# 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:** 230
**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:** [June 1, 2026, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4581 "2026-06-01T21:48:30Z")
That news release was dated May 21, 2026. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4582 "2026-06-01T22:17:22Z")
Refresh my memory… Which big kerfuffle was this? It’s tough to keep track, anymore… ---
**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:** [June 1, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4583 "2026-06-01T22:26:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Which big kerfuffle was this? I suspect it started here: > **[PARAMOUNT ANNOUNCES DEAL TO ACQUIRE THE FREE PRESS | Paramount](https://www.paramount.com/press/paramount-announces-deal-to-acquire-the-free-press)** > > Paramount is one of the world’s leading producers of premium entertainment content that connects billions of people in nearly every country in the world. Back in October, Paramount purchased _The Free Press_, and then subsequently put that publication’s CEO and co-founder Bari Weiss in place as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Since then, there have been major changes in the network, predominantly in a rightward political direction. > **[Paramount expresses support for CBS News leader Bari Weiss amid criticism](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/may/19/paramount-cbs-news-bari-weiss)** > > Online publication Puck previously reported Weiss could be moved to a new role with less oversight of the network Currently, Weiss is being criticized for making massive changes to _60 Minutes_. > **[60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley accuses Bari Weiss of ‘murdering’ show](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/01/60-minutes-scott-pelley-cbs-bari-weiss-cuts)** > > Pelley reportedly rebuked CBS ousting show’s executive producer, executive editor and two top correspondents Weiss previously had no experience at all in television, and that is one reason why there has been a lot of criticism over changes that seem to be counterproductive to a successful television news network. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4584 "2026-06-01T23:03:19Z")
Bari Weiss is a prime example of failing upward. Her idea of a fresh idea is replacing journalists with podcast hosts and influencers. Good thing her real job is pleasing her billionaire boss and not turning a profit or, heaven forbid, practicing actual journalism ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4585 "2026-06-01T23:31:29Z")
I’m sure Joe’s segments will feature perfectly upstanding characters. 🤢 He might lose some of his base for taking on the show, I’d guess. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4586 "2026-06-02T06:06:53Z")
[Vote for me! I killed a man when I was seven and, just maybe…you fill in the number of others I’ve killed.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/maga-frontrunner-governor-refuses-many-204111697.html) > [@](#): > > The frontrunner in Colorado’s GOP primary for governor said he killed someone when he was 7 years old and then refused to answer how many more lives he may have taken in a jaw-dropping interview. > > Victor Marx, who is [leading the polls](https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/politics/2026/05/28/colorado-primary-election-polls/90285710007/) in the state’s GOP primary, freewheeled through a series of bonkers claims about his past during an interview with local [9News](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KywOV9EkNFg) anchor Kyle Clark over the weekend. > > Clark asked Marx about his [previous claim](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y15GxS618eA&t=274s) that his abusive stepfather forced him to kill a man at age 7. “Is that the only person you’ve ever killed?” Clark pressed. > > Marx, 60, fell silent for more than 10 seconds, taking a deep breath and looking upward as if searching his memory. > > “Well, I would say, as a—as a child, yes. Without question,” he finally replied. > > “But I’ve been in other situations where, you know, possibly people or persons died as a result of me defending myself in other countries. I—there’s no count on that,” he added, before trailing off: “There’s no photos…” Ah, that makes it okay, huh? You may have killed some of them thar ferriners. And people are going to willfully vote for him. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4587 "2026-06-02T06:34:58Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Ah, that makes it okay, huh? You may have killed some of them thar ferriners. I’m not convinced he’s a mass-murderer, I think he’s just a compulsive liar. Like a wannabe George Santos. But I agree that it’s really disturbing that these claims are working on some voters. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4588 "2026-06-02T06:49:56Z")
I don’t believe for a nanosecond a word of what he said is true. But the reason he said it is because it works on a segment of the voting populace. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4589 "2026-06-02T07:09:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > But the reason he said it is because it works on a segment of the voting populace. It’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2026, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4590 "2026-06-02T08:36:42Z")
