# 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:** 282
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5621 "2026-09-10T20:29:45Z")
Those bastards! /s ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5622 "2026-09-11T00:55:14Z")
Yeah, I wouldn’t put anything past those sneaky bastards. Like joining the Republican Party, then going to conventions and rallies and saying racist and fascist things, then voting for the most MAGA candidates so they can create the false narrative that Republicans are a bunch of gay racist fascists so they can turn America against the GOP. The real sneaky ones trick the Republican candidates and office holders into doing and saying ridiculous, hateful things. Like that Mamdani character - trolling the right by getting elected Mayor as Muslim just so he can attend the 9/11 ceremony and rub it in Republicans’ faces. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5623 "2026-09-11T05:22:26Z")
Ah, and now we have examples for both the bloodlust and the bigotry of the pubbies. [Twofer here.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/hecklers-shout-shot-ted-cruz-234520753.html) > [@](#): > > Hecklers shouted “he should be shot” during Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech at Donald Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas when the Texas Republican mentioned a string of prominent Democrats. > > Cruz spoke at the convention, [which President Donald Trump concocted to bolster Republican support](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-dividend-check-when-midterms-b3048253.html) ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. During his speech, Cruz specifically criticized Sharia law, a common attack point from Republicans that argues that Muslims will enforce their ideas on other Americans. > > “Hear me now: Sharia law has no place in America,” he said to rapturous applause and chants of “USA.” “It is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, and we need to stand together to stop it now.” [Let’s fake up some outrage, hey?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5622) > [@](#): > > Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s reelection campaign posted an image that purported to show his Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa speaking with a child at a table adorned with a transgender pride flag. But the image is doctored, edited from footage the state representative posted to replace an American flag with the blue, pink and white banner. > > “Gina wants to turn your local public school into a gender transition camp,” says a [September 8, 2026 post](https://perma.cc/X3DG-H23L) on X from “Governor Hot Wheels,” a campaign account managed by Abbott’s team. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5624 "2026-09-11T21:44:15Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Like that Mamdani character - trolling the right by getting elected Mayor as Muslim just so he can attend the 9/11 ceremony and rub it in Republicans’ faces. Surely Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to shame Mamdani into staying away from today’s 9/11 ceremonies, qualifies as a Stupid Republican Idea. > [@](#): > > Giuliani, 82, appeared on Newsmax on Sunday, September 6, asserting there was “no question” that Mamdani, 34, should not be at the ceremony, saying, “this ceremony is for the families and for America to remember historically.” “Frankly, whatever he’d like to say, he doesn’t agree that September 11th was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America, one that is, in terms of war or effort continuing today, and maybe even worse today," Giuliani — who used anti-Muslim rhetoric and shared conspiracy theories in the interview — claimed. “Having lost friends there and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.” In the event Mamdani, who has about 12 million times the social intelligence that Rudy has, came up to Rudy today and put out his hand. Mamdani knew that Rudy would be unable to resist the Relevance of being shown all over the media in the resulting photos. > **[Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Shakes Zohran Mamdani’s Hand at 9/11 Ceremony...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/ex-nyc-mayor-rudy-giuliani-163648257.html)** > > Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and the city’s current mayor, Zohran Mamdani, appeared to share a civil moment at Ground Zero on Friday, September 11. In a video obtained by the New York Post, the two politicians could be seen shaking hands... ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5625 "2026-09-11T22:28:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > In the event Mamdani, who has about 12 million times the social intelligence that Rudy has, came up to Rudy today and put out his hand. I hope he washed that hand for a very long time afterwards. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5626 "2026-09-11T23:30:02Z")
NC Senate candidate Michael Watley posts that he will never forget the tragic events of (checks notes) 9/1. > ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5627 "2026-09-11T23:34:00Z")
Oh, so Giuliani is back to admitting that 9/11 happened, again? ---
