# 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:** 1104
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22062 "2015-06-06T15:53:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Santorum thinks that the Pope should stay out of the climate change debate and leave the issue to the scientists. Um, aren’t the Republicans the ones who keep saying they aren’t scientists? “Let’s leave science to the scientists” seems to be one of the new Republican talking points and it doesn’t really work, at least not from their viewpoint. Scientists overwhelmingly say that the evidence overwhelmingly supports the idea that human induced climate change is a reality. So if they want to leave science to the scientists… ---
**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:** [June 6, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22063 "2015-06-06T15:55:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, write multiple contracts with non-overlapping terms: > > The terms of Contract 1 with Susan only apply on Monday. > The terms of Contract 2 with Judy only apply on Tuesday. > The terms of Contract 3 with Mary only apply on Wednesday. > The terms of Contract 4 with Carol only apply on Thursday. Etc. That or, because clergy members get to officiate : get yourself ordained by any two-bit church (or, hell, found one for yourself). Then feel free to void and sign contracts with each of your sisterwives on the fly, on an immediate need basis. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22064 "2015-06-06T16:26:34Z")
I think that Scalia is a stupid Republican idea himself. But here’s something that I think belongs in this thread from [The MaddowBlog](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/scalias-perfect-capital-punishment-case-falls-apart): ``` Quote: A little over two decades ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was dismissive of then-Justice Harry Blackmun’s concerns about the death penalty. In fact, Scalia had a case study in mind that demonstrated exactly why the system of capital punishment has value. ``` As regular readers [may recall](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/dna-evidence-clears-inmate-death-row), Scalia specifically pointed to a convicted killer named Henry Lee McCollum as an obvious example of a man who deserved to be put to death. “For example, the case of an 11-year-old girl raped by four men and then killed by stuffing her panties down her throat,” Scalia wrote in a 1994 ruling. “How enviable a quiet death by lethal injection compared with that!” It turns out that this case that was perfect evidence that the death penalty was a great idea involved a mentally challenged man who was railroaded, spent 30 years on death row, and to no big shock, was recently exonerated through DNA evidence. > [@](#): > > Scalia’s perfect example of a man who deserved to be killed by the state was innocent. North Carolina’s _News & Observer_ [reported](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article23091657.html): Quote: > Gov. Pat McCrory on Thursday pardoned two half-brothers who were exonerated of murder after spending three decades in prison. > > The governor took nine months to make the decision, saying he thoroughly reviewed the pardons sought by Henry McCollum and Leon Brown. Both men are intellectually disabled. > If this story sounds at all familiar, it was last fall when a judge ordered the men released. The confessions appeared to have been coerced 30 years ago and new DNA evidence [implicated another man](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/2-convicted-in-1983-north-carolina-murder-freed-after-dna-tests.html?ref=us) whose possible involvement had been overlooked at the time. > > As recently as 2010, the North Carolina Republican Party used a McCollum photo [on campaign fliers](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/2-convicted-in-1983-north-carolina-murder-freed-after-dna-tests.html?ref=us) to attack a Democratic candidate as “soft on crime.” > > McCollum hadn’t done anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22065 "2015-06-06T16:28:06Z")
Formatting is messed up and the browser at work won’t let me edit it. Blah. If a moderator fizes it, I’d be obliged. ---
**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:** [June 6, 2015, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22066 "2015-06-06T21:50:20Z")
Ted Cruz is all in favor of you carrying a gun. [Just don’t carry one around him.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/06/06/ted-cruz-wants-background-check-on-supporters-before-they-can-shoot-with-him/) ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22067 "2015-06-07T17:52:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Ted Cruz is all in favor of you carrying a gun. [Just don’t carry one around him.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/06/06/ted-cruz-wants-background-check-on-supporters-before-they-can-shoot-with-him/) Best quote in the article: > [@](#): > > Cruz clearly doesn’t feel safe around just anyone with a gun, and wants to make sure the gun nut he invites isn’t too gun nutty. After all, what if Dick Cheney wins? ---
**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:** [June 7, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22068 "2015-06-07T18:00:44Z")
Santorum, doubling down on the crazy, insists that while Pope Francis should leave science to the scientists, he himself is qualified to talk about climate change because [he’s a politician.](http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/07/3666980/santorum-climate-change-science-not-settled/) However, the scientists who talk about climate change are _not_ qualified to do so, because they believe that they’re right, and therefore they’re engaged in “political science”, and politicians have no place making science; > [@](#): > > “If he’s not a scientist — and in fact, he does have a degree in chemistry — neither are you?” host Chris Wallace asked Santorum Sunday. “So, I guess the question would be, if he shouldn’t talk about it, should you?” > > Santorum defended his discussions about climate change by distinguishing politicians from church leaders. “Politicians, whether we like it or not, people in government have to make decision with regard to public policy that affect American workers,” Santorum said, adding that while “the pope can talk about whatever he wants to talk about,” he questions the Pope’s use of his moral authority to combat the issue of climate change… > > Santorum — a devout Catholic — disagrees with the Pope’s stance that climate change is a man-made. He has often called climate science “political science,” and argued on Sunday that a scientific consensus on climate change underscores this point. > > “All of this certainty, which is what bothers me about the debate, the idea that science is settled,” Santorum said. “Any time you hear a scientist say science is settled, that’s political science, not real science.” ---