I’m not sure if this belongs more in “Stupid” or in “Evil,” dismantling an ocean monitoring program to hide evidence of climate change and make things more convenient for oil and coal companies. But consider the [New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/climate/ocean-observatories-initiative.html) (gift link, if I’ve done this right) which includes a statement from NSF spokesman Michael England that the dismantling: “_aligns with N.S.F.'s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure_.” I think that passage may just hold the record for the least intelligible, most obfuscatory, overblown statement by someone who wants to hide evildoing by spouting nonsense and hoping that we’ll get confused and go away. Brilliant, Michael, just brilliant ! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4591 "2026-06-02T15:33:49Z")
It’s just “move fast and break things” except the ‘move fast’ is ‘pump oil while nobody’s watching’ and ‘break things’ is ‘destroy the earth.’ ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4592 "2026-06-02T16:15:37Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I don’t believe for a nanosecond a word of what he said is true. But the reason he said it is because it works on a segment of the voting populace. Empirically, what you say is evidently true. But I still don’t understand it. I mean, I can understand (not agree with, but understand) a voter who goes “Wow, he killed people, he must be badass, I’ll vote for him”. But when he then goes all vague about “Um, maybe I killed more people, I dunno, I wasn’t keeping track, why does it matter”, to whom does that appeal, and how? > [@Nyvaak](#): > > But consider the [New York Times article](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/climate/ocean-observatories-initiative.html) (gift link, if I’ve done this right) which includes a statement from NSF spokesman Michael England that the dismantling: “_aligns with N.S.F.'s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure_.” Nah, that’s perfectly intelligible. It means “we want to be able to change our mind on anything on a whim”. Which is neither true nor a description of what’s going on here: What they actually want is to do what’s most profitable for them and their insider-trading cronies, and to consistently always do that no matter the consequences to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4593 "2026-06-02T16:19:54Z")
He’s probably just bullshitting given that he’s MAGA, but he is a Marine veteran. It’s not _completely_ implausible that he might have killed people under circumstances most Americans would deem acceptable but which he can’t discuss in detail. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4594 "2026-06-02T16:24:13Z")
You’re referring to Victor Marx, who claims to have killed a man at the age of seven years old? _That’s_ not completely implausible? Just how young are the Marines? ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4595 "2026-06-02T16:36:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But when he then goes all vague about “Um, maybe I killed more people, I dunno, I wasn’t keeping track, why does it matter”, to whom does that appeal, and how? Was he trying to appeal to anyone or just trying not to answer a question? ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4596 "2026-06-02T16:58:11Z")
Except that his claim about killing people isn’t as a Marine. He claims to have (maybe) killed an unspecified number of people as a missionary. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4597 "2026-06-02T17:05:22Z")
I mean, if that was _really_ all this was all about, he could have just said, “I can’t legally discuss any of my military actions, but as a civilian I haven’t had to kill anyone else aside from the man I was forced to kill when I was 7.” And that would have been a very reasonable response, and probably not a controversial one. But he didn’t say that. Because he’s a bullshit artist trying to… I’m not sure, look like an 80s action hero? Inflate a “tough guy” image? It’s so weird and makes him look psychotic. It should have killed his campaign, but sadly, these days this kind of shit makes a person stand out and can actually work for people. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4598 "2026-06-02T17:14:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > these days this kind of shit makes a person stand out and can actually work for people. “He’s a crazy lunatic, but _maybe a crazy lunatic is just what we need_.” ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4599 "2026-06-02T17:19:13Z")
Has anyone seen Marx and Santos at the same time?Different bodies? 🤔😁 ---
**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:** [June 2, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/4600 "2026-06-02T17:19:16Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I haven’t had to kill anyone else So how many people did you kill, not because you ‘had’ to, but because you wanted to? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=229) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=231)