# 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:** 1651
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33002 "2017-03-15T01:08:32Z")
Just a second, that sounds like mission creep rather than true underfunding. The Coast Guard shouldn’t be in the South China Sea, that’s where the Navy should be. Perhaps the Navy is actually the underfunded one if they have to outsource critical missions to the Coast Guard? And what about the Army’s reliance on the National Guard for foreign missions? That would also seem to indicate that the active military needs more manpower and funding. ---
**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 15, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33003 "2017-03-15T01:31:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > When people complain about immigrants stealing their jobs, and then in the same breath go on to accuse immigrants of just being lazy moochers on the welfare system, that’s a pretty clear sign that the problem isn’t actually economic. I suppose it might suggest a person’s brain isn’t getting enough food stamps. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33004 "2017-03-15T01:40:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Just a second, that sounds like mission creep rather than true underfunding. The Coast Guard shouldn’t be in the South China Sea, that’s where the Navy should be. To the contrary, from _Vice_ article from my previous post: > [@](#): > > Sending Navy warships to the area would be “unreasonably provocative,” Sam Bateman, a former commodore in the Australian Navy, recently said. Which is why last year, Captain David Adams, commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet, called for a Coast Guard presence in the South China Sea as a less inflammatory counterweight. In fact, the US Coast Guard maintains an excellent working relationship with its Chinese counterpart, former Coast Guard Captain Brian Kelley tells VICE News. > [@adaher](#): > > Perhaps the Navy is actually the underfunded one if they have to outsource critical missions to the Coast Guard? Can you cite to support that, considering such a conclusion can’t be drawn from what I just posted? > [@adaher](#): > > And what about the Army’s reliance on the National Guard for foreign missions? That would also seem to indicate that the active military needs more manpower and funding. I’d prefer to see a cite on the Army suffering any cuts specifically in relation to the National Guard’s foreign missions. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33005 "2017-03-15T01:43:03Z")
Just because it’s less provocative doesn’t mean the Coast Guard should be patrolling the South China Sea. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33006 "2017-03-15T01:44:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You’re comparing apples and oranges. Steve King is not calling for white supremacy in the sense that he wants subjugation of minorities. He’s a white supremacist in the sense that he believes whites should remain a majority, not in the sense that he believes the government should actually subjugate other races. There is a HUGE moral gulf between advocating for immigration policies that keep the ethnic nature of a country stable and active subjugation of minorities. No, there isn’t. What King is calling for is a version of the old KKK line, that considers some Americans (oddly enough, the European ones) to be real Americans, and other Americans already here not to be. That’s from the same place as, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian,” and, “Whites Only,” and “He wasn’t even born in this Country!” And now you’re doing it too. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33007 "2017-03-15T01:51:33Z")
Not quite. There are such things are real Americans. They are known as American citizens. Then there are “aspiring Americans”, those who are legal residents and not yet US citizens. Others are known as “not Americans”, and whether they can become Americans is up to us, not them. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33008 "2017-03-15T01:56:00Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > The only context in which “Legitimate White Grievances” should be floated is in a list of names for your punk band. Whoa. I think there are legitimate grievances of white persons in some contexts. That said, most white people \*in the U.S.A. today \*should direct their grievances at the moneyed class, not at Somali refugees or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33009 "2017-03-15T01:56:58Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Just because it’s less provocative doesn’t mean the Coast Guard should be patrolling the South China Sea. Thanks but I’ll go with commander of the Navy’s 7th Fleet Captain David Adam’s assessment of the situation over yours. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33010 "2017-03-15T02:05:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Just a second, that sounds like mission creep rather than true underfunding. The Coast Guard shouldn’t be in the South China Sea, that’s where the Navy should be. Perhaps the Navy is actually the underfunded one if they have to outsource critical missions to the Coast Guard? Sending in the Navy in certain regions can be easily seen as inflamitory and confrontational. Sending the CG in means you can maintain order without looking like your using gunboat diplomacy. > **['Hull Envy': The Looming Crisis of the US Coast Guard](https://www.vice.com/en/article/vb84ky/hull-envy-the-looming-crisis-of-the-us-coast-guard)** > > America needs and relies on the seas, but not every problem is a nail to be hit by the Navy's hammer. That's where the US Coast Guard comes in — and it's just about out of ships, money, and time. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33011 "2017-03-15T02:15:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Wow, that’s some amazing left-wing rationalization there. Why do you guys go much easier on the hate whipped up overseas against us? I don’t in the least deny or “go easy on” anti-US hate among radical Islamist extremists, but I know better than to believe that it accounts for American Islamophobia all by itself. As your own next remarks clearly illustrate. [QUOTE=adaher] We are at war. In historical context, we’re doing better at not being racist towards Muslims than we ever did at not being racist against Japanese, Spanish, Brits, Germans, or even people from a different state. [/quote] You seem completely blinded to the fact that **we are _not_ at war with any entity that officially or realistically represents Muslims in general** , as opposed to being at war with Japan, Spain, Britain, Germany, etc.: entities that **did** officially and in real-world terms represent Japanese, Spanish, British, German, etc., people in general. That’s the Islamophobia at work. It’s got relatively little to do with the fact that **some** Muslims hate us and want to destroy us, but a great deal to do with the fact that Western warmongers have been carefully fostering the myth that **most** Muslims hate us and want to destroy us. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33012 "2017-03-15T02:43:10Z")
