# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 1)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140>\
**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:** 269

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5380 "2021-05-28T15:21:09Z")

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There may be some Republicans that are not crazy, but most of those are just vile assholes. The contemporary Republican agenda is itself loathsome and detestable, which means that anyone who subscribes to it (calls themself a Republican) is at the very least defective. Crazy, evil or perhaps just an idiot. Or some combination of those things.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5381 "2021-05-28T15:57:43Z")

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Yeah, my conservative friends no longer volunteer their affiliation, but if it comes up (near the end of Happy Hour), they’ll say “Well, I used to say I’m a Republican. But now, I have to say ‘I used to vote Republican, but I’m not anything like the Republicans today…’”

ETA: One of the guys used to be treasurer of the state Republican party. He just goes straight into an anti-Pubbie rant:

“As a lifelong Republican, I don’t even recognize this party of grifters and traitors. And do they have ANY conservative values? Hell, we used to be the party of Fiscal Responsibility and Small Government! HA! That lasted until we got a taste of power and decided Big Government’s okay if it’s OURS…”

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5382 "2021-05-28T16:11:16Z")

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Our governor Larry Hogan is not actively vile or incompetent and has publicly rejected Trump. I’m still unlikely to vote for his reelection as long as the Democrats put up someone marginally competent, but he does pass the Marion Barry test.

The Marion Barry test is a test I used to give myself to gauge whether I was becoming blindly partisan. If the choice was between a given Republican and a corrupt Democrat who had been convicted of using crack with prostitutes who would I pick. Pre Trump, most Republicans would pass the test. Now days there is barely a handful that would.

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5383 "2021-05-28T18:20:03Z")

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Matt Gaetz tells his fans to be prepared to overthrow the government

> **[Matt Gaetz Tells Fans to Carry Out ‘Armed Rebellion’ Against Government if...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/matt-gaetz-tells-fans-to-carry-out-armed-rebellion-against-government-if-neccessary)**
>
> Having learned precisely zero lessons from the Capitol riot, the troubled congressman whipped up a Georgia crowd on Thursday night.

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5384 "2021-05-28T18:23:08Z")

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The Pennsylvania Republican-led legislature just passed a law requiring women to fill out a death certificate form if they have a miscarriage and pay for burial or cremation. Oh, and to pay for the form. The Democratic governors said he will veto it.

> **[Penn. GOP lawmakers pass bill that fines women for miscarriages](https://thegrio.com/2021/05/27/pennsylvania-lawmakers-pass-miscarriage-bill/)**
>
> Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have voted to fine women who miscarry and force them to fill out a Fetal Death Certificate form.

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5385 "2021-05-28T18:51:17Z")

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[tick-tock-Gaetz says that](https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/1398094811169624065) we are not going to be canceled by the hall monitors in Silicon Valley – we have a Second Amendment in this country and we should be prepared to use it. A nicely timed raving in light of nine people in Milpitas who did not return home to their families.

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5386 "2021-05-28T18:53:31Z")

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Individual 1 appointee to the West Point Board of Governors says that Biden is trying to replace white people with people of color.

> **[Trump appointee on West Point Board spreads conspiracy that Biden is...](https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/politics/kfile-macgregor2)**
>
> A Trump appointee serving on West Point's advisory board has repeatedly spread a conspiracy that the Biden administration is bringing in non-White immigrants as part of a "grand plan" to have them outnumber White Americans of European ancestry in the...

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5387 "2021-05-28T19:22:05Z")

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> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> The Pennsylvania Republican-led legislature just passed a law requiring women to fill out a death certificate form if they have a miscarriage and pay for burial or cremation. Oh, and to pay for the form. The Democratic governors said he will veto it.  
> [https://thegrio.com/2021/05/27/pennsylvania-lawmakers-pass-miscarriage-bill](https://thegrio.com/2021/05/27/pennsylvania-lawmakers-pass-miscarriage-bill)

Jesus Fucking Christ.

Will you and the fucking lazy, incompetent morons who so often try to pass for journalists in the modern age, take five minutes to do your fucking research before you spout complete bullshit.

First, you have misreported the news report. The “Republican-led legislature” has not passed any such law. The House Health Committee has voted to “Report Bill As Committed.” It has not been voted on in the House; it has not been voted on in the Senate. It is nowhere near going to the Governor’s desk for signature or veto.

Here’s a [handy PDF](http://www.pacapitol.com/Resources/ViewFile.cfm?File=%2FResources%2FPDF%2FEducational%2FBiography%2Dof%2DBill%2D2015%2Epdf), helpfully provided by the State Capitol, about how laws get made in Pennsylvania.

Second, the news report has misrepresented the bill. Here is the [text](https://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2021&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=0118&pn=0086) of the bill. It’s less than three double-spaced pages long. Nowhere does it require “women to fill out a death certificate form if they have a miscarriage.” Nowhere in the law is a death certificate mentioned. Pennsylvania already has a fetal death certificate, required in certain cases, but those certificates are required for the health facilities, not the mothers.

I’m not arguing that this is a good law. The ACLU of Pennsylvania opposes it, for reasons that you can find [here](https://aclupa.org/en/legislation/hb-118-disposition-fetal-remains). And basically all of those reasons have to do with the fact that it creates new and unnecessary burdens for health clinics.

