# 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:** 1634
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32662 "2017-02-22T16:42:37Z")
[Trump’s plan to broaden deportation rules could cost billions and hurt the U.S. economy, experts say.](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-immigration-plan-cost-billions-experts-article-1.2978950) Oh Goodie! ---
**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:** [February 22, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32663 "2017-02-22T21:36:27Z")
Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > **[GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon)** > > A Republican congressman from Arizona defended the construction of a barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border by arguing that a nuclear weapon could be smuggled across a porous border in a bale of marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32664 "2017-02-22T21:40:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > [GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon) :smack: The comedy skits just write themselves. Customs: “What you got in the truck, Jose?” Smuggler (nervously): “uhhh…just bales of marijuana, senor”. Customs: “Fine, go on through.” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32665 "2017-02-22T22:31:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > [GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon) What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you hear your President just the other day, when he revealed that lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things? I for one am glad he is staying on top of this, with the able help of our DOE secretary, Rick “Oops” Perry. And just in case you didn’t know, the marijuana can confuse uranium-sniffing dogs. Diabolically clever. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32666 "2017-02-22T22:39:39Z")
Apparently, Trent was not the first to blort that, > [@"\[Aaron](#): > > ([https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/22/gop-rep-says-a-nuclear-bomb-could-cross-the-border-in-a-bale-of-marijuana-dont-laugh-too-hard/?utm\_term=.29bed8c36baf](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/22/gop-rep-says-a-nuclear-bomb-could-cross-the-border-in-a-bale-of-marijuana-dont-laugh-too-hard/?utm_term=.29bed8c36baf))"]But why a bale of marijuana? David Kay of the International Atomic Energy Agency explained to PBS’s “Frontline” in 1996: > > “I’ve often said, my preferred method for delivering a nuclear device is, I would hide it in a bale of marijuana, contract it out to the drug lords and move it,” Kay said. “Marijuana is a good shielder actually for radiation. The drug lords have a superb record for delivery. They’re not Fed Ex, but they’re awfully close to it. And contract it out and get it across the border.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32667 "2017-02-22T23:15:36Z")
> [@](#): > > **Paul Ryan Makes The Simplistic Case For Obamacare Repeal: You’ll Be Free** > House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says that repealing Obamacare is all about freedom. He’s right, although perhaps not in the way he thinks. > On Tuesday, Ryan tweeted an argument that he and other conservative leaders have made many times before: “Freedom is the ability to buy what you want to fit what you need. Obamacare is Washington telling you what to buy regardless of your needs.” > > There’s some truth in that second sentence. The Affordable Care Act forces insurers to sell to people with pre-existing conditions. Plans must cover “essential” services including mental health treatments, maternity care and rehabilitation. Additional provisions cap consumers’ out-of-pocket spending and prohibit insurers from selling plans with annual or lifetime limits on payments. > And, of course, there is the individual mandate. People who decline to obtain coverage must pay a financial penalty, unless they can show that the premiums would be unaffordable. > But do these requirements really mean less freedom overall, as Ryan argues? For many Americans, these requirements and the law as a whole have led to more freedom, sometimes in dramatic ways. [Paul Ryan Makes The Simplistic Case For Obamacare Repeal: You'll Be Free | HuffPost Latest News](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obamacare-repeal-freedom-paul-ryan_us_58adc366e4b04a0b274ecc7b)? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32668 "2017-02-22T23:30:59Z")
> [@](#): > > “I’ve often said, my preferred method for delivering a nuclear device is, I would hide it in a bale of marijuana, contract it out to the drug lords and move it,” Kay said. “Marijuana is a good shielder actually for radiation. The drug lords have a superb record for delivery. They’re not Fed Ex, but they’re awfully close to it. And contract it out and get it across the border.” Yes, because drug lords would LOVE to kill their customers by the hundreds of thousands. Then they will _really_ rake in the profits. Muslim Terrorist: I want you to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States. I will pay you **TEN MILLION DOLLARS!** Bwhahahahaha!!! Drug Lord: I make more than that every week. Why would I want to fuck with that? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32669 "2017-02-22T23:40:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > [GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon) Who would have thought you could get a contact high from fallout? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32670 "2017-02-22T23:40:45Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Yes, because drug lords would LOVE to kill their customers by the hundreds of thousands. Then they will _really_ rake in the profits. > > Muslim Terrorist: I want you to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States. I will pay you **TEN MILLION DOLLARS!** Bwhahahahaha!!! > > Drug Lord: I make more than that every week. Why would I want to fuck with that? Drug lord addendum: “You know, I have heard of something called ‘drone strikes’.” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32671 "2017-02-22T23:47:14Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Yes, because drug lords would LOVE to kill their customers by the hundreds of thousands. Then they will _really_ rake in the profits. > > Muslim Terrorist: I want you to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States. I will pay you **TEN MILLION DOLLARS!