# 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:** 198
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3941 "2026-03-29T16:45:58Z")
You could, in principle, make a smaller nuclear weapon using some other isotope. But all of those isotopes are much harder to get. Uranium 235 is found in nature (with the challenge just being separating it from the much more common 238), and plutonium 239 can be produced on a large(ish) scale in a reactor. But if you were to make a weapon from americium or californium or something, you’d need to either make a truly huge number of particle accelerators, or come up with some completely new way of producing them, because with current technology, we just can’t make anywhere near enough. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3942 "2026-03-29T16:55:27Z")
Americium is actually fairly common in smoke detectors. On the other hand, the typical household smoke detector using americium typically contains less than 1 microgram of the stuff. So… common but not plentiful? Then again, discarded smoke detectors were one of the things David “Radioactive Boyscout” Hahn used to amass sufficient radioactive isotopes to turn his mom’ backyard into a Superfund site, so if a person was really determined… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3943 "2026-03-29T19:16:24Z")
Draw? As in an image? He couldn’t draw a stick figure. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3944 "2026-03-29T20:48:18Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Draw? As in an image? He couldn’t draw a stick figure Are you forgetting the birthday card he drew for Epstein? ---
**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:** [March 29, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3945 "2026-03-29T20:55:26Z")
And now he wants to put his drawing of pubic hair on our paper currency. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3946 "2026-03-29T21:31:35Z")
We’ll have to add the rest of the drawing ourselves. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3947 "2026-03-29T21:45:10Z")
Rubber stamp! ---
**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:** [March 29, 2026, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3948 "2026-03-29T21:47:46Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Did anyone ask RFK Jr where he and Trump were eating that had paper placemats or was Trump writing on stuff at a fancy restaurant like a 4 year old with a box of crayons? This seems like a perfectly reasonable question. But of course the “press corps” these days are a bunch of right-wing dimwits, so it wouldn’t have occurred to them. RFK Jr. knows that only the hardcore MAGA 25% or so would believe his fanciful story anyway. The real audience is Donald, who graciously accepts such fictions with a princely wave of his tiny little bruised hand. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3949 "2026-03-29T22:25:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > David “Radioactive Boyscout” Hahn Ironically, he died from the combined effects of alcohol (0.40), fentanyl, and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3950 "2026-03-29T23:25:28Z")
At that level, the alcohol didn’t need to combine with anything. But I think he did end up with some major health issues due to radiation exposure. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3951 "2026-03-30T00:53:00Z")
Your Honor, I’m just a caveman. Your world frightens and confises me. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mi7aok5bvm2h)** > > TAPPER: If Trump had the power to pay TSA agents this whole time, why only start going it now? > > HOMAN: Look, I don't understand -- I'm a cop -- I don't understand the whole appropriations language, appropriations law ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3952 "2026-03-30T06:14:59Z")
Great to see that CNN’s new ownership is taking it in the Fox News direction, featuring people who have no fucking idea what they are talking about and who have no business commenting on current events. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3953 "2026-03-30T19:16:49Z")
“I’m just a cop - why would I know anything about the law?” ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3954 "2026-03-30T19:27:39Z")
To be fair, cops know about law _enforcement_. They don’t necessarily know about executive budgetary processes, because that doesn’t have anything to do with their jobs. But that gets back to my point; why have this guy on if he’s not qualified to speak on the subject? (Also, his answer was obviously a pitiful dodge; you don’t need to have deep knowledge of the law, it’s just a common sense question.) ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3955 "2026-03-30T19:35:02Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > (Also, his answer was obviously a pitiful dodge; you don’t need to have deep knowledge of the law, it’s just a common sense question.) Any fifth grader who took a class on the Constitution would be able to answer it correctly. You’ve gotta be a grade-A sophist or someone whose job depends on placating Donald Trump to say anything different. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3956 "2026-03-30T21:54:06Z")
Lindsay Graham’s not doing himself any favors beating the “Lady G” rumors by strolling around Disney World with a pink bubble wand. > **[Lindsey Graham Lives It Up at Disney World During Partial Government Shutdown](https://www.tmz.com/2026/03/30/lindsey-graham-at-disneyworld-amidst-government-shutdown/)** > > 11:50 AM PT -- Lindsey Graham looks like a full-blown Disney adult on Spring Break because we just got a new photo of him on Space Mountain at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3957 "2026-03-30T21:56:18Z")
The elite fiddle while arsonizing all of Rome. Some ideas are eternal. Or at least date back millennia. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3958 "2026-03-30T22:28:46Z")
I think this post belongs in this thread, although it could also go in others. > Members of the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are suing the federal government for tens of millions of dollars in damages, claiming that the “indiscriminate” use of force by police officers repelling the attack caused them physical and emotional injuries. [https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/jan-6-lawsuit-capitol-police-00850890](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/jan-6-lawsuit-capitol-police-00850890) ---
**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:** [March 30, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3959 "2026-03-30T22:43:49Z")
So many snowflakes melting… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2026, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3960 "2026-03-30T22:48:41Z")
Use of force? Except for Ashley “hold my beer” Babbit there was no force used that day. Let the Black Panthers try that at the Capitol- you’ll see the police put on a use of force clinic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=197) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=199)