# Republican Congressman apparently is now synonymous with "Clueless Asswad" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171 "2002-07-16T03:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/1 "2002-07-16T03:34:23Z")
[http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020715/en\_nm/aids\_usa\_tv\_dc](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020715/en_nm/aids_usa_tv_dc) I am not good at rants, this will be messy… WHAT THE FUCK IS A FUCKING PUPPET IN SOUTH AFRICA ANY CONCERN OF OUR SO CALLED LAWMAKERS WHEN A WAR ON TERRORISM, CORRUPTION IN THE LARGEST COROPRATIONS IN AMERICA, AND A NEWLY EMERGING NATIONAL DEFICT IS BALLONING LIKE A FINAL PAYMENT ON A FOUR YEAR VOLVO LEASE. This is what I find obscene, one out of nine South Africans has AIDS/HIV and it takes a goddamned piece of carpet attached to a stick to make people in power even notice! I mean the Congress takes more time for ‘National Cornflake Month’ than African AIDS, and now this… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/2 "2002-07-16T04:13:58Z")
The stupid is getin’ mighty thick up Capitol-way. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/3 "2002-07-16T04:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > WHAT THE FUCK IS A FUCKING PUPPET IN SOUTH AFRICA ANY CONCERN OF OUR SO CALLED LAWMAKERS … ? Well, probably because it’s associated with PBS, and therefore probably funded in part by American taxpayers. That being said, anyone who opposes anything that helps to educate people of any age about how to increase their chances of avoiding exposure to HIV in an environment where 10% of the people that you meet are likely to be infected needs to have their brains rotated. (It’s not like they’re having a muppet demonstrate safe-sex practices, they’re focusing on things that are relevant to the age-bracket, like things to remember if you happen to have a skinned knee.) Further, anyone who imagines that an AIDS epidemic on another continent is surrounded by a giant SEP\* field is a fucking moron and should probably be suffocated for the good of the gene pool. [sup]\* “Somebody else’s problem.”[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/4 "2002-07-16T13:28:24Z")
It’s interesting how different quotes can give a different tenor to the whole thing. The Yahoo link gives the impression the congressmen are “concerned”. This [link](http://www.planetout.com/pno/news/article.html?2002/07/15/2) is much more ominous, including a thinly veiled thread about funding. > [@](#): > > “As you know, in the United States, ‘Sesame Street’ is broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which receives federal tax dollars through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), over which the House Energy and Commerce Committee has jurisdiction. … How much public money is dedicated to the ‘Sesame Street’ series as well as this particular project that the Sesame Workshop has recently undertaken?” I like the reaction of the Log Cabin Republicans, those self-hating queens as **gobear** describes them. > [@](#): > > Log Cabin Republicans reacted angrily to the letter, saying the statements should not be construed as a reflection of how all Republicans think. > > “I can’t think of a more idiotic letter to be sent at a time when the Bush administration and the Congress have never been more engaged in the fight against AIDS,” said Kevin Ivers, public affairs director for the Log Cabin Republicans. Know your enemies, Kevin. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/5 "2002-07-16T14:36:29Z")
In South Africa, the infection rate in women is more like 40%. This reminds me of the Congressman about five years ago, protesting the language in the movie _Schindler’s List_ when NBC aired it uncut. IIRC, he was told to shut up and sit down in short order. Maybe we can tell the Bozo Five to do the same? Robin ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/6 "2002-07-16T18:20:05Z")
The sad thing is that only Pickering has a shot of being beaten this year. And Upton’s generally known as a moderate, what the heck is he doing? All in all this is very disappoining. Still, I don’t think many of the 218 other Republican congressmen would be this idiotic. Unfortunately, there are probably some kicking themselves right now for not signing that letter. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/7 "2002-07-16T18:22:41Z")
PBS does not write, produce, create, etc. Sesame Street. All they do is air it. I believe the Children’s Television Workshop and Jim Henson corp. are in charge of the creative aspect of Sesame Street. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/8 "2002-07-16T18:36:46Z")
Not only that, Elwood, but every country’s separate version of Sesame Street is done independently. I believe CTW licenses and monitors the shows, or something of the sort, but they do it themselves. Canada just changed ours to Sesame Park; before that, the languages were English and French rather than English and Spanish, and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/9 "2002-07-16T20:24:37Z")
