# 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:** 220
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4393 "2021-04-11T16:34:15Z")
Also, many “homosexuals” I assume would be sent to this island are bi. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4394 "2021-04-11T16:57:20Z")
I completely agree that Langdon’s remark was stupid and homophobic, as I said. But I disagree that it’s accurately described as saying that “gay people should be sent off to an island”. Rather, it’s a stupid and ill-informed explanation of why he considers same-sex relationships “unnatural” and not “sustainable”. Because if they were isolated, then they’d die out because they can’t reproduce, according to his view. Yes, we all agree that that’s an inaccurate and bigoted representation of how same-sex relationships and reproduction work. All I’m pointing out is that it isn’t the same thing as advocating that homosexual people should be exiled to an island so they can go extinct. It’s like the famous quote attributed to Archimedes: “Give me a lever and a place to stand, and I can move the world.” Archimedes is not saying that he expects or wants somebody to give him those things or that he thinks moving the world would be a good idea. He’s just saying that if this condition is met, then this result will happen. And it seems clear to me that that’s the same rhetoric that Langdon is using about (what he thinks would be) the inevitable natural result of isolating a population of homosexual people. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4395 "2021-04-11T18:40:43Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > And it seems clear to me that that’s the same rhetoric that Langdon is using about (what he thinks would be) the inevitable natural result of isolating a population of homosexual people. The problem is that his premise seems to be that if we sent all the homosexuals to an island and let them die out, we would have no more homosexuals. Part of the subtext is that by isolating those people, their influence on culture would be eliminated, thus our young people would be seduced into “perversion”. We could get rid of this LGBT scourge simply by exiling those people so that normal people can get on with our normal lives without being bothered by them or worried that they might enlist our children. No, he did not explicitly say that, but it is clearly what he meant, and it is othering of the worst kind. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4396 "2021-04-11T19:09:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The problem is that his premise seems to be that if we sent all the homosexuals to an island and let them die out, we would have no more homosexuals. […] > > We could get rid of this LGBT scourge simply by exiling those people so that normal people can get on with our normal lives without being bothered by them or worried that they might enlist our children. > > No, he did not explicitly say that, but it is clearly what he meant […] Not clear to me, at any rate. To me, on the contrary, it seems clear that Langdon’s “gay people on an island” hypothetical was just intended to illustrate the alleged “unnaturalness” of gay sex: “See, we shouldn’t treat this as equivalent to traditional opposite-sex marriage, because it couldn’t even sustain a population on its own!” Homophobic? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Woefully under-informed about how sexuality and reproduction really work? Yes. But actually recommending or advocating that gay people should be exiled to an island so they’ll go extinct and thus “normal people” will be free of them? No, AFAICT, not even in “subtext”. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4397 "2021-04-11T19:16:53Z")
Nothing in this story says that it’s Republicans, but they’ve been carrying the banner for this: > **[WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?! A MILLION IDIOT MARCH!](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/4/10/2025312/-WHAT-IS-WRONG-WITH-PEOPLE-A-MILLION-IDIOT-MARCH?utm_campaign=trending)** > > “You are invited to the Million Maskless March and Mask Burning, Saturday April 10, 2021 at 3pm at the Corner of A1A and Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale!” stated protest organizer Chris Nelson. Maskless March and Mask Burning…When I read those five words... Fortunately, they didn’t get a Million. Apparently they got “hundreds” > **[‘Million Maskless March’ takes place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article250591824.html)** > > Hundreds of protestors gathered to march and burn masks in opposition to the mask mandates due to COVID-19 during the 'Million Maskless March' Lauderdale Beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday, April 10, 2021. > **[Hundreds participate in 'Million Maskless March' in Fort Lauderdale](https://www.wptv.com/news/state/broward/hundreds-participate-in-million-maskless-march-in-fort-lauderdale)** > > Hundreds of protesters took over a Fort Lauderdale boulevard for the “Million Maskless March” this weekend. > **[‘It's Just Freedom of Speech': Hundreds of Maskless Protesters Flood A1A,...](https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/its-just-freedom-of-speech-hundreds-of-maskless-protesters-flood-a1a-discrediting-science-behind-face-coverings/2425604/)** > > Hundreds of protestors took over AIA and Las Olas Boulevard Saturday for the Million Maskless March. The event protested the use of face masks one year after they became mandatory in Broward County. Many protestors were carrying American flags and... ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4398 "2021-04-11T19:24:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Nothing in this story says that it’s Republicans, but they’ve been carrying the banner for this Given all the anti-Biden and “MAGA” and “Deplorable” sloganeering in the protestors’ signs and garments, I think that’s a safe bet. I’m sure they weren’t turning away any dipshit COVIDiot/maskhole Democrats who happened to turn up, though. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4399 "2021-04-11T19:29:44Z")
