# Pete Stark is a frickin' idiot **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 6, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709 "2010-07-06T13:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/41 "2010-07-07T05:44:04Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > No, actually, Lobo, you should all stop for a moment and kiss my ass. > > I posted a thread about Stark acting like an idiot. It happened. There’s no denying it - he was stupid enough to do it and be videoed while he did it. And I was stupid enough to think that there still might be a few non-brain damaged people left here on the Dope. Boy, was I ever wrong about that, and I’ll freely admit it. As I said, I live in his congressional district. There is no chance he will be defeated in November. That’s why he can afford to be so cocky. And, as I also said, this is not even the most liberal congressional district in California. It’s pretty run-of-the-mill, actually. It’s just that there are huge numbers of people here that simply won’t vote Republican under any circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/42 "2010-07-07T05:53:05Z")
Wow. I really am surprised that a congressman would take the tone with people. He’s answerable to the people. What a dick. And I’d feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot and a Rep. rep was treating people questioning him, say, on abortion. I’m also quite surprised that many of the liberal posters here seem to think his performance is fine. another “wow”. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/43 "2010-07-07T06:28:41Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Wow. I really am surprised that a congressman would take the tone with people. He’s answerable to the people. What a dick. And I’d feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot and a Rep. rep was treating people questioning him, say, on abortion. > > I’m also quite surprised that many of the liberal posters here seem to think his performance is fine. another “wow”. Hey, if a Republican congressman got all snarky with some idiot who said power to the people and that we should do away with corporations, I’d be all for it. And, as mentioned, politically speaking he’ll get a lot more votes making fun of a Minuteman than being polite to him. Stark doesn’t suffer fools gladly - I’m glad someone doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/44 "2010-07-07T07:54:23Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Mine too. Plus, we have a very diverse population, with the biggest Afghan population in the US - and some awesome groceries. > > This thread would inspire me to donate money to his campaign, except he doesn’t need it. Minutemen are vigilante scum, so no problem there. Making fun of these buffoons is awesome. Too bad some the more polite congressmen didn’t do this kind of stuff to the teabaggers accusing Obama of being socialist and other such shite. > > All this and he’s an atheist also. 🆒 Yup, Pete Stark is a hero to me. He’s got honest convictions and says what he means. I’m a patriot just like him. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2010, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/45 "2010-07-07T10:31:00Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > This pompous jackass is a walking, talking argument in favor of term limits. I hope the citizens of California remember [this piece of idiocy](http://indyposted.com/30024/california-congressman-pete-stark-sneers-at-constituents-video/) when his next election comes around. Hey! Don’t be blaming all of us Californians for that moron. He’s the rep only for the 13th District. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/46 "2010-07-07T10:47:41Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Hey, if a Republican congressman got all snarky with some idiot who said power to the people and that we should do away with corporations, I’d be all for it. This needs to be a movement. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/47 "2010-07-07T11:10:13Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Present the rump. Now I have this mental image of drill sergeant: “Present…rump! Right shoulder…rump!” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/48 "2010-07-07T12:37:44Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Wow. I really am surprised that a congressman would take the tone with people. He’s answerable to the people. What a dick. And I’d feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot and a Rep. rep was treating people questioning him, say, on abortion. > > I’m also quite surprised that many of the liberal posters here seem to think his performance is fine. another “wow”. The Minutemen are no different than the KKK or Christian Identity. Any Congressman who actually treats any of those groups politely loses my vote. Not that it matters, since I’m not in Stark’s district, but still… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/49 "2010-07-07T13:01:14Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Wow. I really am surprised that a congressman would take the tone with people. He’s answerable to the people. “People” /= “The People”. He’s answerable to the aggregate of all the people in his district, and less directly to the aggregate of the nation’s people. Not to every single individual, and especially not to the nutcases whose own actions and statements leading to Stark’s comments are pointedly missing. A rep’s responsibility to The People certainly requires dismissing and even disparaging some people. Perhaps a moment’s contemplation would make you realize that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/50 "2010-07-07T13:18:50Z")
In fairness, “our borders are secure” _was_ an idiotic thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/51 "2010-07-07T13:32:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In fairness, “our borders are secure” _was_ an idiotic thing to say. How about “Our borders are as secure as we can get them without turning the entire thing from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico into a new Maginot Line”? ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/52 "2010-07-07T13:54:14Z")