Life imitates The Onion: [http://test.theonion.com/onion3218/gaymuppet.html](http://test.theonion.com/onion3218/gaymuppet.html) (Yes, I know the puppet isn’t gay, but the Senators apparently think it’s going to be demonstrating proper fisting techniques, or something.) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/10 "2002-07-16T20:29:17Z")
I wonder how the gay community on Sesame Street feels about this? Has anyone interviewed Bert or Ernie? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/11 "2002-07-16T20:51:36Z")
Oh christ, one of these numbnuts is from Michigan? I just don’t GET what their problem is. I mean, even the dumbest shitbrick who believes that gays “deserve” AIDS or that it’s a lifestyle risk or that God cooked it up as fair punishment for their immoral sinful ways-- even those kind of lentil-brained morons surely cannot think that little kids who get HIV are guilty, getting what they deserve, or deserving of ostracism. I mean, come the fuck on. What’s wrong with talking about kids with AIDS? ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/12 "2002-07-16T21:44:01Z")
> [@](#): > > even those kind of lentil-brained morons surely cannot think that little kids who get HIV are guilty. Sins of the father. > [@](#): > > Exodus 20:5 > 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for **I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me** ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/13 "2002-07-16T22:08:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homebrew \* > \*\* > Sins of the father. > \*\* Fuck you. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/14 "2002-07-16T22:24:47Z")
I’m not sure that **Homebrew** was espousing that view, but rather pointing out how someone _could_ think like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/15 "2002-07-16T23:32:53Z")
What **JeffB** said. I’m quite sure that **Homebrew** (a gay man, by the way) was _not_ speaking for himself, but speculating on the mindset of others. ---
**Author:** ![sleestak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sleestak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleestak)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/16 "2002-07-17T00:20:54Z")
I have a different question regarding the OP. How many 2 to 4 year old kids\* are going to understand the concept of HIV-AIDS-Disease-death? While educating kids, no matter where they are in the world is a good thing, it seems to me that the education should be age adjusted. I just don’t think that 4 year old kids are going to understand the message. At the same time, when I first heard about this on TV I wondered if the focus was going to the right place. Kids do scrape knees and bleed on each other but, as far as I know, HIV does not transmit it self well that way. The strain in Africa may be different but in the US I believe there have been only one or two incidents where HIV was tramitted via cuts or scrapes. My first thought was that we need to get the adults in Africa the information on how to stop the disease. The kids are not spreading the disease, the adults are. Slee ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/17 "2002-07-17T00:59:04Z")
Well, I feel stupid now. ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/18 "2002-07-17T01:29:11Z")
**sleestak** –Many if not most of these kids are watching their family and neighbors die from this disease in the millions. They’re surrounded every day by those who have AIDS, and those who will. These three year olds might not understand viruses or immune systems, but that they understand the sick = death equation I can almost certainly guarantee. I think getting the message to them that AIDS is not something to be _feared_ so much as something to be _respected_ is very important. **Michael Ellis** –hee hee 🙂 Happens to the best of us. I don’t think **Homebrew** ’ll hold it against you. [sub]unless you like that kind of thing, and he’s agreeable :winkwink:[/sub] bella ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/19 "2002-07-17T03:58:43Z")
> [@](#): > > In South Africa, the infection rate in women is more like 40%. I would like to see a citation supporting this figure. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171/20 "2002-07-17T04:15:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > **…even those kind of lentil-brained morons surely cannot think that little kids who get HIV are guilty, getting what they deserve, or deserving of ostracism.** I don’t know about that. Ryan White was infected with HIV at age 13 from contaminated blood, and faced a huge amount of hatred and discrimination from both kids and adults (including his school pricncipal). Someone even fired shots at his house. Granted, that was about 15 years ago, but I’m afraid there are still plenty of lentil-brained morons walking among us. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republican-congressman-apparently-is-now-synonymous-with-clueless-asswad/119171.md?page=2)