Omnibus "You Can't Make This Shit Up" Thread

[ThelmaLou]

Not every weird statement/cause/pov promoted by a public official is directly attributable to our so-called President, so would not be appropriate in the Clusterfuck thread. Although IMHO (others will certainly agree/disagree) the climate of shameless ignorance created by our shamelessly ignorant so-called President has given these crazies permission to crawl out from under their rocks. So this thread is to report those things.

Here’s the one that prompted me today:
Arizona lawmaker: Let’s end compulsory schooling and stop forcing education ‘down everybody’s throat’
The reporter even starts out:

Put this in the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up category: A legislator in Arizona has said that there should be no compulsory education, and he wants to repeal a state law that mandates that young people attend school.

He is Paul Mosley, an extremely conservative freshman Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives from Lake Havasu City, which is in Mohave County. When it comes to education, his campaign website says this:

A good quality education is essential in preparing the next generation. I believe that parents understand the needs of their children better than bureaucrats and I am a proponent of education choice. Competition in education is good and I support district schools, charter schools, private schools, home schooling and tuition tax credits.

But he has another idea about education, too, and, he says, it is a top priority. In an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times, he said wants the state to pass a law that eliminates compulsory education. He was quoted as saying:

“Education used to be a privilege. People used to believe getting an education was something you had to be privileged to get, that you had to work hard to get. Now we basically force it down everybody’s throats.”

And he said this:

“The number one thing I would like to repeal is the law on compulsory education … I believe education is still a privilege, and the kids who don’t want to be there are a larger distraction to the kids who do want to be there.

“We’re telling kids they have to go to school, and we put fences around the schools to protect them now, and we give them a meal or two and sometimes send a backpack of food home with them. So now schools are not only tasked with educating our children, but also feeding our children. What happened to the personal responsibility of a parent to feed and educate their kids?”...

Yeah, let’s leave this up to states, parents, and hell, why not the kids themselves?

[Ike_Witt]

It seems to be in the best interests of the Republicans to have the general population as uneducated as possible. This is just a more overt action than naming DeVos secretary of education.

[Cornelius_Tuggerson]

In other news Oklahoma meth addicts have taken up cattle rustling to support their habit. Doesn’t really fit with the theme of this thread, but not something I could make up either.

[jz78817]

what is it with this notion that simply having a kid makes one an expert on medicine, education, and everything else?

[ThelmaLou]

@Cornelius_Tuggerson

In other news Oklahoma meth addicts have taken up cattle rustling to support their habit. Doesn’t really fit with the theme of this thread, but not something I could make up either.

Not at all. Glad you posted that. Wow. It seems to me that cattle rustling would be really hard work.

[Kamino_Neko]

Well, I mean…that’s why you’ve got to be tweaking to do it.

[The_Tooth]

@jz78817

what is it with this notion that simply having a kid makes one an expert on medicine, education, and everything else?

My aunt likes to say “Having a child doesn’t make you an expert in education any more than having a disease makes you an expert in medicine.” She runs schools, she should know.

[The_Tooth]

@Cornelius_Tuggerson

In other news Oklahoma meth addicts have taken up cattle rustling to support their habit. Doesn’t really fit with the theme of this thread, but not something I could make up either.

I do hope they tip well.

[ThelmaLou]

Ben Carson strikes again:

Don’t Make Housing for the Poor Too Cozy, Carson Warns

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ben Carson does not like the creature comforts, at least not for low-income Americans reliant on the government for a helping hand.

As he toured facilities for the poor in Ohio last week, Mr. Carson, the neurosurgeon-turned-housing secretary, joked that a relatively well-appointed apartment complex for veterans lacked “only pool tables.” He inquired at one stop whether animals were allowed. At yet another, he nodded, plainly happy, as officials explained how they had stacked dozens of bunk beds inside a homeless shelter and purposefully did not provide televisions.

Compassion, Mr. Carson explained in an interview, means not giving people “a comfortable setting that would make somebody want to say: ‘I’ll just stay here. They will take care of me.’”…

“We have some people who are mentally ill. We have some elderly and disabled people. We can’t expect in many cases those people to do a great deal to take care of themselves,” he said. But, he added, “There is another group of people who are able-bodied individuals, and I think we do those people a great disservice when we simply maintain them.”…

Yeah, those cozy housing projects–a real problem. And for God’s sake, let’s don’t give the veterans pool tables! Then they’ll NEVER go out and find work! Hurumph! :rolleyes:

[Budget_Player_Cadet]

Now now, if all we do here is repost insane/stupid/evil things the trump administration does, the other two threads already dedicated to that will be entirely redundant.

[ThelmaLou]

@Budget_Player_Cadet

Now now, if all we do here is repost insane/stupid/evil things the trump administration does, the other two threads already dedicated to that will be entirely redundant.

Actually, you’re right. I should have put this in the Clusterfuck thread because it has to do with a Cabinet member. I intended for this thread to be about “you can’t make this stuff up” stuff done by people NOT directly in the Trump administration. My bad.

<Takes herself to the corner for a time-out>