Gems: > [@](#): > > “No masks,” said protestor Sandra Chase. “They don’t work and everyone knows that they don’t work. Their time has come and gone and they’re just trying to lock people down. It’s all political.” 🤨 > [@](#): > > “I don’t think anyone should be told they need to wear masks because no, that cuts off your oxygen supply and really affects your health,” said Marni, a protestor. > > “We all should have the right to decide for ourselves what’s best for our family within terms of breathing and such and what we put inside of our bodies.” 🤦‍♂️ 😫 ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4401 "2021-04-11T20:35:16Z")
While I think you are technically correct, let’s not compare that guy to Archimedes. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4402 "2021-04-11T21:22:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Fortunately, they didn’t get a Million. Apparently they got “hundreds” You know that thing your mother used to say, "Well, if hundreds of other people \<_did some stupid hazardous thing_\>, would you do it, too? Apparently, for some, the answer is, “HELL YES!” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4403 "2021-04-11T23:01:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Gems: > > > [@](#): > > > > “No masks,” said protestor Sandra Chase. “They don’t work and everyone knows that they don’t work. Their time has come and gone and they’re just trying to lock people down. It’s all political.” > > 🤨 > > > [@](#): > > > > “I don’t think anyone should be told they need to wear masks because no, that cuts off your oxygen supply and really affects your health,” said Marni, a protestor. > > > > “We all should have the right to decide for ourselves what’s best for our family within terms of breathing and such and what we put inside of our bodies.” > > 🤦‍♂️ 😫 I laugh a little, then I cry a little. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4404 "2021-04-11T23:11:23Z")
It’s always special when they claim that actually wearing a mask is political. As if Trump the Republican downplaying masking isn’t the political aspect of this. It never fails to boggle my mind how completely, 180 degrees from reality, fundamentally and absolutely wrong Republicans are. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4405 "2021-04-12T01:06:30Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > It never fails to boggle my mind how completely, 180 degrees from reality, fundamentally and absolutely wrong Republicans are.- But they’re consistent. These days they never deviate from utter stupidity. Ya gotta give 'em that. 🤨 ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4406 "2021-04-12T01:46:31Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > It’s also plenty stupid to imagine that an isolated population of homosexual people, even if none of them were willing to engage in opposite-sex sexual activity, wouldn’t figure out effective strategies of artificial insemination to be able to reproduce. Back to Langdon’s vision of shipping gays off to an isolated island: I suspect that the possibility of artificial insemination would be a totally unthought-of non-sequiter in his mind. I suspect that his only concept of “homosexuals” is male homosexuals, and the idea of female homosexuals probably doesn’t even occur to him. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4407 "2021-04-12T02:19:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I suspect that his only concept of “homosexuals” is male homosexuals, and the idea of female homosexuals probably doesn’t even occur to him. It never does - note how almost every anti-transgender argument about bathrooms or sports seems to completely forget that transmen exist as well. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4408 "2021-04-12T04:02:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > But they’re consistent. These days they never deviate from utter stupidity. Ya gotta give 'em that. 🤨 Even a stopped clock is right twice a day but what about one that keeps perfect time but is two hours, forty-two minutes off? So what if it’s consistent? ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4409 "2021-04-12T13:06:15Z")
Surely I didn’t need the sarcasm tag. ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4410 "2021-04-12T13:38:14Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I laugh a little, then I cry a little. Every day. My current local favorite, in response to another maskhole’s post in support of a business offering discounts to those who trash their mask : “I was in a county yesterday that you can probably visit and not wear a mask! They only have 187 active cases and not a mask in site! [Our county] , on the other hand, has 5 active cases and we’re still wearing masks! Go figure!” There are no words. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4411 "2021-04-12T20:08:33Z")
Young Americans for Freedom tried to mock Pete Buttigieg for posting about the racism embedded in highway building in America. It did not go well for them. > **[A conservative org tried to mock Pete Buttigieg for denouncing racism. It...](https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/04/conservative-org-tried-mock-pete-buttigieg-denouncing-racism-blew-face/)** > > They got schooled by everyone - even the Libertarian Party of Texas... ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4412 "2021-04-12T20:19:46Z")
John Cornyn questioning whether Biden is really in charge because he doesn’t tweet enough. > ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/4413 "2021-04-12T20:26:15Z")
Extra History had an episode on the legacy of [Robert Moses](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmC5T-2d6Xw) in February. If you know the name, 'nuff said. If you don’t, watch the ten-minute episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=219) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=221)