# 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:** 300
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5981 "2026-10-09T00:40:57Z")
**Q** : How do you define socialism personally **A** : “Socialism” is an RW snarl word that means “awful”. Just like foreign workers and boys playing on girls’ teams. All these things are unAmerican and you should all hate them all equally. IMO from a political perspective that was a perfect answer. The Right will totally eat that up. Preventing the use of the word “socialism” in actual thoughtful debate is the goal, and he’s doing a bang-up job at that. When they control the vocabulary their opponents are permitted to use, they control the debate. And they know that. ---
**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 9, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5982 "2026-10-09T00:49:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **Q** : How do you define socialism personally [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Sq0EYo_ZQVU/maxresdefault.jpg "Socialism is when the government does stuff") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq0EYo_ZQVU) ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5983 "2026-10-09T01:14:20Z")
[![](https://i.imgur.com/XDpNFlk.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/XDpNFlk.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5984 "2026-10-09T01:18:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Preventing the use of the word “socialism” in actual thoughtful debate is the goal, and he’s doing a bang-up job at that. Yeah, if their audience were ever allowed to hear descriptions of actual characteristics of socialism, such as _“owning and managing major industries for the national benefit rather than for the private profit of billionaires”_, or _“reducing economic inequality in order to take care of the basic needs of all people, including housing, healthcare and education”_, etc., they might start wondering what’s so bad about those goals. And we can’t have that, now can we? ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5985 "2026-10-09T01:27:27Z")
I first saw this on The Daily Show; [Elon Musk was with the president talking about the impact of artificial intelligence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHS8OVYT9cI). Musk said, “I think by far the most likely outcome is an age of abundance where we don’t have just universal basic income; we have universal high income.” So now they’re promising a socialist utopia if we just allow AI to run rampant? ---
**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:** [October 9, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5986 "2026-10-09T01:34:27Z")
Except that Republicans are all for replacing American workers with foreign workers. Higher profits that way, doncha know. ---
**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 9, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5987 "2026-10-09T01:46:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Except that Republicans are all for replacing American workers with foreign workers. Except Vance, who thinks the Ivy League are importing foreign workers in order to depress American workers’ wages. (Vance is a Yalie, FTR.) > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mxeo3nnsxk2l)** > > Vance: "Some of America's most elite universities bring in foreigners to undercut wages of American residents. There are 9 universities in particular we believe merit an investigation. Those are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, the University of... > [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Socialism” is an RW snarl word that means “awful”. I’m reminded of George Orwell complaining, over 80 years ago, that the word “fascism” had become so diluted as to be meaningless; “It will be seen that, as used, the word ‘Fascism’ is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley’s broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I do not know what else.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5988 "2026-10-09T04:20:13Z")
I am reminded of this meme: > **[Saab Lofton (@saablofton69.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/saablofton69.bsky.social/post/3mxewtyz3bc2p)** > > LEFT: free & fed > CENTRIST: free OR fed > RIGHT: neither > Leftists are agents of order: Be it the church, bank or state, SOME force must be obliged to guarantee people are both free AND fed. Rightists are agents of chaos: Whether you're free/fed depends... ---
**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 12, 2026, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5989 "2026-10-12T00:13:05Z")
Markwayne “if CTE was a person” Mullin says that publicly executing a wheelchair-bound man is about “restoring American values”. > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mxmahryvrl2c)** > > BRENNAN: Nidal Hasan is in a wheelchair. Doesn't the administration risk livestreaming this and making him a martyr? Couldn't this be a risk to the homeland? > > > > MARKWAYNE MULLIN: No one has to watch it > > > B: Well then why are you livestreaming... ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5990 "2026-10-12T00:45:26Z")
Funny thing is, Mullin’s probably right. We live in a shithole country. We sane people were just kinda confused and mistakenly thought the place was far saner than it really was/is. ---
**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 12, 2026, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5991 "2026-10-12T12:02:45Z")
[![](https://i.imgur.com/XQjzm7x.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/XQjzm7x.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5992 "2026-10-12T15:29:38Z")
That is awesome. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5993 "2026-10-12T17:19:39Z")
Every accusation is a confession. And every claimed justification for a policy position is a contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5994 "2026-10-12T19:02:10Z")
Portland, Maine - Portland, Oregon What’s the difference? > **[GOP buyer's blunder sends Susan Collins ad money to wrong Portland](https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/gop-buyers-blunder-sends-susan-collins-ad-money-to-wrong-portland/4029775/)** > > A Republican political group trying to boost the Maine senator’s reelection campaign mistakenly spent nearly $25,000 on ads targeting voters in the wrong state. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5995 "2026-10-12T19:21:13Z")
To be fair 😉 , one is named after the other but only as the result of a coin flip ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5996 "2026-10-13T00:21:17Z")
Columbus never set foot in what would become the United States. [![](https://i.ibb.co/1GRnYfVj/744c61fc-b89f-4881-b263-031492d76c49.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/1GRnYfVj/744c61fc-b89f-4881-b263-031492d76c49.jpg) ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5997 "2026-10-13T00:29:17Z")
I think that Tuberville with his 1st grade education doesn’t realize that “founding” means something other than “the person who found something”. Also note that Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States (despite what many conservatives believe) was one of the locations that Columbus discovered and landed at (and reportedly spent 2 days on the island before leaving). So technically speaking, he did set foot in the United States. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5998 "2026-10-13T01:18:17Z")
I guess if we’re being historically accurate Sen. Turdville style we should promptly relocate the US seat of government to San Juan. That’s where it all began, and Ol’ Columbus was the original and only Founding Father. Accept no latter-day fakes like Washington _et al_. Probably not an accident Turdville selected a statue of Columbus in a pose reminiscent of a Nazi salute for his post. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/5999 "2026-10-13T01:36:31Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So technically speaking, he did set foot in the United States. If we’re splitting hairs, Puerto Rico didn’t become a US territory until the Spanish-American War, 122 years after the founding of the United States. So Tubbyville is still a dope. ---
**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:** [October 13, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/6000 "2026-10-13T02:00:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If we’re splitting hairs, Puerto Rico didn’t become a US territory until the Spanish-American War, 122 years after the founding of the United States. You said, and I quote: > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Columbus never set foot in what would become the United States. You never said anything about “the founding of the United States”. Just “what would become the United States”. I hate to break it to you but Puerto Rico **is** the United States. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So Tubbyville is still a dope. This is still true regardless. We are in agreement on what matters. 😆 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=299) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678.md?page=301)