# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 3) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 4, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588 "2023-07-04T21:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/141 "2023-07-18T02:00:15Z")
I’d save the lifeboat. ETA: Sigh, ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/142 "2023-07-18T02:02:55Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Spoiler: They wound up flinging an old upright piano. “It’s not the thing you fling; it’s the fling itself.” ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/143 "2023-07-18T04:05:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Loser Donald’s plan to help ranchers whose access to grazing land would be blocked by WALL was to have firetrucks set up ladders so the cows could climb up and over. > > [Trump pushed 'incandescently stupid' plan to send cattle over his border wall: former staffer](https://www.rawstory.com/trumps-border-wall-2662290051/) While I appreciate the stupidity of such an idea I found this part of the article in your link much more disturbing: > …the harebrained cow ladder scheme wasn’t even the worst idea Trump had, as **he even complained that military service members sent to the border were not allowed to simply mow down immigrants on sight.** Bolding is mine of course. I recall having a thought some time ago that the GOP would suggest this as a way to eliminate the U.S. debt if Trump set up such a plan as a pay per view television program. All his racist MAGAts would eagerly tune in and watch their wildest dreams coming true. I also thought I posted that I expected such a suggestion from DJT in the past but I can’t find the actual post to support my predictive abilities. Maybe I decided it was too outrageous to post. I guess I was wrong. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/144 "2023-07-18T04:19:37Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Eating their own, hedging bets, pandering … you know, the usual: > [As Trump Feuds With Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, DeSantis Sucks Up to Her](https://jezebel.com/as-trump-feuds-with-iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-desantis-sp-1850647100) > > If these three were in a lifeboat and you could only save one; who would it be? The country ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/145 "2023-07-18T04:26:31Z")
If you were in the lifeboat with them, and you had a gun, but only two bullets - who do you shoot? A. Yourself - twice (just to be sure). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/146 "2023-07-18T04:36:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Spoiler: They wound up flinging an old upright piano. Chris didn’t want it to seem that he was copying Monty Python, if I remember correctly. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/147 "2023-07-18T06:01:46Z")
Not exactly. It was more of “What? It’s been done before? Damn, well, I guess I have to fling something.” A kodiak would have been good, but they kind of object, and would rather fight than fly. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/148 "2023-07-18T06:13:50Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > trebuchets Fechez la vache! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/149 "2023-07-18T06:45:52Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I recall having a thought some time ago that the GOP would suggest this as a way to eliminate the U.S. debt if Trump set up such a plan as a pay per view television program. All his racist MAGAts would eagerly tune in and watch their wildest dreams coming true. Of course, 5% might go the the US debt, but 95% goes to Trump. So two wildest dreams come true. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/150 "2023-07-18T09:20:28Z")
You say I could, not that I must. Correct? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/151 "2023-07-18T10:07:50Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I also thought I posted that I expected such a suggestion from DJT in the past but I can’t find the actual post to support my predictive abilities. Maybe I decided it was too outrageous to post. [“I’ve said for a while it won’t surprise me if they build two fences topped with barbed wire 100 yards apart along the border rather than a wall. Then they can bury land mines in the area between and station machine gun nests every so often. FOX would be able to broadcast the carnage any time “illegals” try to get through. Stephen Miller would cream his pants and the GOP could just say they are protecting our sovereignty from invasion. The MAGAnuts would love it and Trump would be declared President for life. A disturbing number of Dopers would probably endorse and defend such a policy.”](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31995) ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/152 "2023-07-18T12:37:41Z")
Let’s not forget (too many to remember): " “WHAT DO YOU think of firing squads?” That’s the question [Donald Trump](https://www.rollingstone.com/t/donald-trump/) repeatedly asked some close associates in the run-up to the 2024 presidential campaign, three people familiar with the situation tell _Rolling Stone._ It’s not an idle inquiry: The former president, if re-elected, is [still committed to expanding the use of the federal death penalty and](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-capital-punishment-brandon-bernard-lisa-montgomery-1234664126/) bringing back banned methods of execution, the sources say. He has even, one of the sources recounts, mused about televising footage of executions, including showing condemned prisoners in the final moments of their lives. Specifically, [Trump](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-used-classified-folder-lamp-shade-1234678744/) has talked about bringing back death by firing squad, by hanging, and, according to two of the sources, possibly even by guillotine. He has also, sources say, discussed group executions. Trump has floated these ideas while discussing planned campaign rhetoric and policy desires, as well as his disdain for President Biden’s approach to crime." Here and other sources: > **[Trump Plans to Bring Back Firing Squads, Group Executions if He Retakes White...](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-death-penalty-firing-squad-executions-1234679447/)** > > The former president wants to expand the use of the death penalty, and expand the federal government’s options for carrying out death sentences ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/153 "2023-07-18T12:48:24Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > " “WHAT DO YOU think of firing squads?” Be careful what you wish for, traitor. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/154 "2023-07-18T13:31:52Z")
