# 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:** 1743
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34842 "2017-08-22T02:38:15Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Jim Bakker: [The eclipse is God’s punishment for the Obama years](http://bizstandardnews.com/2017/08/19/bakker-eclipse-is-gods-punishment-for-obama-years/). So, God waited until Obama had been out of office for 8 months? God looks down and sees the glorious Trump restoring the world to righteousness and THEN he sends the sign and plunges the world into darkness? So the God-fearing people of earth are supposed to think “Gee, God did this to show us what would’ve happened if we had elected Hillary!” Now, I’m not saying that it’s NOT a sign but usually a sign like plunging the world into darkness is a way of saying “I don’t like what’s happening NOW” - not “Glad you turned your life around”. Maybe Bakker needs a refresher course in Holy Sign Language. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34843 "2017-08-22T02:44:36Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > God: You elected Obama, so I will send you impressive and beautiful demonstrations of once-in-a-lifetime cosmic events that will make you go ooh!\ God, continued: And I will do them after a significant period of time of his leaving office! That’ll show everyone! [Starts cackling madly, the volume and insanity growing as He continues His maniacal laughter] St Peter: Dude, are you okay? That plan doesn’t make sense… God: Doesn’t have to. That’s the beauty of it! It doesn’t do anything! [God looks around] God: Where did I put that medamned bottle of whisky? ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34844 "2017-08-22T02:47:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > For that matter, how does that even make _sense_? It was known decades if not centuries ago that this eclipse would happen - anyone with knowledge of the movements of the planets and a sufficient understanding of mathematics could have predicted it. > > Sounds like satire to me. “The Business Standard News is a satirical site designed to parody the 24-hour news cycle. The stories are outlandish, but reality is so strange nowadays they could be true.” Steve Mnuchin’s wife just posted a pic of her on Instagram stepping off of a US Air Force plane and linked to all of the designers of her clothes, Hermes, Tom Ford and Valentino. When called out for commercializing a taxpayer paid trip, she replied, “Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice [sic] to your country. I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day “trip” than you did.” She just made all of her accounts private, so the best I can do is a link to a partisan site: [http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/](http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34845 "2017-08-22T02:51:29Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > “The Business Standard News is a satirical site designed to parody the 24-hour news cycle. The stories are outlandish, but reality is so strange nowadays they could be true.” > > Steve Mnuchin’s wife just posted a pic of her on Instagram stepping off of a US Air Force plane and linked to all of the designers of her clothes, Hermes, Tom Ford and Valentino. When called out for commercializing a taxpayer paid trip, she replied, “Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice [sic] to your country. I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day “trip” than you did.” > > She just made all of her accounts private, so the best I can do is a link to a partisan site: > [http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/](http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/) :smack: Should have read that better. Mea culpa ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34846 "2017-08-22T02:53:15Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Steve Mnuchin’s wife just posted a pic of her on Instagram stepping off of a US Air Force plane and linked to all of the designers of her clothes, Hermes, Tom Ford and Valentino. When called out for commercializing a taxpayer paid trip, she replied, “Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? Either as an individual earner in taxes OR in self sacrifice [sic] to your country. I’m pretty sure we paid more taxes toward our day “trip” than you did.” Clearly she hasn’t been listening to her husband’s boss - it’s _not_ paying taxes that makes you smart. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34847 "2017-08-22T03:33:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > She just made all of her accounts private, so the best I can do is a link to a partisan site: > [http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/](http://occupydemocrats.com/2017/08/21/trumps-treasury-secretarys-wife-just-got-disturbing-feud-critic-instagram/) Here’s the same story at the well-known Fake News site, [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/21/treasury-secretarys-wife-boasts-of-travel-on-government-plane-touts-hermes-and-valentino-fashion/). ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34848 "2017-08-22T03:56:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Here’s the same story at the well-known Fake News site, [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/08/21/treasury-secretarys-wife-boasts-of-travel-on-government-plane-touts-hermes-and-valentino-fashion/). Thanks, **mhendo**. Nothing was coming up when I searched except for partisan sites. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34849 "2017-08-22T07:55:04Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > So, God waited until Obama had been out of office for 8 months? God looks down and sees the glorious Trump restoring the world to righteousness and THEN he sends the sign and plunges the world into darkness? I don’t thing God was that mad a Obama. He didn’t plunge the world into darkness here in Maine until around sunset yesterday. Then again, I imagine Obama will be back on God’s good side by sun-up today. So we got that going for us. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34850 "2017-08-22T14:30:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > For that matter, how does that even make _sense_? It was known decades if not centuries ago that this eclipse would happen - anyone with knowledge of the movements of the planets and a sufficient understanding of mathematics could have predicted it. > > Sounds like satire to me. I was discussing yesterday how powerful it would be to be a religious and learned person of the past, when you knew when eclipses were coming, but the “unwashed masses” had no idea. For a week, month, or even a year or so ahead of the eclipse, you warn that god is getting angry. The day of, you tel people to repent, NOW, for the reckoning is at hand. They will start to believe you when the sun goes out. Get them all on their knees and pray to bring the sun back, and you’ve just gotten yourself a group of devout followers for at least a generation or two. You would think that such charlatan trick would have stopped working once the knowledge of how to predict eclipses centuries in advance were revealed, but there are conservatives who [don’t understand how the tides work, and claim that they are not understandable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb3AFMe2OQY) by anyone. