# 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:** 83
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1641 "2023-10-15T15:19:44Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I’ve heard of stolen valor, but this is ridiculous. He’s an ass, and not an IDF soldier, but he did lose both legs to an IED in Afghanistan. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1642 "2023-10-15T15:31:10Z")
The service I can respect, but not the dressing up as something he’s not. In fact, it seems as if he better than any nonserving civilian should understand how wrong that is. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1643 "2023-10-15T20:34:25Z")
Rapey McForehead is sick and tired of his actions having consequences. > **[Matt Gaetz pouts he's 'tired' of not having a speaker after ousting McCarthy](https://www.rawstory.com/matt-gaetz-speaker-vote/)** > > Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said on Sunday he is "tired" of the behind-the-scenes battle for the next speaker of the House after he ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). > > "I don't really understand why trying to move the House into a more... ---
**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:** [October 15, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1644 "2023-10-15T21:12:23Z")
Loser Donald says Bill Barr, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan are cannibals who are plotting against him. [https://www.meidastouch.com/news/trump-short-circuits-in-new-video-as-concerns-grow-over-cognitive-decline](https://www.meidastouch.com/news/trump-short-circuits-in-new-video-as-concerns-grow-over-cognitive-decline) ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1645 "2023-10-16T12:36:36Z")
Okay, have a lot of people never heard the term “Eat their young”? Maybe it’s because I grew up with a nurse for a mother that I know this phrase? > **['Why do nurses eat their young?' | Nursing Times](https://www.nursingtimes.net/opinion/why-do-nurses-eat-their-young-01-03-2023/)** > > Justine Barksby from De Montfort University on how we should nurture and support our future nurses. It’s a special case of the “eating their own” phrase that is apparently more common. It’s not just turning on people on your own side, it’s turning on new, up-and-coming people on your own side. It this case, it’s the older GOP members turning on the generally younger MAGA people like MTG and Gaetz. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1646 "2023-10-16T12:45:11Z")
I think you mean Boebert. Empty Greene turns 50 next year. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1647 "2023-10-16T12:45:51Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Empty Greene turns 50 next year. If you’re younger than me, you’re young! 😃 ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1648 "2023-10-16T13:08:31Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Okay, have a lot of people never heard the term “Eat their young”? > > Maybe it’s because I grew up with a nurse for a mother that I know this phrase? There are lots of cases in the animal world of mother animals literally eating their young. “Sows eating their farrow” has become proverbial (James Joyce in _Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_), albeit not as common as “eating their young”. I used to think it was grotesque that mother guppies often ate their young, until I kept tropical fish and ended up with a tank full of guppies. The problem is that mama guppies don’t eat _enough_ of their fry. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1649 "2023-10-16T13:10:11Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > it’s the older GOP members turning on the generally younger MAGA people like MTG and Gaetz. Oh, yeah, this is a bed, bad thing. Dan ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1650 "2023-10-16T13:31:20Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > Oh, yeah, this is a bed, bad thing. I didn’t say it was a bad thing or a good thing, I’m just pointing out that it’s an _actual_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1651 "2023-10-16T13:37:29Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > It’s a special case of the “eating their own” phrase that is apparently more common. It’s not just turning on people on your own side, it’s turning on new, up-and-coming people on your own side. It this case, it’s the older GOP members turning on the generally younger MAGA people like MTG and Gaetz. Yup. Gaetz, MTG, etal are trying to out evil them. That makes Board of Directors of evil look bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1652 "2023-10-16T14:46:10Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@Dandan](#): > > > > Oh, yeah, this is a bad, bad thing. > > I didn’t say it was a bad thing or a good thing, I’m just pointing out that it’s an _actual_ thing. I guess I should re-examine my refusal to add smilies (snarkies, smirkies) when I want to be a smartass - to explain my apparent failure of a joke, “bad, bad” _doesn’t_ mean “aw, poor little trumplets”. If ya gotta explain 'em, they didn’t work. Dan ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1653 "2023-10-16T14:57:54Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Okay, have a lot of people never heard the term “Eat their young”? