# 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:** 41
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/806 "2020-09-05T21:29:29Z")
‘I don’t like people that sink.’ DJT ---
**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 5, 2020, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/807 "2020-09-05T21:37:54Z")
> Sure as hell made the news, didn’t it Linda? Just not the way you expected it to, right? And it’s sight, not site. Though the event did go swimmingly, didn’t it? ---
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/808 "2020-09-05T22:06:17Z")
I am not sure if this is Lake Travis or somewhere else, in a coördinated melée (there is some “#Havasu” hashtag), but [one of the boats is on fire](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1302329277367549952). My guess is they ran out of charcoal but discovered the deck was made of wood. ---
**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 5, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/809 "2020-09-05T22:23:15Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I am not sure if this is Lake Travis or somewhere else, in a coördinated melée (there is some “#Havasu” hashtag), but [one of the boats is on fire](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1302329277367549952). My guess is they ran out of charcoal but discovered the deck was made of wood. - [Lake Havasu, Thompson Bay, Arizona.](https://www.golakehavasu.com/thompson-bay-venue) ---
**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:** [September 5, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/810 "2020-09-05T23:36:55Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Multiple boats sinking or in distress on Lake Travis outside Austin during the pro-Individual 1 boat rally. > > > [@](#): > > > > _Multiple 911 calls have been made_ regarding boats being in distress, some sinking at the ‘Trump Boat Parade’ scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Lake Travis, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. > > [https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/multiple-boats-in-distress-sinking-at-trump-boat-parade-on-lake-travis](https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/multiple-boats-in-distress-sinking-at-trump-boat-parade-on-lake-travis) So, isn’t expecting the government to help you…_socialism_??? (my emphasis in the embedded quote) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/811 "2020-09-05T23:50:15Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > [one of the boats is on fire](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1302329277367549952). “Motivated seller!” ---
**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 6, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/812 "2020-09-06T00:01:16Z")
Includes on-board heating. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/813 "2020-09-06T02:40:15Z")
Hot deal! ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/814 "2020-09-06T02:41:32Z")
Fire Sail. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2020, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/815 "2020-09-06T06:17:24Z")
Remember, folks, you can’t have your kayak and heat it too. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/816 "2020-09-06T19:00:54Z")
Meanwhile, in Florida: > **[r/Kayaking - \[deleted by user\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/Kayaking/comments/c6c4mc/its_not_florida_hot_until_your_kayak_melts/)** > > 260 votes and 21 comments so far on Reddit ---
**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:** [September 7, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/817 "2020-09-07T04:39:23Z")
Trump Campaign Flack Gets Dragged on Twitter After Mocking Joe Biden As He Visits His Son’s Grave > **[Francis Brennan Mocks Joe Biden as He Visits Son's Grave](https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-campaign-flack-gets-dragged-on-twitter-after-mocking-joe-biden-as-he-visits-his-sons-grave/)** > > Francis Brennan, the Trump campaign's Director of Strategic Response, mocked Joe Biden for not talking to reporters as he visited his son's grave. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/818 "2020-09-07T05:34:07Z")
I believe we have some footage of a different [angle](https://youtu.be/yS68uy95q2M) of that interaction. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2020, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/819 "2020-09-07T06:26:36Z")
Are they working the outrage fatigue? Trying to pound the country’s hearts and souls into submission, that we will let them shit down our throats and barely notice because that is just how they 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:** [September 8, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/820 "2020-09-08T13:16:50Z")
> **[New Voice of America overseer called foreign journalists a security risk. Now...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/new-voice-of-america-overseer-called-foreign-journalists-a-security-risk-now-the-staff-is-revolting/2020/09/01/da7fa0a8-eba2-11ea-ab4e-581edb849379_story.html)** > > Journalists at the government agency are protesting appointee Michael Pack’s “spy” insinuations and staff reductions. > Since becoming the overseer of Voice of America in June, Michael Pack has fired subordinates, disbanded advisory boards and [declined to renew the visas of foreign journalists who work under him](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/with-their-visas-in-limbo-journalists-at-voice-of-america-worry-that-theyll-be-thrown-out-of-america/2020/08/02/e9882c8a-d33f-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2). > > Political appointees frequently make personnel changes when they take on a new role. But Pack, who heads the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), has offered a unique justification for his actions: He is rooting out potential spies. > > In a memo to staff last month, Pack suggested that his purges are part of an effort to shore up lax personnel standards that have left VOA vulnerable to foreign espionage. His predecessors “ignored common national security protocols and essential government human resources practices,” he wrote. He put it more bluntly last week in an interview with the Federalist, a conservative commentary site: “It’s a great place to put a foreign spy.” > > Yet Pack has presented no evidence that anyone at VOA is a foreign intelligence agent. … Evidence? Don’t need no stinkin’ evidence. Evidence is for suckers and losers. > …Nor has he explained why VOA and sister agencies such as Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia — media organizations that don’t control sensitive government information — would be an appealing target for penetration by a hostile power. Likewise, no need or room for rational thinking. > … The goals behind the transformations he has pushed for remain murky — although he has said he wants to ensure that VOA [“presents the policies of the United States clearly and effectively,”](https://www.theepochtimes.com/exclusive-michael-pack-discusses-restoring-americas-international-broadcasting_3439883.html) some staffers say this means a realignment with Trump White House messaging. Gee, ya think? > They argued that the claims throw a blanket of suspicion over their organization, which since World War II has sought to deliver objective news and information to countries where press freedom is limited or nonexistent. Soon to be the USA. > They also say it could endanger VOA journalists working abroad: Terrorists and rogue regimes have used bogus accusations of spying as a pretext for the arrest or murder of journalists for decades. Hey, they knew what they were signing up for, amirite? Who is Michael Pack? > … a documentary filmmaker whose nomination was promoted by former White House top adviser Stephen K. Bannon. “He’s my guy, and I pushed him hard,” Bannon [told The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/how-trumps-obsessions-with-media-and-loyalty-coalesced-in-a-battle-for-voice-of-america/2020/06/19/f57dcfe0-b1b1-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_34) in June. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/821 "2020-09-08T14:43:08Z")
I hear advertisements for the VOA museum on the radio from time to time. On the commercial, it says that Hitler called it the “Cincinnati liars.” There are “good people” on both sides, so now they are just trying to tell the other side of the story. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/822 "2020-09-08T15:53:18Z")
Spotted this in a window at the mall today. [![](https://i.imgur.com/HGZCjxQ.jpg?1) ](https://i.imgur.com/HGZCjxQ.jpg?1) 🤦🏽‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/823 "2020-09-08T16:51:43Z")
It’s hard to grasp how many different levels of stupid are reflected in that one t-shirt. But credit where it’s due, at least they know how to use an apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/824 "2020-09-08T16:53:44Z")
The one that reads, ‘I’d rather be a Russian than a Democrat!’ is likewise a head-scratcher, but fair enough. I’d rather be an American than a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140/825 "2020-09-08T17:00:22Z")
> [@irae](#): > > I’d rather be an American than a Republican. Sounds like a good shirt/hat logo to me [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=40) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-1/911140.md?page=42)