# 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:** 1726
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34502 "2017-07-07T05:50:15Z")
I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? And aren’t the greater majority of those artifacts simply inventories of wine, sheep, etc.? Cuneiform being more about spreadsheets than Gospels. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34503 "2017-07-07T07:33:56Z")
When are we going to have the playoffs for Stupidest Republican Idea in the thread? I think we’ll need at least 64 nominations; maybe do one-on-one appraisals, like the NCAA Basketball championship. We should have a separate category for stupidest idea by a Republican Doper. (Dopers won’t have a chance for Stupidest if they compete with the likes of Trump and Palin.) I’ll nominate the following recent post. I couldn’t figure out how to describe **Khendrask** attempt at cerebration that would conform with non-Pit rules. > [@The USA Goes Full Single-Payer. How Much Does It Cost, How Much To Raise Taxes, Etc.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-usa-goes-full-single-payer-how-much-does-it-cost-how-much-to-raise-taxes-etc/789957/11): > > Unfortunately, if the USA went single payer, the costs would of course skyrocket. The government makes bad, self-and friend, pocket lining deals all the time. > > Just the nepotism involved in administering such a system would destroy any proposed budget, no matter how high. > > The US Federal government couldn’t successfully manage a McDonald’s franchise, no matter which flavor of corrupt party was in power, you really think they could handle universal healthcare? I’m not sure even **Clothahump** or **Shodan** is this stupid. ---
**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 7, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34504 "2017-07-07T08:08:25Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > You know the guy who has been collecting ancient artifacts since 2009 and is building an $800 million [Bible museum in Washington D.C.](https://www.museumofthebible.org/) ? > > Yeah, [that asshole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Green_(entrepreneur)), who is founder of Hobby Lobby. He just [got pinched](http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-hobby-lobby-smuggling-20170706-story.html) for dealing in stolen artifacts of antiquity. > > I guess he forgot about “Thou shalt not steal”. > > Prick. > [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? And aren’t the greater majority of those artifacts simply inventories of wine, sheep, etc.? Cuneiform being more about spreadsheets than Gospels. Am I the only one getting a weird _Snow Crash_ vibe from this story? It’s all a little too L. Bob Rife for my liking. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34505 "2017-07-07T11:28:51Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? And aren’t the greater majority of those artifacts simply inventories of wine, sheep, etc.? Cuneiform being more about spreadsheets than Gospels. You’re right for the most part, but also recall that quite a few clay tablets have recorded poetry and mythological texts, most notably _The Epic of Gilgamesh_, with its included story of Utnapishtim, which tells the story of the world-destroying Flood. We have several versions of that (and the Sumerian parallel, the story of Ziusudra). There’s a seminal book (two volumes, actually) entitled \*Ancient Near East Texts Relating to the Old Testament, first published in 1950, full of this kind of stuff ( [Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Near_Eastern_Texts_Relating_to_the_Old_Testament) ) Although then you could ask why they’d want to bring over things that might suggest the Bible was copied from elsewhere. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34506 "2017-07-07T13:46:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? And aren’t the greater majority of those artifacts simply inventories of wine, sheep, etc.? Cuneiform being more about spreadsheets than Gospels. They are old and impressive looking. If you can’t read the language, then they look mysterious and inspiring too. You see something like that, and you assume it has the mysteries of the world encoded in it, not that it is the accounting of Bob’s goat herd. And it was cheap. Actual relevant biblical artifacts are all already accounted for and owned by people who are not likely to sell them for anything less than a fortune. He could either go to the vatican, and beg them to let him pay millions of dollars for an artifact or two, or he could go to the black market antiquities dealers, and buy some “cheap” artifacts off of some terrorist groups. So yeah, he funded terrorist groups in order to scam americans. A true christian patriot. ---
**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 7, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34507 "2017-07-07T15:18:03Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? Well, it stands to reason. They’re the most precious artifacts of all : they were made by the hand of God himself and planted by him to fool man’s puny science and scientists into believing His creation story was a tall tale. A more holy item ye shall never find. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34508 "2017-07-07T15:49:51Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I don’t get it. Why would they want artifacts that pre-date the Christian era for a Christian museum? Well, there are bits of the Old Testament (especially the ones describing Jehovah in his smitey moods) revered by Hobby Lobbyists. Heck, maybe one of those tablets got there during the Babylonian Captivity, and contained an early copy of the Nine Commandments! ---
**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 7, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34509 "2017-07-07T18:44:34Z")
CBS New York Sports Radio has announced that Chris Christie has auditioned for a job as a sports commentator. I guess that 15% approval rating draws in the listeners. > ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34510 "2017-07-07T18:47:40Z")
