# 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:** 1775
**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:** [October 31, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35482 "2017-10-31T21:27:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > and so you agree that Democrats should also avoid appeals to racial resentment? Because leaving the morality aside, those are forces that cannot be controlled. Can’t be ELIMINATED, perhaps. We were doing pretty good at controlling them and making them mainstream anathema until the Cheeto-in-Chief unleashed it all and made it acceptable to the mainstream again. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35483 "2017-10-31T21:36:54Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’m having trouble parsing that. > > If you are saying that democrats should avoid perpetuation resentments based on race, I would agree, that’s the republicans platform. > > If you are saying that democrats should avoid mentioning race, or the effects of race, then that’s just a bit stupid. I don’t mean the latter. Pointing out injustices is a good thing, and even politicians talking about white grievance should feel free to acknowledge it, as Bill Clinton often did. What should not be done is what Joe Biden said, “They’re gonna put y’all in chains!” I’m always inclined to cut Joe some slack because he speaks from the heart rather than the brain sometimes, but no one should say what he said. Also, Democratic ads on black radio in the runup to the 2014 elections, where it was warned that if Republicans won there’d be more Fergusons was just incitement. So there is a line that has to be drawn. Talk about injustice, talk about unfairness, but don’t scare voters that someone’s out to get them in highly charged racial terms. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35484 "2017-10-31T21:38:54Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Can’t be ELIMINATED, perhaps. We were doing pretty good at controlling them and making them mainstream anathema until the Cheeto-in-Chief unleashed it all and made it acceptable to the mainstream again. That means that we weren’t accomplishing anything but to make a whole bunch of people zip their lips. The problem with that is that voting is anonymous. And once such people realized there were a lot more of them than they thought… Well, it was a failed strategy. There is still no substitute for actually appealing to our better natures and reason. All of the great civil rights battles were won when it was actually just fine to say racist shit. I’d argue that progress leveled off when racism went underground. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35485 "2017-11-01T01:21:44Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I don’t mean the latter. Pointing out injustices is a good thing, and even politicians talking about white grievance should feel free to acknowledge it, as Bill Clinton often did. > > What should not be done is what Joe Biden said, “They’re gonna put y’all in chains!” I’m always inclined to cut Joe some slack because he speaks from the heart rather than the brain sometimes, but no one should say what he said. **Also, Democratic ads on black radio in the runup to the 2014 elections, where it was warned that if Republicans won there’d be more Fergusons was just incitement.** > > So there is a line that has to be drawn. Talk about injustice, talk about unfairness, but don’t scare voters that someone’s out to get them in highly charged racial terms. In this context, what’s a “Ferguson?” A LEO shooting of a black person under questionable circumstances? Or protests about it? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35486 "2017-11-01T01:28:38Z")
Attributing that to Republican politics when the police shooting epidemic is all in Democratic cities is not just incitement, it’s dishonest. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35487 "2017-11-01T02:08:15Z")
Republican cops shooting people in Democratic cities, for the record. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35488 "2017-11-01T02:21:13Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Attributing that to Republican politics when the police shooting epidemic is all in Democratic cities is not just incitement, it’s dishonest. I don’t know about other cities, but Ferguson’s city elections are non-partisan. The mayor at the time of the Michael Brown shooting was nominally non-partisan but had been a former chairman of the Missouri Young Republicans. He had also served as a staff member to a Democratic State Senator. > **[James Knowles III](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Knowles_III)** > > James Wallace Knowles III (born July 20, 1979) is an American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of the city of Ferguson, Missouri, from April 2011 to June 2020. > Knowles received bachelor's degrees in political science and criminal justice from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 2002. He graduated from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 2008 with a master's degree in public policy administration. > Knowles is a former chairman of the Missouri Young Republicans. Knowles w... ---
