# I Pit the Audience of the GOP Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331 "2011-09-23T14:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/61 "2011-09-23T19:58:57Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > I didn’t say anything about you condemning Democrats or liberal people in general as “hating America”. I’m saying that if during Democratic debate the audience boo’d a currently serving soldier you would be criticizing them and the fact that none of the debaters said anything about it. Am I wrong? You said “folks like me”. Presumably, “folks like me” would also include myself. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/62 "2011-09-23T20:04:09Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Was there anything similar for the “Let him die!” comment, or is it just this one that was bad because they flubbed their obligatory fellating of the military? > > -Joe I hadn’t read anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/63 "2011-09-23T20:06:50Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > You said “folks like me”. Presumably, “folks like me” would also include myself. Yes I did and I stand behind it. Now I am not familiar with your posting history since I don’t visit this board very often, but please tell me if I am wrong. If at a Democrat debate a currently serving soldier was boo’d, you would not be as outraged and disappointed that it was practically ignored by the candidates as I am in this instance? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/64 "2011-09-23T20:18:39Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > You don’t chastise the people you’re auditioning for. Which is all part of the viscious foot-shooting cycle the Republicans find themselves in. To get the nomination, the candidates must embrace the very values that will hopelessly doom them in the general election. They all must know this, yet nobody seems to have the guts to say it out loud. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/65 "2011-09-23T20:20:02Z")
And now the backtracking begins: Rick Santorum thanks gay soldier for his service [http://gawker.com/5843390/rick-santorum-thanks-gay-soldier-for-his-service-many-hours-later](http://gawker.com/5843390/rick-santorum-thanks-gay-soldier-for-his-service-many-hours-later) He also had this to say: > [@](#): > > I have to admit, I seriously did not hear those boos. Had I heard them, I certainly would have commented on them, but, as you know, when you’re in that sort of environment, you’re sort of focused on the question and formulating your answer. I just didn’t hear those couple of boos that were out there, but certainly had I, I would have said “Don’t do that. This man is serving our country and we are to thank him for his service.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/66 "2011-09-23T20:26:43Z")
Rick Santorum is a sleazebag of a liar? Who knew? He didn’t hear loud boos emanating from the audience? And if he had, he’d have thanked the man for his service, while promptly reassuring him that under a Santorum White House, the military policy would revert back to “No Fags”? Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/67 "2011-09-23T20:32:07Z")
What does hearing boos have to do with thanking a soldier for his service? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/68 "2011-09-23T20:33:42Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > What does hearing boos have to do with thanking a soldier for his service? Santorum only thanks soldiers who have been booed. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/69 "2011-09-23T20:34:09Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Which is all part of the viscious foot-shooting cycle the Republicans find themselves in. > > To get the nomination, the candidates must embrace the very values that will hopelessly doom them in the general election. They all must know this, yet nobody seems to have the guts to say it out loud. …and I hope you’re right. I just don’t have a lot of faith in the electorate. > [@joebuck20](#): > > Rick Santorum thanks gay soldier for his service …but he’d happily throw the switch on the oven. > [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > What does hearing boos have to do with thanking a soldier for his service? Because his original excuse for not saying anything about it (cuz he’s such an upstanding guy who will totally face up to a mob to protect some homo) was that he “didn’t hear the boos”. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/70 "2011-09-23T20:41:48Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > He didn’t hear loud boos emanating from the audience? Well, in fairness, he did have his head up his ass. ---
**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:** [September 23, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/71 "2011-09-23T20:53:15Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Well, in fairness, he did have his head up his ass. You’d think after all these years in that position, he’d have developed some sort of compensating sense… ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/72 "2011-09-23T20:56:04Z")
Gays shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the military. Or women. Or blacks, Asians, Indians, whites, men, human beings… ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/73 "2011-09-23T20:57:16Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Gays shouldn’t be allowed to serve in the military. Or women. Or blacks, Asians, Indians, whites, men, human beings… Only male WASPs. Ooh, there you go. “Charge, men!” “Bzzzzzzzzz!” -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/74 "2011-09-23T22:20:42Z")
Didn’t Santorum follow with some statement about how military people should’nt be having sex? So, it’s OK to kill, but not have sex? Even the married soldiers? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/75 "2011-09-23T22:26:32Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > Didn’t Santorum follow with some statement about how military people should’nt be having sex? > > So, it’s OK to kill, but not have sex? Even the married soldiers? Well, any moment they’re not actively pulling a trigger is a moment the taxpayers money isn’t getting maximum value. Are you endorsing wasting money that rightfully belongs to American citizens? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/76 "2011-09-23T22:55:45Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Rick Santorum is a sleazebag of a liar? Who knew? He didn’t hear loud boos emanating from the audience? And if he had, he’d have thanked the man for his service, while promptly reassuring him that under a Santorum White House, the military policy would revert back to “No Fags”? > > Uh huh. As far as I can tell from parsing whatever Santorum was trying to say, if it were up to him, everyone in the military would be required to live under the rules of DADT. And be celibate. And yet he’s worried about how letting gay people serve is going to affect recruitment. Even ignoring the anti-gay bigotry, he wasn’t even making sense on his own terms. Not that he was remotely in the running before, but I think this is pretty much the end of Rick Santorum. He’s an embarrassment to the Republican Party, and they’ll throw him under the bus. Sucks to be the guy caught with the dog whistle, but then, it must suck to be Rick Santorum in general. Having to live with the knowledge that people are out there having gay sex and don’t live in shame about it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/77 "2011-09-23T22:59:20Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > I can’t say as I’m surprised to hear them boo, but it did surprise me to hear them boo in the context of the event. You would think they would have \*some \*decorum. Is it not obvious by now that a significant percentage of the right is a bigoted mess? Why keep courting them? Because the bigoted mess votes Republicans; and because by now most of the Republican leadership _is part of_ that bigoted mess. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/78 "2011-09-23T23:55:48Z")
Of course, his answer ignores the fact that gay soldiers have been investigated thoroughly, and that discharges for homosexuality rose during DADT. Oh my God, why am I arguing with Rick Santorum? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/79 "2011-09-23T23:56:52Z")
> [@Cumberdale](#): > > Yes I did and I stand behind it. Now I am not familiar with your posting history since I don’t visit this board very often, but please tell me if I am wrong. If at a Democrat debate a currently serving soldier was boo’d, you would not be as outraged and disappointed that it was practically ignored by the candidates as I am in this instance? Two points: what the soldier says, first and foremost. There was a general of intelligence going around back in the Bush years, wearing full uniform and giving lectures on how God hates Islam. “Booooo!” doesn’t get it. Second, you are operating under a misapprehension, that somehow Dems and lefties are inherently contemptuous of the service. We have often been contemptuous of the purposes to which their service is used. More often than not, and for good reasons. It serves the political interests of our opposition to foster the impression that the left is unpatriotic. If I am the only red-blooded, flag waving, all American radical lefty you’ve ever met, you don’t get out enough. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331/80 "2011-09-24T02:05:59Z")
I hope someone’s keeping track of this shit so we can carpet bomb the entire internet with their douchebaggery come election time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-audience-of-the-gop-debate/597331.md?page=5)