# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1005
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20082 "2015-03-18T18:06:44Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > It makes sense when you understand that conservatives hate poor people and want them to suffer and then die (but most will not admit this, of course). I partly disagree. There seem to be two types of conservatives. The first think the poor are lazy and don’t deserve help from the government. The other thinks they wouldn’t be lazy if the government wasn’t helping. The end result is the same, of course, but the reasoning is different. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20083 "2015-03-18T18:13:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’m trying to think about how I would have handled it if I were he. Maybe: “I care very much about climate change, but not everyone agrees that the climate is changing because of what people do. After all, we once had woolly mammoths and an Ice Age, like the movie with Manny and Sid and their friends, and the world got warmer even though people back then didn’t have factories or drive SUVs. But I care very much about making sure the world’s natural resources are kept safe and used carefully, but still to benefit people that need gas to drive to work, to school, and to go shopping.” Nope, that answers is a very silly one too, it is really sad that Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the last smart Republicans. “If 98 doctors say my son is ill and needs medication and two say, ‘No, he doesn’t, he is fine,’ I will go with the ninety-seven. It’s common sense - the same with global warming. We go with the majority, the large majority.” – former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. What Schwarzenegger was referring to is about what the experts (that every responsible governor should consult) agree about an issue. Yes, even my former Governator can beat your Governor. 🙂 BTW even that last line in the reply that Scott Walker “should had made” implies that the economy will be better by not doing the right thing, in reality that reply only leads the government to not do anything with the problem and then waste a lot more in resources once the issue becomes worse. [http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article12983720.html](http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article12983720.html) I guess we will come to appreciate the jobs created with the construction of new dams, barriers, moving cities, etc that we will have to do in the future because there were groups dedicated to not do the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20084 "2015-03-18T18:21:05Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > I partly disagree. There seem to be two types of conservatives. The first think the poor are lazy and don’t deserve help from the government. The other thinks they wouldn’t be lazy if the government wasn’t helping. The end result is the same, of course, but the reasoning is different. For quite some time it’s seemed to me that there’s a kind of warped Calvinism at work in some segments of US society. This holds that poverty is a sign of God’s disfavor; and since these people are slated for damnation anyway, why waste precious [DEL]bodily fluids[/DEL] resources on them? Better yet, why not help them toward their demise and thus cleanse the body politic of their pernicious influence? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20085 "2015-03-18T18:28:24Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > For quite some time it’s seemed to me that there’s a kind of warped Calvinism at work in some segments of US society. This holds that poverty is a sign of God’s disfavor; and since these people are slated for damnation anyway, why waste precious [DEL]bodily fluids[/DEL] resources on them? Better yet, why not help them toward their demise and thus cleanse the body politic of their pernicious influence? Unsurprising, since “just world” thinking appears to be more prevalent amongst conservatives (at least, there is research that points that direction). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20086 "2015-03-18T18:37:08Z")
Tennessee state legislator doesn’t want Volkswagen to bring 200,000 new jobs to the state. [Because union](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/tenn-goper-slams-volkswagen-creating-200000-jobs-is-intentionally-a-magnet-for-unionized-labor/#.VQmo0XKaqkQ.facebook). ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20087 "2015-03-18T19:09:59Z")
Well, unions would change the culture in Tennessee, and thinking about it just makes old Bo feel **blue**. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20088 "2015-03-18T19:23:14Z")
[Mark Kirk accuses Senate Democrats of defending slavery.](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/illinois-kirk-suggests-dems-are-defending-slavery?) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20089 "2015-03-18T19:36:26Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Mark Kirk accuses Senate Democrats of defending slavery.](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/illinois-kirk-suggests-dems-are-defending-slavery?) Albeit, rather incoherently: _“[Senate Democrats] are making the same mistake that Democrats made in the 1850s when they defended slavery. We should all be neo-abolitionists here, to make sure that there is no right in America to enslave others using the Internet.”_ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20090 "2015-03-18T19:36:28Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Well, unions would change the culture in Tennessee . . . Yes, there’s a real danger it might acquire some. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20091 "2015-03-18T19:48:31Z")
[ > [@](#): > > A pair of Republican lawmakers claimed that Christian business owners had arguably more rights than corporations that uphold secular values. > > Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) published a column at The Christian Post that compared environmental concerns to moral aversions to LGBT customers or birth control – although the lawmakers never specify those objections. > [@](#): > > The GOP lawmakers said conservative Christians had arguably more rights to choose their business partners than Chipotle because religious expression is protected by the U.S. Constitution and environmental concerns are not. > > “If a decision based on moral convictions is celebrated, shouldn’t a decision based on the free exercise of religion – a right guaranteed in the Constitution – be even more so?” the lawmakers argue. > > They argued that U.S. laws respected “freedom and diversity” – particularly for religiously motivated Americans. > > “ **We must not fall prey to the hypocrisy of defending the freedom of operating a business on convictions of sustainability, but reject that same freedom when the convictions are based in faith** ,” the lawmakers said. ]([http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/gop-lawmakers-christian-businesses-should-have-more-rights-than-secular-companies-like-chipotle/](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/gop-lawmakers-christian-businesses-should-have-more-rights-than-secular-companies-like-chipotle/)) Yes, what tyranny it would be to only base decisions on facts. True freedom is the right to consider _faith_ as equal to _facts_! :smack: Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20092 "2015-03-18T19:56:26Z")
Wait, are they saying corporations are NOT people? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20093 "2015-03-18T20:03:09Z")
