# NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 4) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 22, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678 "2025-02-22T21:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 151
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3001 "2026-01-28T03:57:48Z")
That’s pathetic for someone who has been in the Senate since 1981, or 45 years. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3002 "2026-01-28T04:18:36Z")
> “Ask a constitutional lawyer,” said Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m a ~~farmer~~ liar.” (Truthified.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3003 "2026-01-28T05:07:51Z")
Insert Blazing Saddles joke here. ---
**Author:** ![irae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@irae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irae)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3004 "2026-01-28T16:36:54Z")
Simple farmers. People of the land. Common clay of the new West. You know… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3005 "2026-01-28T17:18:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Ask a constitutional lawyer,” said Grassley, _ **who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.** _ Emphasis added just because Og help me these people can’t avoid making themselves look bad. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > someone who has been in the Senate since 1981, or 45 years. Who is the President Pro Tem of the Senate meaning he’s #3 after Vance and Johnson in the order of succession. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3006 "2026-01-28T17:43:27Z")
So if circumstances cause a succession, we’ll have to go through at least three untimely deaths before the IQ of the current president starts going down again? ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3007 "2026-01-28T19:11:10Z")
> [@irae](#): > > Simple farmers. > > People of the land. > > Common clay of the new West. > > You know… Morons! ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3008 "2026-01-28T20:11:24Z")
The brother of Ilhan Omar’s attacker speaks. > “I’m not surprised this happened,” Anthony James Kazmierczak’s brother said Wednesday morning in a phone interview from his home in North Carolina. “Not at all. Unfortunately, he and my mother are both right-wing extremists.” > > “He’s crazy,” Kazmierczak’s brother told The Independent. “He needs help, period… In my mind, he’s a piece of shit.” > **[Brother calls Ilhan Omar suspect ‘right-wing extremist,’ has hated Somalis...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ilhan-omar-attack-anthony-kazmierczak-brother-b2909613.html)** > > Exclusive: ‘In my mind, he’s a piece of s\*\*t,’ Anthony Kazmierczak’s brother told The Independent ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3009 "2026-01-28T23:09:10Z")
Beautiful!! The only way that could’ve been better is if he had gone on to say something like He / they used to be decent people. Then they started watching Fox News. Now 10 years later they’re insane hate-filled extremists. Fox & other similar outlets caused this and should be held responsible for ruining millions of innocent lives. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2026, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3010 "2026-01-28T23:21:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Chuck Grassley: ICE? Never heard of it. I’m just a naive farm boy ignorant of such high-falutin’ big city matters. We actually do need to be worried about Grassley. Should Rump die… and should JD Vance pass away suddenly in an unfortunate convertible couch incident… Grassley is 3rd in line to the presidency. ( Yeah, I don’t like it either, but wtf can average people do about it? ) ---
**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:** [January 28, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3011 "2026-01-28T23:54:41Z")
Speaker Johnson is next in line. He professes to know even less than Grassley if that’s possible. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3012 "2026-01-29T00:02:25Z")
You are right. He is fourth in line. Anyway, here goes: > **[Order of presidential succession | USAGov](https://www.usa.gov/presidential-succession)** > > Learn about the presidential line of succesion. See the order of government officials to take over if the president cannot carry out the duties of the office. **What determines the presidential order of succession** The U.S. Constitution and the [Presidential Succession Act of 1947](https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/president-pro-tempore/presidential-succession-act.htm) outline the presidential line of succession. The line of succession of cabinet officers is in the order of their agencies’ creation. 1. Vice President 2. Speaker of the House 3. President Pro Tempore of the Senate 4. Secretary of State 5. Secretary of the Treasury 6. Secretary of Defense 7. Attorney General 8. Secretary of the Interior 9. Secretary of Agriculture 10. Secretary of Commerce 11. Secretary of Labor 12. Secretary of Health and Human Services 13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 14. Secretary of Transportation 15. Secretary of Energy 16. Secretary of Education 17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs 18. Secretary of Homeland Security ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3013 "2026-01-29T00:05:55Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > 1. Secretary of Homeland Security Noem: So close…could be… ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3014 "2026-01-29T00:13:59Z")
President Pro Tempore of the Senate should not be in the presidential line of succession. Sure, they have experience, but they’re also very, _very_ old. Chuck Grassley is 92 years old. We don’t need a 92-year-old president. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3015 "2026-01-29T00:18:42Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > You are right. He is fourth in line. Isn’t Chuck Grassley third in line of succession? ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3016 "2026-01-29T00:22:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Isn’t Chuck Grassley third in line of succession? It’s an awfully long list. If he was alive, it would challenge Steve McQueen with a grease gun. [![](https://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2013/post-211-0-89910900-1371053742_thumb.jpg) ](https://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/uploads/monthly_06_2013/post-211-0-89910900-1371053742_thumb.jpg) ---
**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:** [January 29, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3017 "2026-01-29T00:40:45Z")
This is a few days old but I didn’t see it mentioned before. You remember how Vance said ICE agents had absolute immunity? It turns out we were all victims of giant hallucination. He never said that > After he told reporters this month that Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who fatally shot Good, was protected by “[absolute immunity](https://www.nbcnews.com/video/shorts/vance-says-minneapolis-ice-agent-has-absolute-immunity-255634501529),” Vance said Thursday that he “didn’t say, and I don’t think any other official within the Trump administration said, that officers who engaged in wrongdoing would enjoy immunity.” > > “That’s absurd,” Vance said ---
**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:** [January 29, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3018 "2026-01-29T01:13:03Z")
The internal polling they’re getting must be HORRIBLE. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3019 "2026-01-29T01:30:15Z")
This one’s easier to parse: > **[https://preview.redd.it/us-presidential-line-of-succession-v0-43pajnyuejme1.png?...](https://preview.redd.it/us-presidential-line-of-succession-v0-43pajnyuejme1.png?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=c18be31408c8db1652ab4f3803489cc6dd9e0ee9)** ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3020 "2026-01-29T02:06:20Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > You remember how Vance said ICE agents had absolute immunity? I believe ICE agents sacrifice a great deal of immunity that real law enforcement enjoys. By wearing masks and not wearing uniforms, they present themselves as dangerous thugs even before their actions confirm it. That gives people a stronger claim to self-defense if they strike back against masked people dressed like terrorists, that makes it a bit easier on a defense attorney. Real police wear uniforms for a reason. That uniform is a recognizable sign of authority and an important tool. Dressing up like a member of a Montana militia group sabotages any claim of legitimacy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=150) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=152)