**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:** [September 11, 2026, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5628 "2026-09-11T23:54:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > NC Senate candidate Michael Watley posts that he will never forget the tragic events of (checks notes) 9/1. Remember, remember, the first of September, Airliners, terrorism, and plot. My Twitter app widget, Made me miss a digit, Just a single one I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5629 "2026-09-11T23:58:16Z")
Golf clap. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5630 "2026-09-12T02:16:55Z")
It was a Saturday and UNC lost to Maryland to start their season at 0-2. Some folks are just a little too attached to their teams ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5631 "2026-09-12T03:29:33Z")
[The party that claims Democrats are “groomers” has a–No, that cannot be right. What? It is?–twice conviceted sex offender give the opening prayer at a rally.](https://www.aol.com/articles/convicted-sex-offender-offered-opening-214710000.html) > [@](#): > > A pastor kicked off a recent campaign stop for Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for Senate, with a prayer that asked God to bestow “integrity and honesty” upon the event and to right wrongs “hammered down on the conservative movement.” > > The prayer was hardly unusual by North Carolina political standards. What was surprising was the man who delivered it. Pastor Daimon L. King is a registered sex offender, twice sentenced to prison for convictions involving children, according to state and court records. Just for fun, let’s check out his crimes. > [@](#): > > Some 30 years ago, King was a marching band assistant at a high school outside Raleigh when he was charged with statutory rape and indecent liberties with a 15-year-old student, [The News & Observer reported](https://www.newspapers.com/image/657473881/?article=12f72a9c-08bc-415b-9558-2d341a1ad897&terms=%22daimon%20King%22&search-id=687629fc-0a80-4673-a291-53512cecc724&search-rank=21) at the time. King, then 31, was convicted in 1998 and served nearly five years in prison before being paroled, [according to state department of corrections records](https://webapps.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0615830&searchLastName=king&searchFirstName=daimon&searchDOBRange=0&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1). > > In 2010, he pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage female relative and served close to three years in prison, [state records show](https://webapps.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0615830&searchLastName=king&searchFirstName=daimon&searchDOBRange=0&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1). ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5632 "2026-09-12T05:47:45Z")
And those were highlighted on his resume.🙄 ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5633 "2026-09-12T05:48:54Z")
**If we’re still pretending that Mitch McConnell is alive then we should be able to criticize him for his silence on the anniversary of 9/11.** His office released a written statement. Really​🙄 ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5634 "2026-09-12T09:53:33Z")
[Turns out polticizing federal job applications is not cool.](https://www.aol.com/articles/us-judge-blocks-trump-administrations-000805000.html) > [@](#): > > BOSTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from continuing to ask applicants for civil service jobs throughout the government to respond to what unions described as a partisan “loyalty question.” > > U.S. District Judge George O’Toole in Boston sided with three unions representing government workers who sued last year after the administration began asking applicants for nonpartisan federal jobs to write essays explaining how they would help advance Trump’s policies and executive orders. > > The unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argued the question mandated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) unlawfully politicized the hiring process for career government workers by attempting to assess their support for the Republican president. > > O’Toole, an appointee of Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the question had been asked of applicants to positions ranging from an air traffic control specialist to a crane operator to a nuclear materials courier. > > He said the unions’ members reasonably interpreted it as an attempt to determine the applicants’ political views, even though the Civil Service Reform Act bars making employment decisions for such jobs on the basis of political affiliation. > > “The plaintiffs are thus likely to succeed in showing that there is no legitimate governmental interest in inquiring into the political beliefs of applicants to federal civil service vacancies,” O’Toole wrote. But what’s the dictatorship’s position on this query? > [@](#): > > OPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously defended the question as optional and said that it had been clear that hiring decisions could not be based on political beliefs. & > [@](#): > > OPM in a May 2025 memo to the heads of all executive agencies set forth various actions to implement Trump’s order, including by requiring that job applicants be asked to respond to the essay question. Liars must lie in service of the chief liar, evidently. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5635 "2026-09-12T10:30:17Z")
