# 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:** 114
**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:** [October 19, 2010, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2261 "2010-10-19T23:05:33Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Let me see, if she would have been president in December 1941, the US would have declared war on Chile ? No. See, it’s Congress that declares war. She would have asked for a declaration against Japan. But she would have asked the board of Governors of Harvard University to deliver it. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2262 "2010-10-19T23:06:05Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > All your bass are belong to us. I deserved that. But I don’t have to LIKE it. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2263 "2010-10-19T23:08:04Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > No. See, it’s Congress that declares war. She would have asked for a declaration against Japan. > > But she would have asked the board of Governors of Harvard University to deliver it. I have it on authority she requested it of the Interfaith Committee of Hunter College and just _told_ everyone it was Harvard’s BoG. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2264 "2010-10-19T23:15:19Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > I have it on authority she requested it of the Interfaith Committee of Hunter College and just _told_ everyone it was Harvard’s BoG. I have it on good authority that she attended a MLM presentation by a firm that rented space from the Interfaith Committee of Hunter College and just _told_ everyone that it was Cambridge University’s BoG. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2265 "2010-10-19T23:18:34Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Let me see, if she would have been president in December 1941, the US would have declared war on Chile ? Clearly not. Pennsylvania borders West Virginia, but Chile isn’t near Japan. She would have declared war on the Pacific Ocean. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2266 "2010-10-20T03:46:36Z")
WTF. Clarence Thomas’ wife, Virginia Thomas, called Anita Hill and left a voice mail (!), asking her to “consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.” Then characterized it as “[extending an olive branch.](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20thomas.html?_r=2&emc=na)” Holy stalkerino. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2267 "2010-10-20T04:56:23Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Exciting news, everyone! > > [Christine O’Donnell has finally learned about the First Amendment!](http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/10/christine_odonnell_introduced.html) That was awesome. Someone, somewhere, has to have a tape of one of these nutjobs saying we ought to repeal the First Amendment. These people are so profoundly stupid that I would not be surprised to hear it come out of someone’s mouth. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2268 "2010-10-20T04:57:11Z")
I think I have a contender for the week [here](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEVADA_SENATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-10-19-21-29-38). > [@](#): > > “Don’t vote this November. This is the only way to send them a clear message,” the ad’s narrator announces in Spanish. “You can no longer take us for granted.” English language version [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFAiMbm1Fc). ---
**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:** [October 20, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2269 "2010-10-20T05:11:21Z")
Wait! Wait! I found [something that may be even dumber](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ILLEGAL_IMMIGRATION_CITIZENSHIP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-10-19-21-27-25)! > [@](#): > > The state senator in Arizona who wrote the nation’s toughest law against illegal immigrants said Tuesday he’s collecting support across the country from legislators to challenge automatic U.S. citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. > > Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce’s target is the 14th Amendment, but it is unclear how the state lawmaker can or will influence a federal statue. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2270 "2010-10-20T05:16:27Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I think I have a contender for the week [here](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEVADA_SENATE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-10-19-21-29-38). > > English language version [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKFAiMbm1Fc). The guy behind the ad is a long-time Republican operative and was [interviewed on _The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell_](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39752192#39752192) (no relation). Personally, I don’t count this as a “stupid” idea, but as an evil one. Classic Republican, Donald Segretti style “ratfucking”. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2271 "2010-10-20T05:22:41Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Clearly not. Pennsylvania borders West Virginia, but Chile isn’t near Japan. She would have declared war on the Pacific Ocean. Holy fuck! The enemy is at our shores! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2272 "2010-10-20T10:07:19Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Korean bassists are a very big voting bloc. She looks a little Hispanic to me. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2273 "2010-10-25T16:21:08Z")
Not so much stupid as flat-out delusional: [Steele: Obama rejects cooperative GOP](http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/10/24/us_elections_gop_chairman). (It’s a uselessly short article that references this past Sunday’s _Meet the Press_.) I’d rather not have to dig up examples of just how wrong Steele is (so I won’t), but they’re legion. Health care reform would provide a lengthy list all by its lonesome, without even touching on stimulus matters, financial reform, energy legislation, judicial nominations, unemployment, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2274 "2010-10-25T16:40:39Z")
Have Republicans simply abandoned all attempts to make cogent and fact-based statements and arguments anymore? This [interview](http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/671743--powerful-republican-embraces-tea-party-s-take-on-things) with Newt Gingrich was published in a local paper today, with many, many carefully chosen buzzwords (“Cold War,” “Stalin,” “defining enemies,” “way of life,” ) wrapped in deliberate misinterpretations, scare-mongering falsehoods and self-serving re-writing of the facts without context, especially when Gingrich is asked _“You’re a historian by training. Which lessons have you learned from 20th-century US history?”_. I’ll include this choice quote from the interview and leave the rest to whatever work the reader may find needs done in light of this 46-page testament to a thesis of stupidity. > [@](#): > > The left’s refusal to tell the truth about the threat from radical Islamism is a logical parallel to this pattern. The political elite in the United States still refuses to recognize that radical Islamists and their ideology are our enemy. So, because sane and solution-seeking Americans of all stripes refuse to demonize all of Islam (because two wars that I can think up off the top of my head say we’re taking radical Islam seriously as an enemy), you deliberately paint an entirely inaccurate and fear-mongering picture of the political landscape, simply because you want power? And this from someone who is purported to be a historian by training. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2275 "2010-10-25T16:46:12Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > Have Republicans simply abandoned all attempts to make cogent and fact-based statements and arguments anymore? Quite some time ago. Now let me point you to some charts that show such a strategy is an electoral gold mine… -Joe ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2276 "2010-10-25T17:53:33Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Quite some time ago. Now let me point you to some charts that show such a strategy is an electoral gold mine… > > -Joe Yeah, I know but that hopey-changey thing that I cling to (instead of a gun and a Bible) kept my fingers typing in regards to how low they will go and how far away from shame they are willing to live in order to gain power. And I hadn’t even read about [Stephen Broder (TX-R)](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/102210dnmetbroden.1b2338185.html), who’s running for Congress, saying he “would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2277 "2010-11-01T12:48:41Z")
Republicans are now actually saying [the economy should have been “roaring back”](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69U1KM20101101) after two years of the Obama administration: > [@](#): > > Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008, said Tuesday’s voting would be “a political earthquake” that would send a message to Obama. > > “They’re going to say, ‘You blew it, President Obama. We gave you the two years to fulfill your promise of making sure that our economy starts roaring back to life again,’” she said of voters while appearing on “Fox News Sunday.” ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2278 "2010-11-01T14:21:12Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > Have Republicans simply abandoned all attempts to make cogent and fact-based statements and arguments anymore? yes [QUOTE=Karl Rove] 45 percent of NPR listeners were Saddam Hussein [/QUOTE] The Republican strategy is to simple take names or ideas that are universally disliked or distrusted and to connect them with things they would like to be universally disliked or distrusted. It doesn’t need to make sense or have any factual components, it just needs to be repeated until people view the two things as one in the same. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2279 "2010-11-01T15:11:08Z")
Well, thats just the kind of thing Hitler said. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/2280 "2010-11-01T15:50:54Z")
I was treated this morning to an article about Boehner campaigning in checkered shirts and jeans for changing America. What a phony fucker he is; what fools the electorate are. Jon Stewart’s montage on John McCain making the same stupid statements for the last 20 years about a broken government was spot-on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=113) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=115)