# 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:** 1161
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23202 "2015-07-24T00:30:15Z")
Arrgh! Please, take the Cotton out of my ears. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23203 "2015-07-24T05:01:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You’re thinking of Captain Picard. Kirk was a shoot 'em, fuck 'em, bomb 'em, I don’t like their society so piss on it type of guy. IOW, a Republican. Eh. I don’t know. I don’t think Jim Kirk fits neatly into those stereotypes. He seems to like the idea of the USA as a seminal democratic society, but his actual beliefs on the show seem to mostly be, “I love my ship! I love my crew because they’re part of my ship! I love being a star ship fleet captain!” He might be a swing voter. Anyway, I thought the analysis Ted Cruz used was the kind of embarrassingly shallow thinking that a young person might find deep. And Jean-Luc Picard, presumably, would be from some futuristic European political persuasion, rather than a USA Democrat. Maybe something a little like a French Socialist or a UK LibDem today, so yeah, kind of, but it’s hard to say. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23204 "2015-07-24T05:44:38Z")
[Senate Republicans want to replace IRS agents with private collection agents.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-private-debt-collection-irs_55b1570de4b07af29d580b9f) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23205 "2015-07-24T13:31:50Z")
> [@](#): > > “I like most of Rep. Cotton’s positions on domestic and foreign policy, and trust him to lead wisely. But there is also this: Tom Cotton is a Harvard man, graduate of both the college and Harvard Law School. I hope that he will restore the image of a great university…” > –Ruth R. Wisse Sounds like a hostage video. “They … are … treating … me … well … (blink blink)” ---
**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 24, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23206 "2015-07-24T13:54:17Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Maybe something a little like a French Socialist or a UK LibDem today, so yeah, kind of, but it’s hard to say. For the record, the Lib Dems are the _centrist_ party in the UK. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23207 "2015-07-24T15:14:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Sounds like a hostage video. “They … are … treating … me … well … (blink blink)” “Tom Cotton is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23208 "2015-07-24T15:36:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > For the record, the Lib Dems are the _centrist_ party in the UK. Then who’s the leftist party? Not Labour, I’m sure. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23209 "2015-07-24T15:44:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then who’s the leftist party? Not Labour, I’m sure. These days it’s the Greens, who have one MP at present. Their overall number of votes increased dramatically in the recent election but they were too spread out geographically to overcome the limitations of FPTP by and large. There are also tiny fringe groups at both ends of the spectrum but no one takes them seriously. ETA: Also, the SNP are relatively left-wing compared to the English parties on many issues, but as the name suggests their focus is more regional than left-right. ---
**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 24, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23210 "2015-07-24T15:48:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then who’s the leftist party? Not Labour, I’m sure. Well, historically they were. Trade unions had a guaranteed say in the running of the party, and in the appointment of Cabinet members when the party was in power. In the Blair years they obviously moved a bit to the right (certainly economically) in a Clintonesque Third Way… um, way. I couldn’t say exactly what you’d call them now but their constituency is being eaten away by the SNP (Labour used to dominate Scottish politics). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23211 "2015-07-24T15:53:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Pilate washing his hands refers to the episode in the Gospels where he refuses to either condemn or acquit Jesus of the charges against Him and hands Him over to the Jewish authorities for judgment, saying that he refuses to take responsibility for His fate either way. What’s wrong with that? He wasn’t part of the situation, he didn’t want to be involved. Seems like a perfectly prudence decision ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23212 "2015-07-24T16:12:26Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What’s wrong with that? He wasn’t part of the situation, he didn’t want to be involved. Seems like a perfectly prudence decision Well, to be fair, it was a cop-out that didn’t really take any responsibility away from Pilate. It was Roman justice that was carried out, by agents of Rome using Roman rules. That’s why the simile is sometimes used to portray an action as false or duplicitous, or at least passive-aggressive: “You’re _making_ me do this awful thing I have the power to stop, so it’s not my fault.” How that relates to Kerry’s diplomacy will have to remain in the mind of Sen. Cotton; I ain’t going in there. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23213 "2015-07-24T17:01:29Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Senate Republicans want to replace IRS agents with private collection agents.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-private-debt-collection-irs_55b1570de4b07af29d580b9f) Yeah, let’s bring back medieval tax farming. We can give every aspiring Crassus in America an additional avenue for enriching themselves through immiserating their fellow citizens. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23214 "2015-07-24T17:51:48Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Yeah, let’s bring back medieval tax farming. We can give every aspiring Crassus in America an additional avenue for enriching themselves through immiserating their fellow citizens. My thoughts exactly. It never ceases to amaze me how pundits and other political critters (often, but not exclusively on the right) come up with these brilliant “new” ideas that would solve everything, when the reason we don’t do that is that we \*did \*that, it was horrible and it’s in EVERY FUCKING HISTORY BOOK. Whether it’s lax pollution standards, voting rights acts, Bill O’Reilley’s all-mercenary army or this lunacy… What’s next, a national bounty on rat tails to deal with the rodent problem once and for all ? The right for Job Creators™ to pay their employees in in-house currency ? Dealing away with child labour laws ? How about selling Job Creators™ the rights of high and low justice in their fiefdoms ? So many brave new revenue schemes, so little time to do them all over again ! ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23215 "2015-07-24T18:53:13Z")
The GOP - making yesterday’s mistakes tomorrow! ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23216 "2015-07-24T18:53:23Z")
[Ted Cruz calls Mitch McConnell a liar on the floor of the Senate.](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/24/ted-cruz-accuses-mitch-mcconnell-of-lying-and-behaving-like-harry-reid/) ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23217 "2015-07-24T19:00:55Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > The GOP - making yesterday’s mistakes tomorrow! This is why I want a “like” button! ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23218 "2015-07-24T19:10:30Z")
They say they are defending capitalism from communism, but they really want to return to feudalism. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23219 "2015-07-24T20:45:33Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Yeah, let’s bring back medieval tax farming. We can give every aspiring Crassus in America an additional avenue for enriching themselves through immiserating their fellow citizens. Immiserating! Thank you for a new word! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23220 "2015-07-24T21:12:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Ted Cruz calls Mitch McConnell a liar on the floor of the Senate.](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/24/ted-cruz-accuses-mitch-mcconnell-of-lying-and-behaving-like-harry-reid/) Wow. From your link: > [@](#): > > “The majority leader was visibly angry with me that I would ask such a question, and the majority leader looked at me and said, ‘There is no deal, there is no deal, there is no deal,’” Cruz said. “Like St. Peter he repeated it three times.” So if McConnell is St. Peter in this analogy, I guess Cruz must think he’s Jesus Christ? ---
**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 24, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/23221 "2015-07-24T21:29:12Z")
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