We are at war with an ideology within Islam that has some state support. Expecting that to not cause blowback against Muslims in general is like expecting us to be at war with one communist nation and not have Americans dislike Communists in general. What’s remarkable isn’t that hate against Muslims has gotten worse, but that it isn’t a LOT worse. By historical standards, this is mild stuff. You also have to account for the government’s intentional deception and bumbling of the messaging. Their motivation is to protect average Muslims, which is good, but it is also to protect relations with some rather unsavory allies of ours, which is not good. If Americans figure out that there is little difference between Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Saudi Arabia and elements of other Muslim nations like the Pakistani ISI, which actively aids our enemies, then that’s going to make diplomacy a bit… awkward. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33013 "2017-03-15T02:47:52Z")
Excellent post overall, adaher. I’d just amend it a bit to something like “ISIS,” “Saudi Arabia,” etc. are (arguably, but I feel you) all “bad” – maybe even “equally bad” (or at least unsavory) – but in rather \* different ways\*. They’re not “all the same,” as you implied. Something you and most liberals can agree on: the US has gotten in bed with some bad folks over the years; most notably during the Cold War, but certainly these days as well. Many hegemonic powers would just say “eh, realpolitik” and not worry about it, but we Americans have this impossible ideal of ourselves as the world’s do-gooder forever and always. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33014 "2017-03-15T02:51:38Z")
[Kentucky state legislator tells crying rape victim that he’s more of a victim of government than she is of rape.](http://theoswatch.com/gop-lawmaker-to-crying-rape-victim-i-suffered-from-government-intrusion-more-than-your-rape/) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33015 "2017-03-15T03:53:54Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Excellent post overall, adaher. I’d just amend it a bit to something like “ISIS,” “Saudi Arabia,” etc. are (arguably, but I feel you) all “bad” – maybe even “equally bad” (or at least unsavory) – but in rather \* different ways\*. They’re not “all the same,” as you implied. > > Something you and most liberals can agree on: the US has gotten in bed with some bad folks over the years; most notably during the Cold War, but certainly these days as well. Many hegemonic powers would just say “eh, realpolitik” and not worry about it, but we Americans have this impossible ideal of ourselves as the world’s do-gooder forever and always. Their ideology is the same. That’s part of the problem. The US government wants us to focus on very specific people as the enemy: members of terrorist organizations. But the contagion’s roots are in Wahabism, the offiical state religion of Saudi Arabia. ---
**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 15, 2017, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33016 "2017-03-15T04:23:34Z")
And they hate America because … ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33017 "2017-03-15T04:27:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Kentucky state legislator tells crying rape victim that he’s more of a victim of government than she is of rape.](http://theoswatch.com/gop-lawmaker-to-crying-rape-victim-i-suffered-from-government-intrusion-more-than-your-rape/) Rep. Dan Seum, a rotting sac of pus and rat turds, felt that a bill that was intended to make it mandatory for detained, felony offenders to have DNA samples taken would be an unwarranted “intrusion.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33018 "2017-03-15T04:47:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Not quite. There are such things are real Americans. They are known as American citizens. Then there are “aspiring Americans”, those who are legal residents and not yet US citizens. Others are known as “not Americans”, and whether they can become Americans is up to us, not them. And when a government office holder told a non-white American citizen who was born in the United States that she’s lucky to be allowed to stay in the United States, he was treating her like a real American…how exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33019 "2017-03-15T04:51:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > We are at war with an ideology within Islam that has some state support. Expecting that to not cause blowback against Muslims in general is like expecting us to be at war with one communist nation and not have Americans dislike Communists in general. Bad analogy, because Americans have **always** made a big deal out of disliking Communists in general on ideological grounds, irrespective of which particular Communist regime we might have been actually fighting at any given time. What you are suggesting about Muslims is more akin to claiming that if America were at war with France, then it would be ridiculous to expect Americans not to hate French speakers in general, including Haitians and Quebecois and Cameroonians. But in fact, it would **not** be ridiculous—it would just be basic humanity and common sense—to expect Americans not to hate Quebecois, Haitians, and French speakers in general just because we’re at war with France. Likewise, it’s just basic humanity and common sense to expect Americans not to hate Muslims in general just because we’re in conflict with a certain subset of Islamist extremists. Of course, it’s an unrealistic expectation at present, but that’s because the neocons and their ideological allies have already poisoned that well so thoroughly. Not because the Islamist terrorist extremists are somehow “making” us hate Muslims in general against our will and better judgement. [QUOTE=adaher] You also have to account for the government’s intentional deception and bumbling of the messaging. [/quote] Oh believe me, I’m accounting for it. But I may not mean what you mean by “intentional deception”. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33020 "2017-03-15T05:10:14Z")
Adaher, you’d get further with your own thread. Now start one. It’s allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/33021 "2017-03-15T07:46:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Just a second, that sounds like mission creep rather than true underfunding. The Coast Guard shouldn’t be in the South China Sea, that’s where the Navy should be. Perhaps the Navy is actually the underfunded one if they have to outsource critical missions to the Coast Guard? > **[US Coast Guard Chief Seeks Expanded Asia-Pacific Role](https://www.voanews.com/a/coast-guard-chief-seeks-expanded-asia-pacific-role/3617856.html)** > > Commandant says Coast Guard vessels may be better positioned to transit 'narrow door of diplomacy' than Navy destroyers or cruisers > [@](#): > > “So I’ve proposed to the Department of Defense that if they were to leverage the U.S. Coast Guard, I would look at providing resources to provide the face of the United States behind a Coast Guard ship, and should that be a consideration for our approach to the East and South China seas with the next administration.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1650) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1652)