Good news! Trump Bears are coming back for 2024!. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/155 "2023-07-18T13:49:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Loser Donald is suddenly ranting on Twooth Social about why isn’t Biden being charged under the Insurrection Act, which, knowing Donald, means he’s just been informed that he’s about to be charged under the Insurrection Act. You called it. Trump claims he was given notice by the DOJ on Sunday that he’s a target of the election intererence/January 6th investigation. He also claims he’s been given 4 days to surrender to the court on the charges appear and testify to the grand jury in DC if he has a defense to offer. It’s not yet known what the charges are, if any. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/156 "2023-07-18T13:59:05Z")
Why would Biden be charged under the Insurrection Act? “Steve, you moron, DJT or any MAGANUT doesn’t know the answer either. You may as well ask why would you nuke hurricanes or put cow ladders on walls, or rake the forests?” Just another brick shit on the wall. This is why any self-respecting, competent lawyer wouldn’t put DJT on the stand. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/157 "2023-07-18T14:10:53Z")
I’m copying Heather Cox Richardson’s whole note from last night (she permits this) re: a Republican plan to decrease democracy. References are at her Facebook page in the comments under this note. > ## [**Heather Cox Richardson**](https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson? __cft__ %5B0%5D=AZWZ0zQQ46qHys9MdxCu22Ekt3VjVU7crk4at0_Fyzj7OT6d0LxVpD997T4qXhgmeduoJ6QvbpMyD1nu6UsJXj7miRNKPA-Qi1XO7LtgfZq6bXFZjvwvKGBGcAVBAmi_VajoF0cObLFpk_5H9CoWC9pKMtxhgqpuOnCd1aA5dnuKzw& __tn__ =-UC%2CP-R) > > [7h](https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/posts/pfbid02egbAXeWQGs122FmoD8Fvq1k5q6cvGE45BrqB5BFqU1xJFuAi1BRV4dPDAnZMRLrnl? __cft__ %5B0%5D=AZWZ0zQQ46qHys9MdxCu22Ekt3VjVU7crk4at0_Fyzj7OT6d0LxVpD997T4qXhgmeduoJ6QvbpMyD1nu6UsJXj7miRNKPA-Qi1XO7LtgfZq6bXFZjvwvKGBGcAVBAmi_VajoF0cObLFpk_5H9CoWC9pKMtxhgqpuOnCd1aA5dnuKzw& __tn__ =%2CO%2CP-R) · > > July 17, 2023 (Monday) > > A story in the New York Times today by Jonathan Swan, Charlie Savage, and Maggie Haberman outlined how former president Donald Trump and his allies are planning to create a dictatorship if voters return him to power in 2024. The article talks about how Trump and his loyalists plan to “centralize more power in the Oval Office” by “increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government that now operates, by either law or tradition, with any measure of independence from political interference by the White House.” > > They plan to take control over independent government agencies and get rid of the nonpartisan civil service, purging all but Trump loyalists from the U.S. intelligence agencies, the State Department, and the Defense Department. They plan to start “impounding funds,” that is, ignoring programs Congress has funded if those programs aren’t in line with Trump’s policies. > > “What we’re trying to do is identify the pockets of independence and seize them,” said Russell T. Vought, who ran Trump’s Office of Management and Budget and who now advises the right-wing House Freedom Caucus. They envision a “president” who cannot be checked by the Congress or the courts. > > Trump’s desire to grab the mechanics of our government and become a dictator is not new; both scholars and journalists have called it out since the early years of his administration. What is new here is the willingness of so-called establishment Republicans to support this authoritarian power grab. > > Behind this initiative is “Project 2025,” a coalition of more than 65 right-wing organizations putting in place personnel and policies to recommend not just to Trump, but to any Republican who may win in 2024. Project 2025 is led by the Heritage Foundation, once considered a conservative think tank, that helped to lead the Reagan revolution. > > A piece by Alexander Bolton in The Hill today said that Republican senators are “worried” by the MAGAs, but they have been notably silent in public at a time when every elected leader should be speaking out against this plot. Their silence suggests they are on board with it, as Trump apparently hoped to establish. > > The party appears to have fully embraced the antidemocratic ideology advanced by authoritarian leaders like Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, who argue that the post–World War II era, in which democracy seemed to triumph, is over. They claim that the tenets of democracy—equality before the law, free speech, academic freedom, a market-based economy, immigration, and so on—weaken a nation by destroying a “traditional” society based in patriarchy and Christianity. > > Instead of democracy, they have called for “illiberal” or “Christian” democracy, which uses the government to enforce their beliefs in a Christian, patriarchal order. What that looks like has a clear blueprint in the actions of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who has gathered extraordinary power into his own hands in the state and used that power to mirror Orbán’s destruction of democracy. > > DeSantis has pushed through laws that ban abortion after six weeks, before most people