# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140 "2020-06-22T07:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 201
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4010 "2021-03-17T21:59:30Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > So, I’m left with only one conclusion - POWER (as he sees it). [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/032/676/Unlimited_Power_Banner.jpg) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/032/676/Unlimited_Power_Banner.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4011 "2021-03-17T23:08:16Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > The thing with Mitch is that this isn’t a new development. I have often asked myself the same question - why does he do it? It’s not just about personal or generational wealth. He’s doing well in that regard, but not RICH rich. If he wanted to be RICH rich, he’d be better off in the private sector - or retiring a long time ago and moving into the “former Senator” gravy train. The way former Senators make money is through their influence on current Senators. Where Mitch is now (even as ‘mere’ minority leader) gives him far more influence on current Senators than he could have if he retired and went to work for fat-cat lobbyists. I think Aspenglow is right: ol’ Mitch has money connections (illicit, illegal and corrupt) that we don’t know about. And he doesn’t care to give them up. And he doesn’t care to go to prison for them, either. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4012 "2021-03-18T03:03:02Z")
The majority leader of the Kansas state Senate was arrested for driving drunk and driving the wrong way down the highway. The judge dismissed the charges due to lack of probable cause. > **[Kansas Senate Majority Leader was arrested on suspicion of DUI after 911...](https://www.businessinsider.com/top-kansas-republican-arrested-released-for-dui-2021-3)** > > The Kansas Highway Patrol arrested Gene Suellentrop in downtown Topeka after "a short pursuit." He was released from jail Tuesday morning. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4013 "2021-03-18T04:40:18Z")
I expect the highway patrol officer will be fired. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4014 "2021-03-18T04:55:28Z")
Kansas Senate president says the appropriate response is to pray for the drunk-driving Kansas Senate majority leader. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4015 "2021-03-18T04:57:56Z")
Just prayers? No thoughts? That’s pretty harsh. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4016 "2021-03-18T04:59:39Z")
I believe thoughts are added when someone has been shot. If just arrested for drunk driving, prayers are apparently sufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4017 "2021-03-18T05:04:51Z")
I think your at least partially right, but he doesn’t seem to be maximizing his personal power so much as his party’s power. My feeling is that he just really likes the game of politics, he is really good at it and he plays to win, regardless of the consequences. Rather like a billionaire who keeps trying to maximize his profit, not because he has any plan for the money, but because its what he’s always done. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4018 "2021-03-18T07:10:06Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > He [Mitch McConnell] never got picked as the ‘Captain’ of his grade school basket ball team at a recess game. I imagine he was never great at any sports. He had polio in 1944 at age 2, was in rehab at FDR’s Warm Springs polio rehab center; he recovered, but has been gimpy in one leg all his life. [DuckDuckGo search turns up many articles on the topic.](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mitch+mcconnell+childhood+polio&t=ffab&ia=web) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4019 "2021-03-18T15:10:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The majority leader of the Kansas state Senate was arrested for driving drunk and driving the wrong way down the highway. The judge dismissed the charges due to lack of probable cause. As noted, this clown was released because of missing information in the arrest report. By all indications, criminal charges will soon be filed, presumably with all needed info. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4020 "2021-03-18T15:15:57Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > …because of missing information in the arrest report… Could that have been done deliberately by a cop who didn’t want to put his ass in a sling? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4021 "2021-03-18T15:29:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Could that have been done deliberately by a cop who didn’t want to put his ass in a sling? IMO, I don’t think so. Given that the arrest happened at 3 am, I think that everything was done hastily so as to put something ‘official’ on the morning news cycle, before some reporter broke the story. Law-breaking legislators, even Kansas Republicans, are not well-liked by law enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4022 "2021-03-18T16:08:42Z")
Meanwhile, the Kansas Senate passed a bill barring trans girls from participating in high school girls’ sports. Because fairness to girls or something. According to an op-ed in the Kansas City Star, there are a total of five trans female athletes in the state, so obviously this is a higher priority than things like state medicaid expansion or public school funding. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4023 "2021-03-18T16:17:06Z")
Well, to be fair, forcing publishers to print books that depict racist themes seems to be big on the Republican radar these days too. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4024 "2021-03-18T16:53:39Z")
Exactly! He has found a game he is really good at, and is addicted to playing. Like a gambling addict, he gets the big endorphin hit every time he bets and wins. And that is really as far as it goes for him. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4025 "2021-03-18T17:17:23Z")
When we see the attempts a Gerrymandering and voter suppression, we see racism, a subversion of democracy and an attempt to enforce the will of the minority over that of the majority. All McConnell sees is mate in three. I think that this the reason that McConnell broke with most of his party to stand against Trump’s attempt to steal the election. McConnell realized that Trumps coup attempt would literally be a game changer. It would throw the board up in the air and scatter all the pieces that McConnell had worked so hard to put in place. Afterwards there was no guarantee that his skills as master manipulator of the current system would translate to the new environment. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4026 "2021-03-18T18:19:22Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Meanwhile, the Kansas Senate passed a bill barring trans girls from participating in high school girls’ sports. AFAICT it’s hoped that [a recently viral video arguing against the same sort of measures in Missouri](https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1371497868268212227) will change some minds? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4027 "2021-03-18T20:15:21Z")
Congressman Chip Roy, at a hearing about anti-Asian violence, praises lynching and goes into a rant about the Chinese Communists. > **['I Meant It': Chip Roy Responds to Outrage Over Comments Extolling Lynching](https://www.mediaite.com/politics/i-meant-it-chip-roy-responds-to-outrage-over-comments-extolling-lynching/)** > > Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) responded to complaints about his comments extolling the virtues of lynching at a hearing on violence against Asian Americans Thursday. Speaking at a Judiciary Committee hearing on violence and discrimination against Asian... > **[Republican Rep. Chip Roy complains about China at a hearing about anti-Asian...](https://www.businessinsider.com/chip-roy-complains-about-china-at-anti-asian-violence-hearing-2021-3)** > > Roy employed whataboutism — a Soviet-era propaganda tactic — to go on a tirade against China amid a rising wave of anti-Asian violence. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4028 "2021-03-18T20:19:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Chip Roy, at a hearing about anti-Asian violence, praises lynching and goes into a rant about the Chinese Communists. His [actual remarks](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chip-roy-toby-keith-lynching-lyric_n_605394a6c5b6fce6ee96b320) are even more SMHy. > [@](#): > > GOP Rep’s ‘Old Saying’ About Lynchings Is Really Just A Toby Keith Lyric […] > > It happened when Roy, whose own remarks during the hearing were [largely off topic](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chip-roy-asian-american-violence-hearing_n_60536f85c5b6f93a1d04ef03), claimed that the hearing was venturing “away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys.” > > Roy then suggested lynchings were the way to go. > > “There’s old sayings in Texas about ‘Find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree,’” he said. “You know, we take justice very seriously. And we ought to do that. Round up the bad guys. That’s what we believe.” > > However, many Twitter users noted that Roy’s supposed old Texas saying isn’t that old, or even from Texas. It’s actually a lyric from the song “[Beer For My Horses](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1JOFhfoAD4),” which Keith ― who was born in Oklahoma ― released in 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4029 "2021-03-18T20:31:49Z")
Kevin McCarthy says he didn’t vote to overturn the election, he only voted to overturn the results of two states. [https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mccarthy-election-states-iowa-vote](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mccarthy-election-states-iowa-vote) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=202)