**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:** [November 1, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35489 "2017-11-01T03:35:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Attributing that to Republican politics when the police shooting epidemic is all in Democratic cities is not just incitement, it’s dishonest. You think Ferguson, Missouri is a “Democratic city”? Here, let me help you understand: It’s not really about Republicans versus Democrats. It’s about subcultures. The police are a subculture; there are subcultures the police respect; there are subcultures the police don’t. A poor black person in Ferguson is seen as an interloper, an invader, in what had been an all-white town, cleansed by the Klan (or some such) long ago. So the existing city government culture is reflexively against them, even against their better natures and better judgment. This spreads to the police. There are, surprisingly some similar dynamics in New York City, due to changing demographics over the last sixty years. And the police subculture is alienated from certain neighborhoods, as in Ferguson. Making it about Republicans and Democrats, as if those were the only two divisions, and each monolithic, is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35490 "2017-11-01T11:18:44Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Also, Democratic ads on black radio in the runup to the 2014 elections, where it was warned that if Republicans won there’d be more Fergusons was just incitement. Seemed a bit hyperbolic at the time, but maybe it was prescient, considering Trump’s rant encouraging police officers to beat suspects: > **[Trump tells police not to worry about injuring suspects during arrests](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/07/28/trump-tells-police-not-to-worry-about-injuring-suspects-during-arrests/?utm_term=.ee39906eef78)** > > Police chiefs and the local police department immediately pushed back against Trump's comments. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35491 "2017-11-02T02:22:51Z")
Fox News lied that Jake Tapper said “@CNN ‘s Jake Tapper Says ‘Allahu Akbar’ Is ‘Beautiful’ Right After NYC Terror Attack.” The headline of the article was also changed to “CNN’s Jake Tapper: ‘Allahu Akbar’ Can Be Said Under ‘Most Beautiful’ of Circumstances.'” They later deleted the tweet. What Tapper said was, “it can be said at beautiful moments (wedding, birth) and too often at times like this (horrific terrorist attack).” But that doesn’t stop Hannity from doubling down. > **[Hannity Doubles Down on Tapper’s ‘Allahu Akbar’ Comment After Fox News...](https://www.mediaite.com/online/hannity-doubles-down-on-fox-news-false-claim-that-jake-tapper-said-allahu-akbar-was-beautiful/)** > > Earlier tonight, CNN anchor Jake Tapper took aim at Fox News for mischaracterizing his comments explaining the phrase 'Allahu Akbar.' ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35492 "2017-11-02T06:27:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Fox News lied that Jake Tapper said “@CNN ‘s Jake Tapper Says ‘Allahu Akbar’ Is ‘Beautiful’ Right After NYC Terror Attack.” The headline of the article was also changed to “CNN’s Jake Tapper: ‘Allahu Akbar’ Can Be Said Under ‘Most Beautiful’ of Circumstances.'” > They later deleted the tweet. > What Tapper said was, “it can be said at beautiful moments (wedding, birth) and too often at times like this (horrific terrorist attack).” > But that doesn’t stop Hannity from doubling down. > [Hannity Doubles Down on Tapper’s ‘Allahu Akbar’ Comment After Fox News Deletes Tweet](https://www.mediaite.com/online/hannity-doubles-down-on-fox-news-false-claim-that-jake-tapper-said-allahu-akbar-was-beautiful/) This should get added added to the “is Fox news really that bad thread.” Because, yes Fox News really is that bad. My question is: are they morons incapable of nuance or are they deliberately twisting words? Because I can’t tell. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [November 2, 2017, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35493 "2017-11-02T07:33:51Z")
[Here’s a website](http://verdantlabs.com/politics_of_professions/) (Data source: Campaign contribution data from the FEC) that breaks occupations down red vs blue. Go to the second grouping half-way down and click ‘Law Enforcement’ to see subcategories. Law enforcement is equally red and blue, with Police Sergeants reddish, and Probation officers blueish. _ **BUT** _. Generic Red wasn’t running for President in 2016. > [@](#): > > _POLICE_ [magazine] e-mailed a survey to 59,238 readers. A total of 3,652 working officers responded. > > Out of that population of working officers who plan to vote in the November election, 84% say they support Donald Trump. Hillary was supported by 8%, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 5%, and “other” received 3%. > [@Boston Globe](#): > > Then came the historic endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents border patrol agents. A union whose 18,000 agents form what they call its green line had never endorsed a candidate for president. Shawn Moran, a border patrol agent and spokesman for the NBPC, said that Trump was the only candidate who met with its board and “promised to give us the support that has been sorely lacking.” And Moran said it wasn’t about the wall. It was about “catch and release,” which the NBPC said has become an alarming problem along the southern borders… > For other cops, the silent majority who have watched Hillary Clinton embrace some members of the Black Lives Matter movement, law enforcement officers who were horrified when Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez was interrupted with rude shouts during a moment of silence for her fallen brethren at the DNC Convention, Trump’s win was vindication for those who are doing their jobs without engaging in racial profiling or excessive force. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2017, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35494 "2017-11-02T10:08:13Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > … > My question is: are they morons incapable of nuance or are they deliberately twisting words? Because I can’t tell. > > … They do that shit on purpose. They’re not as dumb as the people who get their “news” from them. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35495 "2017-11-02T17:23:38Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > Seemed a bit hyperbolic at the time, but maybe it was prescient, considering Trump’s rant encouraging police officers to beat suspects: > > [Trump tells police not to worry about injuring suspects, drawing rebukes from law enforcement - The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/07/28/trump-tells-police-not-to-worry-about-injuring-suspects-during-arrests/?utm_term=.ee39906eef78) Trump has also being doing[everything he can](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-federal-police-reform/521847/) to undo the previous justice department’s, attempts at reform. Apparently trying to [“correct egregious violations of constitutional rights, racial disparities in their practices, excessive use of force, and a culture of retaliation against whistleblowers.”](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/doj-baltimore-consent-decree/512945/) Is against Republican policy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35496 "2017-11-02T23:04:33Z")
**Energy chief Rick Perry thinks fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault** > **[Energy chief Rick Perry thinks fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault](https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-rick-perry-fossil-fuels-sexual-assault-20171102-story.html)** > > Energy Secretary Rick Perry says he thinks using fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault. Those of you who have no grounding in Texas “culture” may be unfamiliar with the “Aggie joke”. The joke form follows closely to similar jokes, such as the “blonde joke”, which is more common but much less accurate. As in “What’s an Aggie seven course dinner? Six pack of Shiner’s and a road-kill possum.” We would commonly slander GeeDubya as an Aggie but he was not. Rick Perry is an Aggie. In spirit and in fact. Dumber than a sack of wet mice. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35497 "2017-11-02T23:35:22Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > **Energy chief Rick Perry thinks fossil fuels can help prevent sexual assault** > > [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-rick-perry-fossil-fuels-sexual-assault-20171102-story.html](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-rick-perry-fossil-fuels-sexual-assault-20171102-story.html) > > Those of you who have no grounding in Texas “culture” may be unfamiliar with the “Aggie joke”. The joke form follows closely to similar jokes, such as the “blonde joke”, which is more common but much less accurate. As in “What’s an Aggie seven course dinner? Six pack of Shiner’s and a road-kill possum.” We would commonly slander GeeDubya as an Aggie but he was not. > > Rick Perry is an Aggie. In spirit and in fact. Dumber than a sack of wet mice. Aaarrgghhh… Rick Perry… :smack: Good hair can only take you so far. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35498 "2017-11-02T23:53:51Z")
The proposed budget aims to present a gift to the corporate world in the shape of dropping the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. There are no ideas that I can see for offsetting this largess, other than cutting Medicaid and other social programs. 20% is less than most individual taxpayers now pay. So corporations make billions more, create few if any more jobs, necessary social programs get gutted, and eventually the country goes bankrupt so billionaires can buy more yachts. Well done, you stupid fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35499 "2017-11-03T00:12:22Z")
Paul Krugman had an interesting column last week, pointing out that giving billionaires a half-million dollar tax cut would NOT necessarily have them all licking their chops…it’s a drop in the bucket to a guy already possessing billions of dollars. The proposed “reform” would, however, result in increased illness and misery for many of us NOT possessing billions of dollars, as a result of higher taxes on the middle class and cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and many social programs. So what, exactly, is the Republican endgame here? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35500 "2017-11-03T00:14:04Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > The proposed “reform” would, however, result in increased illness and misery for many of us NOT possessing billions of dollars, as a result of higher taxes on the middle class and cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and many social programs. > > So what, exactly, is the Republican endgame here? Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and many social programs. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/35501 "2017-11-03T00:19:45Z")
So, rolling us back in history to before a) the Great Society; b) the New Deal; c) the institution of the Income Tax; and d) the Emancipation Proclamation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1774) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1776)