# 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:** 1402
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28022 "2016-03-22T23:11:03Z")
Another one that’s more evil than stupid, except that admitting it was stupid. [John Ehrlichmann admitted](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nixon-drug-war-racist_us_56f16a0ae4b03a640a6bbda1) that Nixon’s War On Drugs was really a War On Blacks. And Hippies. > [@](#): > > “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” ---
**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:** [March 23, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28023 "2016-03-23T00:06:41Z")
Producers of _Judge Judy_ and _Judge Joe Brown_ are making a pilot for another judge show, featuring [Sarah Palin on the bench](http://www.people.com/article/sarah-palin-tv-judge-show): > [@](#): > > Unlike the two famous TV judges, Palin does not have a juris doctor degree. But the source notes that the bestselling author has a variety of other qualities that make her perfectly suited to the job. > > “Palin’s telegenic personality, wide appeal and common sense wisdom make her a natural for this kind of format and she was [production company] Warm Springs’ top pick for this project.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28024 "2016-03-23T00:10:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Sarah Palin on the bench Mitch McConnell still says nope, noway, nohow, forget it… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28025 "2016-03-23T00:34:34Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well, for the record, we progressives are NOT happy with Merrick Garland. Prior decisions he has made on the appelate court indicate he is a big fan of Citizens United as it stands. Actually, one of the decisions he made EXPANDED the scope of what Super PACs could do as far as raising money is concerned. He will probably defend abortion rights … maybe … and he has made decisions that made the NRA get all itchy on the trigger finger, but that’s about it. There’s nothing progressive about him. And that’s why Obama picked him – not because he does not want any more progressive justice on the bench, but to make it clear and undeniable, to anyone who is still brazen enough to pretend to have any doubt, that the Senate Pubs are only playing partisan games here. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28026 "2016-03-23T00:37:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Another one that’s more evil than stupid, except that admitting it was stupid. [John Ehrlichmann admitted](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nixon-drug-war-racist_us_56f16a0ae4b03a640a6bbda1) that Nixon’s War On Drugs was really a War On Blacks. And Hippies. And now, of course, the curators of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda will have no choice but to make certain overdue revisions to the boastful WOD exhibit there. Of course. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28027 "2016-03-23T00:49:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Ah, yes. The State employee who decides even touching the “wrong” paperwork violates his/her religion. The State employee who is touching the paperwork now; this bill removes one opportunity to act on prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28028 "2016-03-23T00:55:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And that’s why Obama picked him – not because he does not want any more progressive justice on the bench, but to make it clear and undeniable, to anyone who is still brazen enough to pretend to have any doubt, that the Senate Pubs are only playing partisan games here. Seems like a fairly stupid reason to pick him. I don’t think Obama is that dumb. I think he’s just not a progressive. Like much of the Dem leadership, he’s just not that into us. Be a shame, come November, if that attitude winds up biting the Dems in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28029 "2016-03-23T00:58:22Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Seems like a fairly stupid reason to pick him. I don’t think Obama is that dumb. I think he’s just not a progressive. Like much of the Dem leadership, he’s just not that into us. Be a shame, come November, if that attitude winds up biting the Dems in the ass. Yeah, because President Trump (or President Cruz, for that matter) would be SOOOO much better for the purity pony crowd than Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28030 "2016-03-23T01:01:22Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Trump: “I’ll let the Heritage Foundation pick my Supreme Court nominees.” But if the situation arises and he turns around and says “I’m my own man! I’ll make my own decisions!”, his fans will cheer louder. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28031 "2016-03-23T01:08:28Z")
Using [the Heritage Foundation](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/22/3762275/trump-says-he-will-delegate-supreme-court-appointments-to-the-heritage-foundation/) for advice will buttress Trump’s credentials as right-wing and (repeating myself) stupid: > [@](#): > > Heritage is a think tank known for its stridently conservative views and its unorthodox approach to mathematics. They oppose marriage equality, defend discrimination against LGBT Americans, and they have a surprisingly long history of reversing their own stances on health policy when doing so is useful to opponents of Obamacare. _ **Their former chief “economist” is an ex-newspaper columnist and anti-tax activist with no doctorate in economics.** _ > > In 2013, Heritage released a widely criticized report claiming that immigration reform would cost an eye-popping $6.3 trillion. One of the co-authors of that report resigned four days later after news broke that _ **“his graduate dissertation on immigration was premised on the idea that Latinos were less intelligent than whites.”** _ Heritage also released projections predicting that the Bush tax cuts would result in significant job growth. Their projections proved less than accurate: [even before the 2007 financial crisis their estimates were optimistic by Nine _Million_ jobs.] ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28032 "2016-03-23T01:31:47Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, because President Trump (or President Cruz, for that matter) would be SOOOO much better for the purity pony crowd than Hillary. As I’ve said in another thread, many think it would; they are either very optimistic (“Once the country goes down the toilet, everyone will see that we were right, and the Democrats will shift left and sweep progressivism into power”) or very pessimistic (“Hillary or Trump/Cruz, the nation is fucked either way, so at least this way I won’t be party to its demise, and will have gone down trying to do the right thing”). ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28033 "2016-03-23T04:37:02Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, because President Trump (or President Cruz, for that matter) would be SOOOO much better for the purity pony crowd than Hillary. Oh, they would hate it. But I’ve been warning for years that the Dem centrists have been taking the progressive base for granted … they’re gonna pay, sooner or later. Just a matter of when. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28034 "2016-03-23T05:43:53Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Oh, they would hate it. But I’ve been warning for years that the Dem centrists have been taking the progressive base for granted … they’re gonna pay, sooner or later. Just a matter of when. What Progressive base? The one who is showing up in droves to _not_ vote for the most Progressive Democratic candidate in decades? You have to face facts here - there is no Progressive Base. There’s a Progressive Wing, but if progressives abandon Hillary with all the numbers that they supported Bernie Sanders, she has nothing to worry about. I say this as someone who is far more in line with Sanders politically than Clinton. But what I think is the best policy and what the overwhelming number of people in the primaries think obviously don’t mesh up and fooling myself otherwise won’t help anything. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28035 "2016-03-23T05:49:37Z")
**Evil Captor** : Progressives are able to read spreadsheets. We’ve learned from history. Voting for Ralph Nader just puts GWB in the White House. Our current political philosophy is based on rational compromise, and maximizing on the basis of possibilities. When we can’t get everything we want, we accept less. We’re able to vote for the lesser of n evils. We didn’t absolutely love the Affordable Care Act, but we got it in place as the best we could get at the time. We’re not so stupid as to put forward a plan we really, really love – sixty times – just to watch it fail. Republicans are still stupid enough to put forward a non-viable proposal – sixty times – just to watch it fail. Republicans can’t read spreadsheets. ---
**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 23, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28036 "2016-03-23T06:04:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Voting for Ralph Nader just puts GWB in the White House. This nonsense again? ---
**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:** [March 23, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28037 "2016-03-23T06:12:07Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > This nonsense again? According to [this paper](http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/lewis/pdf/greenreform9.pdf) > [@](#): > > How do our results stack up against conventional wisdom, which holds that Ralph Nader spoiled the 2000 presidential election for Gore? We find that this common belief is justified, but our results show clearly that Nader spoiled Gore’s presidency only because the 2000 presidential race in Florida was unusually tight. Had Florida had a more typical Bush-Gore margin in 2000, Nader would not have been a spoiler. I am unsure why some people have trouble thinking that, in a state where Ralph Nader got nearly 100,000 votes and Bush won the state (and with it, the White House) by around 500 votes, that Nader had an impact. I guess it makes them feel better? Tough. That war that Bush started through fake evidence? Gore - barring a sudden allegiance with Bush the Senior, Dick Cheney and a stake in Halliburton - doesn’t do that. That’s blood on their hands, so I can see why they would like to wish it away. ---
**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 23, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28038 "2016-03-23T06:54:26Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > According to [this paper](http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/faculty/lewis/pdf/greenreform9.pdf) > > I am unsure why some people have trouble thinking that, in a state where Ralph Nader got nearly 100,000 votes and Bush won the state (and with it, the White House) by around 500 votes, that Nader had an impact. > > I guess it makes them feel better? Tough. That war that Bush started through fake evidence? Gore - barring a sudden allegiance with Bush the Senior, Dick Cheney and a stake in Halliburton - doesn’t do that. > > That’s blood on their hands, so I can see why they would like to wish it away. Sorry, but that is just bullshit. If you want to cast blame for Florida, you can heap it upon two women: one named Harris and another named O’Connor (who at least apparently had the decency to feel a twinge of regret at the result). Or perhaps the Democratic Party, for not seeking a more appealing candidate. The truly vile part of blaming Nader for 2000 is the underlying message that if you feel so strongly about the issues that you want to run for President, at least try not to be so popular, outspoken and effective that people might actually vote for you. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28039 "2016-03-23T06:58:29Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > That’s blood on their hands, so I can see why they would like to wish it away. Whatever argument you want to make about the electoral impact of voting for Nader, this line is despicable and disgusting. It’s the equivalent of conservatives who argued that opposing the war in Iraq made you a supporter of Saddam. I always hope that liberals and progressives will refrain from descending to this sort of thing, but there are always a few who can’t help themselves. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2016, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28040 "2016-03-23T07:02:42Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Whatever argument you want to make about the electoral impact of voting for Nader, this line is despicable and disgusting. It’s the equivalent of conservatives who argued that opposing the war in Iraq made you a supporter of Saddam. I always hope that liberals and progressives will refrain from descending to this sort of thing, but there are always a few who can’t help themselves. If they’d own up to it, maybe I wouldn’t say it. But there’s way too many of them who didn’t learn from it. And they’re threatening to do it again. Even in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/28041 "2016-03-23T07:03:51Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > If they’d own up to it, maybe I wouldn’t say it. But there’s way too many of them who didn’t learn from it. And they’re threatening to do it again. Even in this thread. You’re a despicable piece of shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1401) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1403)