Tells you his political career is dead. No one in the political media offering him a job at all? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34511 "2017-07-07T19:25:07Z")
Trump has an entire government-payroll staff to make his McDonald’s runs now. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34512 "2017-07-07T19:41:28Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Tells you his political career is dead. No one in the political media offering him a job at all? 😃 Well last week he only had a 15% approval rating. That’s good enough for a part-time commentator gig on Fox. But now, after [Beachgate](http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/07/ethics_complaint_filed_against_christie_regarding.html)? Even Fox News is closed to him… ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34513 "2017-07-07T20:19:16Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Trump has an entire government-payroll staff to make his McDonald’s runs now. With fewer “missing” Big Macs… ---
**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 7, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34514 "2017-07-07T20:25:14Z")
64 Republican Congressmembers have asked Jeff Sessions to determine whether Bernie Sanders is imposing a religious test on Trump appointees because he’s questioning them about their anti-Islam statements. Note, the link is to Washington Times, a pro-Trump website. > **[GOP lawmakers ask AG to intervene after Bernie Sanders imposes ‘religious...](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/6/gop-lawmakers-ask-ag-intervene-after-bernie-sander/)** > > Sixty-four Republican lawmakers sent a letter Friday asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reaffirm the constitutional prohibition against religious tests for public office. Here’s the story from the anti-Trump point of view: > **[Republicans Just Asking If Bernie Sanders Hates Christians, Steals Their...](https://www.wonkette.com/republicans-just-asking-if-bernie-sanders-hates-christians-steals-their-babbies-blood)** > > Nobody expected Bernie Sanders to lead the Spanish Inquisition. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34515 "2017-07-07T20:36:10Z")
So, 64 GOP Congressmembers are standing firm and tall for religious bigotry (and presumably for sanctioning members of Congress who oppose religious bigotry). If the DNC doesn’t manage to make this known about any of them who may be running for re-election in 2018, then shame on the DNC. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34516 "2017-07-07T20:55:35Z")
Mike Pence, Do Not Touch. There is only 1 thing you are being asked to refrain from doing. Can you do it? > **['DO NOT TOUCH': Vice President Pence at NASA becomes a meme](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/07/mike-pence-touches-hardware-labeled-do-not-touch/459298001/)** > > Vice President Pence very clearly ignored instructions while he was visiting NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34517 "2017-07-07T21:13:58Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Mike Pence, Do Not Touch. There is only 1 thing you are being asked to refrain from doing. Can you do it? > [Mike Pence touches hardware labeled 'do not touch'](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/07/mike-pence-touches-hardware-labeled-do-not-touch/459298001/) His wife isn’t there. Of course he’s going to touch things that are forbidden and in the same room. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34518 "2017-07-07T21:20:30Z")
I hear he’s got a secret Mrs. Butterworth bottle in his hotel room: (Warning of genuine truth for imbecilic Trump supporters: ACTUAL FAKE NEWS ahead!!) > **[Mike Pence Asks Waiter To Remove Mrs. Butterworth From Table Until Wife Arrives](https://www.theonion.com/mike-pence-asks-waiter-to-remove-mrs-butterworth-from-1819579759)** > > WASHINGTON—Expressing concerns about the propriety of being left alone with a syrup container of the opposite sex, Vice President Mike Pence reportedly asked his waiter Thursday to remove Mrs. Butterworth from the table until his wife arrived to join... ---
**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 8, 2017, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34519 "2017-07-08T22:42:13Z")
Ahead of the proposed repeal of Obamacare, Republican members of Congress are buying up thousands of shares of stocks in health care companies. > **[Republican Lawmakers Buy Health Insurance Stocks as Repeal Effort Moves Forward](https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/republican-lawmakers-buy-health-insurance-stocks-as-repeal-effort-moves-forward/)** > > Just as the House Republican bill to slash much of the Affordable Care Act moved forward, some lawmakers started trading health care stocks. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34520 "2017-07-08T23:02:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Ahead of the proposed repeal of Obamacare, Republican members of Congress are buying up thousands of shares of stocks in health care companies. > [Republican Lawmakers Buy Health Insurance Stocks as Repeal Effort Moves Forward - The Intercept](https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/republican-lawmakers-buy-health-insurance-stocks-as-repeal-effort-moves-forward/) Well, that should make their votes predictable. And it explains why they don’t care what’s in the bill. Just when you think they can’t get any more despicable. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34521 "2017-07-09T00:21:54Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Ahead of the proposed repeal of Obamacare, Republican members of Congress are buying up thousands of shares of stocks in health care companies. > [Republican Lawmakers Buy Health Insurance Stocks as Repeal Effort Moves Forward - The Intercept](https://theintercept.com/2017/07/06/republican-lawmakers-buy-health-insurance-stocks-as-repeal-effort-moves-forward/) I can’t remember…is Congressional insider trading still legal or did they close that loophole back when there were still enough responsible GOP around to manage the numbers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1725) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1727)