Would you please, for the love of the Baby Jesus, learn to turn on your research, analysis, and critical thinking faculties BEFORE you report whatever fucking idiocy you stumble across during your interminable news scraping?

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**Author:** ![SoToasty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sotoasty/32/2803_2.png) [@SoToasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoToasty)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5388 "2021-05-28T19:40:28Z")

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I agree with mhendo on the bill and what it says about parents having to fill out death certificates. What I find more serious about this bill, is that it might be used later to stop abortions, or to start charging with Murder/Mansalughter, Dr’s who perform them or mother’s who have them. They have put a definition of unborn child in the bill that states. “An individual organism of the species homo sapiens from fertilization until expulsion or extraction from its mother.”

So basically re-defining an unborn child to start from conception.

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**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5389 "2021-05-28T19:40:40Z")

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Don’t you get it? Recreational outrage is _au current_!

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5390 "2021-05-28T19:51:53Z")

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> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> (Quoting The Daily Beast)  
> Having learned precisely zero lessons from the Capitol riot, the troubled congressman whipped up a Georgia crowd on Thursday night.

Well, he learned one thing: you can get away with it and suffer no consequences…

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5391 "2021-05-28T21:08:14Z")

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> [@eschereal](#):
>
> wharrgarbls about how she and tick-tock-Gaetz are taking control of the Republican Party.

She might not be wrong.

> [@SuntanLotion](#):
>
> Does anyone here find any republicans okay? Is there one that is considered …not crazy?

There’s one who is, at least, “concerned”.

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**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5392 "2021-05-28T21:14:56Z")

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> [@SuntanLotion](#):
>
> Does anyone here find any republicans okay? Is there one that is considered …not crazy?

Peter Meijer, who represents Michigan’s 3rd District in the House, is a smart and thoughtful guy. I can think of a whole bunch of areas where I disagree with his policy preferences, but he’s certainly not a nutjob. He was also one of the few Republican members of the House to vote in favor of impeaching Trump at the start of this year. He’s from the family that started the Meijer superstore chain.

There’s a pretty long interview with him [here](https://reason.com/podcast/2021/02/10/rep-peter-meijer-only-gop-freshman-who-voted-to-impeach-trump-tells-all/).

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**Author:** ![PackerMan2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/packerman2/32/2894_2.png) [@PackerMan2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PackerMan2)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5393 "2021-05-28T21:47:50Z")

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Adam Kinzinger is not a nutbag or total scumbag.

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**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5394 "2021-05-28T21:50:48Z")

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Quite a few. But the top requirement is to acknowledge the direction that their party leaders are currently taking them is sheer madness.

Susan Delpercio  
Adam Kinsinger  
Denver Riggleman  
Justin Amash (no longer a Republican, I believe)  
Steve Schmidt  
Mitt Romney  
Lisa Murkowski  
Chuck Hagel  
Charlie Crist (former Republican)  
Liz Cheney (a name I never thought I’d utter a word of admiration for)  
Rick Wilson  
George Conway  
Reed Galen  
John Bellinger  
Joe Scarborough  
George Will  
Richard Painter  
Jennifer Rubin  
Bill Krystal  
Max Boot  
Evan McMullin (now an independent, I believe)  
James Comey  
Brett McGurk  
Olivia Troye  
William Cohen  
Michael Hayden (and I hate this guy)  
Tom Ridge  
Colin Powell  
James Mattis  
Christine Todd Whitman  
William McRaven  
David Kelley  
Richard Armitage

There are more, but you get the idea.

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**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:** [May 28, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5395 "2021-05-28T21:55:29Z")

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I guess those are all officially RINOs now.

ETA: Yes, even Liz.

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**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:** [May 29, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5396 "2021-05-29T02:45:10Z")

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Paul Gosar misquotes a U2 song to honor the Capitol rioter who was shot while trying to murder him.

> <https://mobile.twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1398335859166912514>
>
> Justice For Ashli Babbitt @ForAshli

Bono ought to slap him silly.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5397 "2021-05-29T02:52:52Z")

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> [@Aspenglow](#):
>
> Quite a few. But the top requirement is to acknowledge the direction that their party leaders are currently taking them is sheer madness.

Steve Schmidt and Joe Scarborough have both left the Republican party. Schmidt is now a Democrat, and Scarborough is an independent.

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**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2021, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5398 "2021-05-29T03:23:51Z")

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I’d like to also mention Bill Cassidy, a currently seated senator from the Deep South who voted for both impeachment and the January 6th commission. While I know the list of Republicans that don’t support Trump is long (although not nearly as long as it should be), it’s a lot easier for the pundits than the elected officials, and it’s really hard for currently serving elected officials. Collins, Murkoski, Romney and Sasse get a lot of press for their failure to board the Trump train, but Cassidy manages to somewhat keep his principles and slide under the radar.

Now these politicians advocate for a lot of positions I disagree strongly with and a lot of them have made a career by stepping way over the line ethically —- really, all I’m praising any of them for is hanging onto that little tiny fig leaf of principle, the idea that there _might_ actually be things you wouldn’t do, that always served to separate traditional Republican politicians from outright criminals. And we need that tiny fig leaf, it’s necessary for retaining the thin veneer of civilization.

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**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:** [May 29, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/5399 "2021-05-29T18:12:39Z")

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I wonder who “they” are, and if he’s meaning the Capitol police, who protected him from the insurrectionists.

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