**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:** [June 7, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22069 "2015-06-07T18:31:11Z")
No wonder the republican scientists that are climate scientists are becoming independent. \*Dr. Richard Alley on the frustrations of a conservative climate scientist. (very short video)\* It is clear to me that Santorum even denies that scientists that are Republican could have a different idea than him. \*The Challenges of Climate Change Communication. Interview with Richard Alley and Susanne Moser. (longer video)\* ---
**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:** [June 7, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22070 "2015-06-07T18:46:15Z")
So scientific consensus means it’s all politically-motivated bullshit ? Fucking Newton and his stupid gravity, I always knew he was a shill for Big Ballistics. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22071 "2015-06-07T19:36:44Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > “Let’s leave science to the scientists” seems to be one of the new Republican talking points and it doesn’t really work, at least not from their viewpoint. I wish that were the case, but the people that they’re talking to only hear the “scientists” the GOP wants them to hear. Strangely enough, they all seem to be in that 3% who don’t believe in anthropogenic global warming… ---
**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:** [June 7, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22072 "2015-06-07T21:02:43Z")
[NRA criticizes Obama for stigmatizing the mentally ill and domestic abusers by not letting them have guns.](http://crooksandliars.com/2015/06/nra-obama-stigmatizing-mentally-ill) ---
**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:** [June 7, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22073 "2015-06-07T21:58:33Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [NRA criticizes Obama for stigmatizing the mentally ill and domestic abusers by not letting them have guns.](http://crooksandliars.com/2015/06/nra-obama-stigmatizing-mentally-ill) From [“The Weapon”](https://writenowisgood.wordpress.com/the-weapon-questions/) By Frederic Brown: > [@](#): > > He thought, “only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22074 "2015-06-07T23:26:22Z")
\*He thought, “only a madman would give a loaded revolver to an idiot.” \* Doesn’t really work. After all the NRA is **all** idiots! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22075 "2015-06-08T01:16:44Z")
As it happens, I remember the story. As is noted in the comment section, the original story ended with “to a retarded child”. The central premise of the story is dated, the then-recent rise of the thermonuclear weapon, and the clear threat of such a weapon even _existing_, never mind who had access to them. That humanity was not mature enough as well as not intelligent enough. (_Astounding_ Magazine, April, 1951.) Which is to say, using said story as an illustrative allegory about gun control is more than a bit of a stretch, worthy of an admonitory “tut tut! sir, and tsk tsk!”, which I hereby deliver in the appropriate tone of snotty pedantry. Aside: and not nearly so good as Tuli Kupferberg… There was once a big atomic bomb That wanted to be a bullet. His friends all asked why, when he was such a big atomic bomb, he would want to be a tiny bullet. “I miss”, he sighed, "the personal touch.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22076 "2015-06-08T16:09:12Z")
[Fox News’ religion correspondent: The Duggars should remain on TV because they’re “not a bad example” of Christian living.](http://www.salon.com/2015/06/08/fox_news_religion_correspondent_the_duggars_should_remain_on_tv_because_theyre_not_a_bad_example_of_christian_living/) He’s a Catholic priest, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22077 "2015-06-08T16:17:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Fox News’ religion correspondent: The Duggars should remain on TV because they’re “not a bad example” of Christian living.](http://www.salon.com/2015/06/08/fox_news_religion_correspondent_the_duggars_should_remain_on_tv_because_theyre_not_a_bad_example_of_christian_living/) > > He’s a Catholic priest, BTW. Good lord. If I was in charge of Christian PR, my first move would be to declare the Duggars un-persons. Erase all evidence of “19 and Counting” and pretend they never existed. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22078 "2015-06-08T16:20:13Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > I think that Scalia is a stupid Republican idea himself. … Speaking of Scalia (a bit of a tangent) did I hear recently that a Supreme Court decision was 8-1, with **Clarence Thomas** as the sole dissent? :eek: Which means that, possibly for the first time, Thomas did not vote the same way as Scalia. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22079 "2015-06-08T21:32:14Z")
[Senator John Thune, who doesn’t like Obamacare and hopes it gets repealed, is upset that Obamacare may get repealed. And it’s Obama’s fault.](http://www.vox.com/2015/6/8/8748335/thune-obamacare-subsidies) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22080 "2015-06-08T22:29:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > _Ceci n’est pas une prostituée._ I’m such a Magritte fan. This really tickled me.🙂 ---
**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:** [June 8, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/22081 "2015-06-08T22:38:32Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Which means that, possibly for the first time, Thomas did not vote the same way as Scalia. I assume you’re being hyperbolic, but it happens a lot. [Here](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-9490_3fb4.pdf) Scalia blasts Thomas’ majority opinion on a traffic stop. [Here](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/538/343/case.html) Thomas voted the opposite way from Scalia on a cross-burning statute. Thomas also frequently votes differently from Scalia on substantive due process issues, because of his long-held view that SDP isn’t a thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1103) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1105)