** Bwhahahahaha!!! > > Drug Lord: I make more than that every week. Why would I want to fuck with that? Drug smuggling is a cat and mouse game, with the full knowledge that we will only intercept some percentage of what comes into the US. They do it with the knowledge that they might get caught and my spend some time in jail. Nuclear weapons being smuggled in by terrorists is a whole different story. We very much do not want even a single incident, and if you get caught, you probably won’t get to spend all that much time in jail, but it certainly will be the rest of your life. I image we’d probably go so far as to give some drug lords free passage if they were highly complicit in catching this sort of activity, certainly be willing to give some levels of immunity in exchange for terrorists trying to smuggle in nukes. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32672 "2017-02-23T00:23:38Z")
Utah has a new law requiring fetuses to have anesthesia before an abortion, even though there is no evidence that fetuses feel pain. Doctors are saying that they have no idea how to do this, without giving the mothers anesthesia, which is not medically necessary. Utah’s governor has a bright idea: [Learn how to do it from the state’s Attorney General](https://www.rawstory.com/2017/02/doctors-refuse-to-treat-women-as-walking-medical-experiments-under-utahs-new-extreme-anti-abortion-law/). ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32673 "2017-02-23T00:45:19Z")
Jason Chaffetz’s major issue that he feels needs to be investigated by Congress: [How did Bryce Canyon National Park welcome the new Bears Ears National Monument the day after it was announced, without somehow having had to have advance knowledge that it was going to happen?](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-bears-ears-tweet-probe-us_us_58acc6a8e4b03d80af70717b?section=politics) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32674 "2017-02-23T03:56:12Z")
Friend who went over to the Conservative side now claims that the reason Republicans won was because Democrats spent the last 8 years badmouthing Republicans. Geez dude, do you even remember this guy named Obama and what you people did to him over that time? ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32675 "2017-02-23T03:57:47Z")
It’s interesting that Trump supporters are claiming that they voted for Trump because we Clinton supporters said nasty things about them, yet they’re the ones calling US snowflakes… ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32676 "2017-02-23T04:39:36Z")
The really stupid part about it was that it was from an OP by him that was slamming Hilary Clinton and praising Trump. When myself and another person pointed out the flawed reasoning behind it, he falls back to claiming liberals are insulting conservatives. Oh, and insults us for not getting whatever the fuck point he intended with the OP, which he didn’t explain. So insult liberals, get a response, insult liberals, get a response, whine about liberals insulting conservatives. :smack: ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32677 "2017-02-23T05:59:23Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The really stupid part about it was that it was from an OP by him that was slamming Hilary Clinton and praising Trump. When myself and another person pointed out the flawed reasoning behind it, he falls back to claiming liberals are insulting conservatives. > > Oh, and insults us for not getting whatever the fuck point he intended with the OP, which he didn’t explain. > > So insult liberals, get a response, insult liberals, get a response, whine about liberals insulting conservatives. > > :smack: Might as well get hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Go ahead and insult him. Tell him I said he’s an America-hating fuckstick. Because the available evidence indicates that he is. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32678 "2017-02-23T09:51:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > [GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon) Why would Middle Eastern terrorists sub-contract with cartels for their marijuana delivery when they’re competitors ? Hasn’t he heard of Afghan Kush ? This is why you don’t put squares in power, jeez. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32679 "2017-02-23T12:01:57Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Trent Franks says we need a Wall with Mexico to keep terrorists from smuggling in nuclear bombs hidden in bales of marijuana. > [GOP Rep.: Bales Of Marijuana Concealing Nukes Can Cross Border - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trent-franks-marijuana-border-nuclear-weapon) > [@TonySinclair](#): > > What’s wrong with that? Didn’t you hear your President just the other day, when he revealed that lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things? So, has he tweeted yet about how Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20% of our marijuana? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32680 "2017-02-23T12:33:30Z")
Like a Kingpin is actually going to think: I’m currently sending reefer and coke to the States, you know, I might as well include a nuclear weapon set to detonate- that surely carries the same risk/reward liability. C’mon Republicans, stupid really should be avoided and not encouraged. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/32681 "2017-02-23T13:06:58Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Yes, because drug lords would LOVE to kill their customers by the hundreds of thousands. Then they will _really_ rake in the profits. > > Muslim Terrorist: I want you to smuggle a nuclear device into the United States. I will pay you **TEN MILLION DOLLARS!** Bwhahahahaha!!! > > Drug Lord: I make more than that every week. Why would I want to fuck with that? More like: Drug Lord: Okay. [Later] Muslim terrorist: What happened to our nuclear weapon? Drug Lord: What nuclear weapon? I haven’t seen any nuclear weapon. And I certainly didn’t sell one on the black market for twenty times what you were offering me to transport one. Nope. \ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1633) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1635)