From @Monty’s quote, not Monty: > [@Monty](#): > > OPM did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously defended the question as optional Anecdotal evidence only, but I’ve learned that when it comes to hiring, “optional” in the American context actually means “mandatory.” Long story, but years ago I was part of a legal team helping a US company set up shop in here in Canada. My part dealt with employment law, somebody else looked after incorporation, somebody else looked after commercial real estate, and so on. Anyway, the company was already trying to recruit Canadians to work for them, and I was asked to investigate their hiring practices, to see if they conformed with Canadian law. To do so, and with the full knowledge and cooperation of my US contact, I applied for a job. Yes, I made up a resume, showing that I had a great education from a well-respected Canadian school (that I never attended), and lots of experience in the area (from companies that were made up). Some of the blanks on the online application were listed as “optional,” so I opted not to answer them. The application was going to the HR department of the US company’s head office, not to my contact, and the HR department was not in on the ruse. It wasn’t an hour after I pressed “Send” before I got an e-mail from the company’s HR department asking that I please fill out the race question, and the date-of-birth question. Wait—weren’t those optional? Well, yes, but we’d really, really like you to answer them. Pleeease? We have to report these things to … So they were not really optional after all. In my report to my US contact, I mentioned this, and how asking about race or age (among other things, like my driver’s license number when the job did not involve driving) was illegal under Canadian law. Especially when such questions were “optional” when they weren’t really. The company could not ask such things legally, and was open to a lawsuit if it tried to. In short, the company conformed to Canadian employment law when it finally got going in Canada, and things worked out well. But I well remember our telephone conference when I laid all kinds of bad news on our US client, who was dumbstruck when it learned that Canadian companies hire totally on merit, with no regard to any other race, age, family status, religion, driver’s abstract for jobs that don’t involve driving, and other irrelevant to the job, factor. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5636 "2026-09-12T11:16:37Z")
I’m sure the questions asked by OPM are perfectly optional. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, they will still take the application, but if you don’t (or answer the wrong way) it will be put at the bottom of the stack behind more “worthy” applicants. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5637 "2026-09-12T12:01:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > It wasn’t an hour after I pressed “Send” before I got an e-mail from the company’s HR department asking that I please fill out the race question, and the date-of-birth question. Wait—weren’t those optional? Well, yes, but we’d really, really like you to answer them. Pleeease? We have to report these things to … Depending on how the HR application works, these are things that are saved but not tied to a particular application. It is standard practice to save demographic information for reporting purposes. This is, so that if asked, they can say how many people applied from what group, and how many people where hired for what group. If the HR person either did not understand that or did not explain that to you correctly, that is indeed the problem. The optional questions are not. I have had to do reporting on demographic information for submitted content, which is anonymized, so that we can get a picture of what kind of people are submitting, and if we are doing a good job of being representative of work across different demographics. `//i\\` ---
**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:** [September 12, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5638 "2026-09-12T12:23:44Z")
> [@icon](#): > > If the HR person either did not understand that or did not explain that to you correctly, that is indeed the problem. The optional questions are not. But if the HR person said that the questions were required, when the form said they were optional, that was also a problem. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5639 "2026-09-12T18:23:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But if the HR person said that the questions were required, when the form said they were optional, that was also a problem. Spoons was not clear that they said they were required only that they just wrote to ask that they answer because of reporting. Spoons then implied it was needed for use in hiring decisions. Now, perhaps that was true, but as someone who has worked on the collection of demographics data, i also know that it can be for general reporting and anonymized and that is common practice in a lot of places where the optional questions are asked. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5640 "2026-09-12T18:44:28Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > (Cruz) > “Hear me now: Sharia law has no place in America,” he said to rapturous applause and chants of “USA.” “It is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States, and we need to stand together to stop it now.” That’s right. We don’t need some crazy, misogynistic, hateful religion telling good Americans what we can and cannot do. Tell all those christians to keep it to themselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=281) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=283)