resigns_after_sex_bragging.php?ref=fpa) > > See, this is why you never go full Petard. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > **Interesting that he thinks the problem was his “comments” rather than his actions or his hypocrisy**. This is known as “The Petard Maneuver” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/50 "2009-09-10T18:47:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Interesting that he thinks the problem was his “comments” rather than his actions or his hypocrisy. Another instance of cognitive dissonance. Why, I’d say this guy is mentally petarded. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/51 "2009-09-10T18:50:56Z")
I wonder if Colbert is going to interview her for his “Better Know a Lobbyist” series. ---
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/52 "2009-09-10T18:52:49Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > \*\*Whore! \*\* > > You mean whore don’t you? Yes, but I wasn’t going to broadcast it. Plus, I wasn’t sure on the rules here in MPSIMS. It’s not the pit, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/53 "2009-09-10T19:04:06Z")
> [@StaudtCJ](#): > > Yes, but I wasn’t going to broadcast it. Plus, I wasn’t sure on the rules here in MPSIMS. It’s not the pit, after all. I think it’s okay here in MPSIMS as long as you are not calling another poster a whore … unless of course it’s in an “Ask the Whore” thread, in which case it’s perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/54 "2009-09-10T20:53:42Z")
Apparently now he’s using the “I’m a liar, not a cheater” defense. [“my offense was engaging in inappropriate storytelling.”](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090910/ap_on_re_us/us_california_lawmaker_sex_comments) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/55 "2009-09-10T21:05:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Lobbyist” is a so much nicer word than “whore.” It looks better on the resume. I’ve just invented a new game called Who’s the Whore? As a lobbyist, she’s probably funnelling money to his election campaigns, and maybe straight into his wallet. That would make him the whore, and the lobbying firm the pimp. From another POV, she’s being paid by the lobbying firm to have sex with legislators, so he can fantasize that she really loves him for his personal dynamisn and his fearless polical stances. That makes her the whore, the firm the john, and him an idiot. I’m sure there’s another metphor lurking nearby that makes the energy companies the pimp, the lobbying firm the whore, and reduces these two people to the position of stained sheets. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/56 "2009-09-10T23:50:41Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Won’t her alma mater and family be proud to learn how she has put all these advantages to work: sucking the dick of an aging married politician so he’ll vote the way her corporation wants. That’s not what I read in the excerpt. Please keep the facts straight! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/57 "2009-09-11T00:09:52Z")
> [@StaudtCJ](#): > > Possible divorce? With any luck [California](http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i823_initiative_09-0026.pdf)will pass the [2010 California Protection of Marriage Act](http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/divorce/divorce.php) before another sacred heterosexual marriage succumbs to the devil. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/58 "2009-09-11T09:04:05Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > [2010 California Protection of Marriage Act](http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/divorce/divorce.php) That man is a genius, and I wish him well. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474/59 "2009-09-11T14:19:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The mike is always hot. The gun is always loaded. Learn it. Live it. Quoted for truth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-values-republican-hoisted-by-his-own-petard/509474.md?page=2)