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > So, God waited until Obama had been out of office for 8 months? God looks down and sees the glorious Trump restoring the world to righteousness and THEN he sends the sign and plunges the world into darkness? So the God-fearing people of earth are supposed to think “Gee, God did this to show us what would’ve happened if we had elected Hillary!” > > Now, I’m not saying that it’s NOT a sign but usually a sign like plunging the world into darkness is a way of saying “I don’t like what’s happening NOW” - not “Glad you turned your life around”. > > Maybe Bakker needs a refresher course in Holy Sign Language. My thought on this, is that even God was surprised by a trump win. He had planned this eclipse eons ago to scare the hillary administration, and by the time trump got elected, it was too late to cancel. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34851 "2017-08-22T14:41:43Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > … > My thought on this, is that even God was surprised by a trump win. He had planned this eclipse eons ago to scare the hillary administration, and by the time trump got elected, it was too late to cancel. So Putin and his hackers are able to thwart God’s predictions. That’s a frightening thought! ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34852 "2017-08-22T18:01:36Z")
[Let Them Eat Cake!](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/mnuchin-louise-linton-treasury-instagram.html) > [@](#): > > The wife of the Treasury secretary on Monday night took a page from President Trump’s social media playbook for punching down. > > Louise Linton, the labels-loving wife of Steven Mnuchin, replied condescendingly to an Instagram poster about her lifestyle and belittled the woman, Jenni Miller, a mother of three from Portland, Ore., for having less money than she does. > > The brouhaha began when Ms. Linton posted a photograph of herself disembarking a military jet emblazoned with official government markings. She had joined her husband on a quick trip to Kentucky with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell. > > “Great #daytrip to #Kentucky!” Ms. Linton, 36, wrote under the photograph.\* She then added hashtags for various pieces of her expensive wardrobe, listing #rolandmouret, #hermesscarf, #tomford and #valentino\*… (emphasis on tacky nouveau-riche attitude added) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34853 "2017-08-22T20:17:40Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Jim Bakker: [The eclipse is God’s punishment for the Obama years](http://bizstandardnews.com/2017/08/19/bakker-eclipse-is-gods-punishment-for-obama-years/). I haven’t 'heard" that name in years. Why is he relevant? Wasn’t he disgraced and “cast down” **at least** once? Some general info on that particular piece of vulture shit: \*The PTL Club’s fund-raising activities between 1984–1987 was scrutinised by The Charlotte Observer newspaper, eventually leading to criminal charges against Jim Bakker. From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 “lifetime memberships,” which entitled buyers to a three-night stay annually at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. According to the prosecution at Bakker’s later fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships had been sold, but only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. Bakker sold more “exclusive partnerships” than could be accommodated, while raising more than twice the money needed to build the actual hotel. A good deal of the money went into Heritage USA’s operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself. A $279,000 pay-off for the silence of Jessica Hahn who claims Bakker and Fletcher drugged and raped her was paid with PTL’s funds to Hahn through Bakker associate Roe Messner.[8][9] Bakker, who made all of the financial decisions for the PTL organization, allegedly kept two sets of books to conceal the accounting irregularities. Reporters from The Charlotte Observer, led by Charles Shepard, investigated and published a series of articles regarding the PTL organization’s finances. Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.[8][15] In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and Judge Robert Daniel Potter sentenced him to 45 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. On his current program, he regularly pitches buckets of survival food to sell to his audience in preparation for the end of days,[24] which lack vitamins needed for survival. In 2013, Bakker authored Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead about the end-time events\* ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34854 "2017-08-22T20:23:25Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > On his current program, he regularly pitches buckets of survival food to sell to his audience in preparation for the end of days,[24] which lack vitamins needed for survival. In 2013, Bakker authored Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead about the end-time events\* You don’t need vitamins when you have Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34855 "2017-08-22T20:27:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > My thought on this, is that even God was surprised by a trump win. He had planned this eclipse eons ago to scare the hillary administration, and by the time trump got elected, it was too late to cancel. What good is a deity if he/she isn’t all-knowing? ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34856 "2017-08-22T20:30:05Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > What good is a deity if he/she isn’t all-knowing? Great fun at parties. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34857 "2017-08-22T20:36:05Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.[8][15] In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and Judge Robert Daniel Potter sentenced him to 45 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. Did he ever do any time for this? 45 years is a nice long stretch. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34858 "2017-08-22T21:03:32Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [Let Them Eat Cake!](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/22/us/politics/mnuchin-louise-linton-treasury-instagram.html) > > (emphasis on tacky nouveau-riche attitude added) Oh, dear, this sort of thing? Annoys the _lumpenproles_, no? Makes them surly and ungrateful. And this public flaunting, rather smacks of the _arriviste_, don’t you think? Or don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34859 "2017-08-22T21:06:38Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Did he ever do any time for this? 45 years is a nice long stretch. He did a little time… but obviously NOT long enough, as he is back to the same old shit. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34860 "2017-08-22T21:42:48Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > He did a little time… but obviously NOT long enough, as he is back to the same old shit. Five years, after the Appeals court voided his sentence and gave him eight instead. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/34861 "2017-08-22T22:02:15Z")
Geez, he shared a cell with Lyndon H. LaRoach. If that does not fuck you up (worser), nothing will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1742) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1744)