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > There are lots of cases in the animal world of mother animals literally eating their young. I’ve only ever known that phrase as a literal thing. I still remember being in grade school science class and learning about it because we happened to see one of the hamsters eating it’s babies. I didn’t know there was any meaning beyond that, but it sounds like it’s akin to ‘gatekeeping’. At least from the point of view of people having the mindset of “I’m going to do what I can to prevent you from rising up to my level until you’ve endured the same hardships as I did to get here”. In any case, I happened to run across the phrase just yesterday as it was somehow connected to this picture. [![](https://i.imgur.com/QmX635Z.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/QmX635Z.png) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1654 "2023-10-16T15:01:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Okay, have a lot of people never heard the term “Eat their young”?.. > > It’s a special case of the “eating their own” phrase that is apparently more common. I think it’s well known. Google ngram has “eat their young” at around the same frequency as “swallow their pride” (an unrelated idiom as a frequency benchmark). No difference between US corpus and British corpus. As you suggest, “eat their own” is streets ahead at about 6X more frequent. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1655 "2023-10-16T15:11:44Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I think it’s well known. Google ngram has “eat their young” at around the same frequency as “swallow their pride” (an unrelated idiom as a frequency benchmark). No difference between US corpus and British corpus. But if you google it, you’ll find all sorts of stories about Trump saying it, with lots of them saying it’s some kind of bizarre slip, and suggesting that he thinks they’re literally eating babies. It’s a ridiculous over-the-top reaction to what is, to my mind, a very small slip, if it even was a slip (some are suggesting that the teleprompter said “eat their own”, and he mis-read it as “young”. So a slip, but not a big one, and it still made sense in context). Trump has said enough actually weird shit that it boggles my mind that some people seem to be going out of their way try to to manufacture even more weird stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1656 "2023-10-16T15:14:42Z")
Given his recent claim that he’s been endorsed by Hannibal Lecter, are we _sure_ he didn’t mean it literally? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1657 "2023-10-16T15:17:07Z")
Well, that’s always a possibility, I suppose, but I think we’d need more evidence. Like a book entitled, “To Serve the Young”, or something. ETA: or a heavily annotated copy of “A Modest Proposal”, in which he makes it clear he doesn’t understand satire. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1658 "2023-10-16T15:25:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > But if you google it, you’ll find all sorts of stories about Trump saying it, with lots of them saying it’s some kind of bizarre slip… You’re right, it wasn’t surprising that maybe one guy at Meidas Touch didn’t know the expression, but I’m seeing similar comments from Daily Mail, MSNBC, etc. Is it that one source that didn’t know the idiom commented that it’s a weird thing to say, and others are regurgitating that uncritically because they are so eager to dump on Trump? Or do people really not know the expression, maybe a generational thing? ---
**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:** [October 16, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1659 "2023-10-16T15:36:39Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Or do people really not know the expression, maybe a generational thing? Maybe. But what really drives me nuts in the reporting of this is, they’re focusing on the non-story of the phrasing, while ignoring the real issue here: Trump actually seems to believe that Republicans in general have a problem with “eating their own”, when the party is otherwise notorious for brand loyalty, refusing to disown any elected official for any reason _other than_ that they aren’t sufficiently loyal to the party. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588/1660 "2023-10-16T16:00:42Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Google ngram has “eat their young” at around the same frequency as “swallow their pride” (an unrelated idiom as a frequency benchmark). They’re not unrelated, if you’re a lion. And Trump is pretty much always a-lyin’. > [@Horatius](#): > > Trump actually seems to believe that Republicans in general have a problem with “eating their own”, when the party is otherwise notorious for brand loyalty, refusing to disown any elected official for any reason _other than_ that they aren’t sufficiently loyal to the party. With one exception: Donald Trump can be as disloyal to the Republican Party as he wants. Of course, to Donald Trump (and a lot of his followers), _Le parti, c’est moi_ (note: I probably got the article wrong). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=82) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-3/986588.md?page=84)