That would require these yahoos to know what the hell the Maginot Line is and then you would completely lose them because it turned out to be French. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/53 "2010-07-07T14:00:53Z")
[Some perspective on “serving the people” (bolding added):](http://www.newportindependent.com/opinions/columnists/x1328225419/Kent-Bush-Republicans-are-lucky-ones-right-now) > [@](#): > > But even better than a Republican telling the tea partiers to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame is a California Democrat mocking the Minutemen. > > The Minutemen take an unhealthy interest in border security. Despite the fact that **there are twice as many border guards now than a decade ago,** it isn’t enough to completely stop illegal immigration. > > So the Minutemen have followed Stark around to all of his town hall meetings and asked the same questions repeatedly. > > Stark was fed up and he let it show. > > “The Minutemen have something to say?” Stark asked. “Who are you going to kill today?” > > Somehow, the belligerent border babysitters took offense to this question. In response to the response to his response to the question, **Stark said he knew the man who brought up the topic very well and that the grass roots movement against him was from someone else’s backyard - not his own.** > > “This guy has been at every one of my town meetings,” Stark said. "He’s a regular. I do recognize him. I didn’t mind needling him a bit. **We’re getting hundreds of calls, none of them from the district, I might add."** > Stark said he believes those callers are simply people who hate others who “speak with an accent.” > > “It’s a xenophobic issue,” Stark said. “It doesn’t differ much in Florida where they’re fearful of people from Haiti or Cuba, or New York where there’s a huge Puerto Rican population - and they’re citizens.” > > Of course, the Minutemen have a bigger problem with illegal immigration than with U.S. citizens who may roll their R’s. > > Their methods are extreme and often cross the line of acceptable behavior. But for a Congressman to allow himself to engage in such an uncivil debate shows that his patience has worn thin. > > It is a sign of the times. > > With so much anti-establishment sentiment and the polarization and radicalization of political activists, more and more elected officials will find themselves growing tired of fighting the daily battle against the new not-so-silent minorities in the political process. Beck didn’t tell you about _that_ part, did he, **Humpy**? ---
**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:** [July 7, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/54 "2010-07-07T14:02:43Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > He’s answerable to the people. Sounds like Stark is a true conservative: [QUOTE=Edmund Burke] Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion. [/QUOTE] ---
**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:** [July 7, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/55 "2010-07-07T14:05:30Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now I have this mental image of drill sergeant: > “Present…rump! Right shoulder…rump!” “See, I told you this was going to happen if they got rid of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’…” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/56 "2010-07-07T14:12:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > How about “Our borders are as secure as we can get them without turning the entire thing from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico into a new Maginot Line”? Well, won’t the Mexicans just cut through Belgium? ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/57 "2010-07-07T15:08:38Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > That would require these yahoos to know what the hell the Maginot Line is and then you would completely lose them because it turned out to be French. When did this turn into a discussion of Toni Morrison characters? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/58 "2010-07-07T15:28:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Some perspective on “serving the people” (bolding added):](http://www.newportindependent.com/opinions/columnists/x1328225419/Kent-Bush-Republicans-are-lucky-ones-right-now) > > > [@](#): > > > > “We’re getting hundreds of calls, none of them from the district, I might add.” Sounds like someone’s office needs a visit from an intrepid documentarian … maybe someone from WND or Breitbart perhaps? Dressed and ready to go to a costume party later? Any volunteers? We’re waiting _tap … tap … tap …_ ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/59 "2010-07-07T15:39:46Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Contrary to popular belief, the dictionary is not the be-all, end-all of proper English. > > “The job of the dictionary is to document the language as it’s used.” -Merriam-Webster editor. > > It’s not our fault that fucktards misuse the language in pursuit of denigrating an entire class (and let’s face it, race) of people. I’m aware that many people don’t like it and think that it’s a derogatory term. Nonetheless, as the [m-w.com](http://m-w.com) entry shows, it’s been used as a noun since at least 1939. I personally think the hyperbolic indignation over its use is a semantic red herring that does no particular favors for illegal immigrants or their advocates. Of the many problems to be solved regarding immigrants and how they’re treated, the favored choice of noun ranks near the bottom of the list---- but being low-hanging fruit, makes a convenient (if not especially constructive) target. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709/60 "2010-07-07T17:38:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > How about “Our borders are as secure as we can get them without turning the entire thing from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico into a new Maginot Line”? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, won’t the Mexicans just cut through Belgium? Yabbut, I heard there was some talk lately of letting Belgium cease to exist. If they time it just right, them Mess’cans’ll just _vanish_ inta thin air! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pete-stark-is-a-frickin-idiot/545709.md?page=4)