Well, if homophobia is a moral conviction, then you should be proud of that, put a sign in the window of your coffeeshop, “_We Hate Gays_”, so that the rest of us can decide where to spend our hard-earned. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20094 "2015-03-18T20:07:36Z")
Remember that story about Scott Admin forbidding employees in Florida state environmental agencies to mention “global warming” or “climate change”? [It turns out they actually meant it.](http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2015/03/18/scott%E2%80%99s-climate-change-gag-order-claims-a-victim/) > [@](#): > > Washington, DC — A Florida state employee is in hot water for speaking about climate change at an official meeting and keeping notes of that discussion in official minutes, according to a complaint filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In response, his superiors at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued him a letter of reprimand, ordered him to take two days leave and then told him not to return until he had medical clearance of his fitness for duty… > > Barton Bibler is a long-time DEP employee who now serves as Land Management Plan Coordinator in its Division of State Lands. He attended a Florida Coastal Managers Forum on February 27, 2015 at which climate change and sea-level rise were discussed among a mix of public attendees. Mr. Bibler’s official notes on this meeting reflected all of that discussion. He was directed to remove any hot button issues, especially explicit references to climate change, and then was given a letter of reprimand for supposedly misrepresenting that the “official meeting agenda included climate change.”. > > As he was given the reprimand on March 9th, Mr. Bibler was told to not return to work for two days which would be charged against his personal leave time. Two days later he received a “Medical Release Form” requiring that his doctor supply the DEP with an evaluation of unspecified “medical condition and behavior” issues before being allowed to return to work. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20095 "2015-03-18T20:10:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Wait, are they saying corporations are NOT people? Depends on the situation – it’s a Schrodinger’s quantum-uncertainty kinda thing, like whether VP Cheney was part of the executive or legislative branch. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20096 "2015-03-18T20:17:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Mark Kirk accuses Senate Democrats of defending slavery.](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/illinois-kirk-suggests-dems-are-defending-slavery?) > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that he’ll bring the same bill to the floor again tomorrow, so that Democrats can block it again, just like they did yesterday. Why bother? Because watching the same bill fail over and over again – instead of doing real work – apparently makes the GOP leadership feel better Congressional republicans might be the laziest people in America. You know why they’re always babbling about less government? They think it means less work. For themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20097 "2015-03-18T20:18:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Mr. Bibler’s official notes on this meeting reflected all of that discussion. He was directed to remove any hot button issues, especially explicit references to climate chang What’s the point of minutes that don’t include everything that was said in a meeting ? There’s no fixing the minutes in fucking post-, you frauds ! > [@](#): > > Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that he’ll bring the same bill to the floor again tomorrow, so that Democrats can block it again, just like they did yesterday. I think somebody should introduce them to [Vaas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEWJ-JgVS7Q). ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20098 "2015-03-18T20:28:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Two days later he received a “Medical Release Form” requiring that his doctor supply the DEP with an evaluation of unspecified “medical condition and behavior” issues before being allowed to return to work. “I have examined the patient, heard his complaint, and have determined that he is not fit to work in the position he is currently employed in. The patient suffers from common sense, a refusal to pretend reality is dictated by belief, and worst of all, the ability to think for himself. It is apparent to me that a candidate for this position is expected to be a toadying yes man, well practiced at cognitive dissonance and nodding his head in agreement at whatever he’s told. It is my recommendation that the patient be placed in a position where his conditions will not be a hindrance, preferably somewhere that doesn’t have ignorant pandering money grubbing imbeciles in charge.” - Dr. Anyone with functioning eyeballs and more brains than a doorknob ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20099 "2015-03-18T20:41:42Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Albeit, rather incoherently: > _“[Senate Democrats] are making the same mistake that Democrats made in the 1850s when they defended slavery. We should all be neo-abolitionists here, to make sure that there is no right in America to enslave others using the Internet.”_ Shit, and right after I bought a five-year membership to Christian Mingle. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20100 "2015-03-18T20:45:25Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Congressional republicans might be the laziest people in America. You know why they’re always babbling about less government? They think it means less work. For themselves. It’s like I always said – the problem with Those People is they don’t **want** to work! ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/20101 "2015-03-18T21:26:33Z")
I think this is the thread winner: > [@TonySinclair](#): > > After 20,000 posts, I think I have the winner for stupidest idea ever: > [Mittens is going to fight Evander Holyfield.](http://www.sltrib.com/home/2248523-155/rolly-mitt-romney-is-preparing-for) umm, until this one: > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Glenn Beck is leaving the GOP because it’s not conservative enough.](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/18/ive_made_my_decision_im_out_glenn_beck_leaves_gop/) > > He’s also thinking of leaving the NRA because Grover Norquist is an Islamist sleeper agent. oh, wait, no, this one: > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Tennessee state legislator doesn’t want Volkswagen to bring 200,000 new jobs to the state. [Because union](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/tenn-goper-slams-volkswagen-creating-200000-jobs-is-intentionally-a-magnet-for-unionized-labor/#.VQmo0XKaqkQ.facebook). or this? > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Mark Kirk accuses Senate Democrats of defending slavery.](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/illinois-kirk-suggests-dems-are-defending-slavery?) or … arrgh, > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Remember that story about Scott Admin forbidding employees in Florida state environmental agencies to mention “global warming” or “climate change”? > > [It turns out they actually meant it.](http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2015/03/18/scott%E2%80%99s-climate-change-gag-order-claims-a-victim/) _Help, it is coming to hard and fast. The shitstorm is getting worse, with no sign of abating._ Is there a pill that can help me deal with this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1004) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1006)