know they’re pregnant; banned classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity (the “Don’t Say Gay” law); prevented recognition of transgender individuals; made it easier to sentence someone to death; allowed people to carry guns without training or permits; banned colleges and businesses from conversations about race; exerted control over state universities; made it harder for his opponents to vote, and tried to punish Disney World for speaking out against the Don’t Say Gay law. After rounding up migrants and sending them to other states, DeSantis recently has called for using “deadly force” on migrants crossing unlawfully. > > Because all the institutions of our democracy are designed to support the tenets of democracy, right-wingers claim those institutions are weaponized against them. House Republicans are running hearings designed to prove that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are both “weaponized” against Republicans. It doesn’t matter that they don’t seem to have any evidence of bias: the very fact that those institutions support democracy mean they support a system that right-wing Republicans see as hostile. > > “Our current executive branch,” Trump loyalist John McEntee, who is in charge of planning to pack the government with Trump loyalists, told the New York Times reporters, “was conceived of by liberals for the purpose of promulgating liberal policies. There is no way to make the existing structure function in a conservative manner. It’s not enough to get the personnel right. What’s necessary is a complete system overhaul.” > > It has taken decades for the modern-day Republican Party to get to a place where it rejects democracy. The roots of that rejection lie all the way back in the 1930s, when Democrats under Franklin Delano Roosevelt embraced a government that regulated business, provided a basic social safety net, and promoted infrastructure. That system ushered in a period from 1933 to 1981 that economists call the “Great Compression,” when disparities of income and wealth were significantly reduced, especially after the government also began to protect civil rights. > > Members of both parties embraced this modern government in this period, and Americans still like what it accomplished. But businessmen who hated regulation joined with racists who hated federal protection of civil rights and traditionalists who opposed women’s rights and set out to destroy that government. > > In West Palm Beach, Florida, last weekend, at the Turning Points Action Conference, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) compared President Biden’s Build Back Better plan to President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society programs, which invested in “education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and welfare, the Office of Economic Opportunity, and big labor and labor unions.” She noted that under Biden, the U.S. has made “the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs, that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on, and Joe Biden is attempting to complete.” > > Well, yeah. > > Greene incorrectly called this program “socialism,” which in fact means government ownership of production, as opposed to the government’s provision of benefits people cannot provide individually, a concept first put into practice in the United States by Abraham Lincoln and later expanded by leadership in both parties. The administration has stood firmly behind the idea—shared by LBJ and FDR, and also by Republicans Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower, among others—that investing in programs that enable working people to prosper is the best way to strengthen the economy. > > Certainly, Greene’s speech didn’t seem to be the “gotcha” that she apparently hoped. A March 2023 poll by independent health policy pollster KFF, for example, found that 80% of Americans like Social Security, 81% like Medicare, and 76% like Medicaid, a large majority of members of all political parties. > > The White House Twitter account retweeted a clip of Greene’s speech, writing: “Caught us. President Biden is working to make life easier for hardworking families.” > **[Heather Cox Richardson](https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson)** > > Heather Cox Richardson. 1,325,603 likes · 144,645 talking about this. Heather Cox Richardson is a political historian who uses facts and history to put the news in context ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/158 "2023-07-18T14:44:13Z")
Two things about that article are terrifying: 1. Every one of these actions are clearly (though IANAL) unconstitutional, but they’d have to be challenged, and challenges take time, during which the damage would be done. And who’s to say this SCOTUS wouldn’t wave them off anyway? 2. The GOP doesn’t need to elect Trump to set this shit in motion; any GOP president will do (and others may be more electable). The MAGAts won’t mind for long. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/159 "2023-07-18T15:18:32Z")
I’ve been idling for the past 3 days about which thread in which to post this gift link. Really, it probably deserves its own thread. > **[Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=wqX1OPg8HCqhyugv42wKzN3-9Pw8jR_3K9pPfaa54ZavhBEXCCC7OK6Lec6yEoRtg1UXWYgoG9tYfZiyu5M57cr343xTm1YQ10udfvGaMvX4AB729I0VnxoG2gSylQMijekEuEGVklA2YR3awkk1c8fbVjGUxWT2L98hGWJzvohRqBCb1zH7qEWhE5mtMn2jqdHeaCvyGUU7UfzZBaFFXdtTITZbfo7U-HA1w_aAZoScTcvHiX4kMW30eDRqsxOII_RtU3efUq_xoeCcEHnVmAF53H1iITnbCvvs-gt24ffc8sJ_ULjWJR7wUhHZW_XY0xSFR7wsYJgXx6S6Zvju&smid=url-share)** > > The former president and his backers aim to strengthen the power of the White House and limit the independence of federal agencies. As @Akaj points out, this is not a Trump plan. This is a Republican plan. Everyone needs to be aware of it. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/160 "2023-07-18T15:45:24Z")
Indeed. See Heather Cox Richardson’s summary a few posts up for her take on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=9)