# 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:** 178
**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:** [September 30, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3541 "2011-09-30T19:39:56Z")
Michele Bachman sez: [ > [@](#): > > You want to know why we have an Arab Spring. Barack Obama has laid the table for an Arab Spring by demonstrating weakness from the United States of America. ]([http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544\_162-20113937-503544.html](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20113937-503544.html)) Bad Obama! President Bachmann wouldn’t have allowed an Arab Spring, nossir! ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3542 "2011-09-30T19:45:02Z")
I thought the Arab Spring was a good thing. Or did it become a bad thing once Obama leaned a little bit in the direction of the Libyan Rebels? Man, it’s so hard to keep track of these things. -Joe ---
**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:** [September 30, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3543 "2011-09-30T19:46:57Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I thought the Arab Spring was a good thing. > > Or did it become a bad thing once Obama leaned a little bit in the direction of the Libyan Rebels? > > Man, it’s so hard to keep track of these things. > > -Joe It’s got Arab in the name so it must be bad? It sounds like a deodorant soap and only leftists like smelly soap? I DON’T KNOW! ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3544 "2011-09-30T20:20:36Z")
Quick! Someone tell me what Newt said so I know which answer is the most absolutely wrong! -Joe ---
**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:** [September 30, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3545 "2011-09-30T21:23:06Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Michele Bachman sez: > > Bad Obama! President Bachmann wouldn’t have allowed an Arab Spring, nossir! You don’t get it. If President Bachmann had been in office, we would have had an American Spring. But Obama just gave it to the Arabs ! A whole Spring ! Outrageous ! ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3546 "2011-10-01T01:57:38Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I thought the Arab Spring was a good thing. > > Or did it become a bad thing once Obama leaned a little bit in the direction of the Libyan Rebels? > > Man, it’s so hard to keep track of these things. > > -Joe I think we should figure out a hierarchy here. I’m not sure whether regressive tax cuts that help the wealthy are number one, or whatever is the opposite of what Obama just did is, but that seems to be the top two spots. Either way, actual foreign policy goals definitely fall below anti-Obama sentiment on the list of priorities. If Obama is in favor of the Arab Spring, then it’s a bad thing. If he’s against it, it’s a good thing. If he changes his mind, then the usual Republican party hacks really earn their pay making a narrative where Obama can be wrong both times. Whatever silly theory is required, you can find a Charles Krauthammer or a George Will to give it the necessary veneer of respectability required so that everyone can parrot the same thing on Fox. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3547 "2011-10-01T11:22:33Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > I thought the Arab Spring was a good thing. Hypocrites like GWB love to prattle about democracy, but elections in Arab countries are good only if they result in pro-American governments, which is unlikely. Recall the 1992 Algeria election which was annulled when an Islamist party won. Afghanistan had its own centuries-old model of democracy (jirga) but the U.S.A. preferred to impose its own election model (with CIA operating the SuperPAC). Upon the collapse of Iraq, I think we should have “handed the keys” to the relatively moderate and widely revered Ali al-Sistani, promising him help, but instead the country was run by a Youth for Cheney Brigade which saw a chance for a grand experiment in pseudo-Friedmanist Creative Destruction. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when U.S. television displayed the “purple fingers” as a “great triumph for democracy.” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3548 "2011-10-01T11:54:08Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Michele Bachman sez: > > [URL=“[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544\_162-20113937-503544.html](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20113937-503544.html)”] > President Bachmann This is giving me nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3549 "2011-10-04T05:23:38Z")
Dr. James Forrester, local senator in North Carolina, has made medical claims such as Homosexuals die 20 years earlier. As this is untrue people questioned him on such assertions. In the questioning process they found in his credentials he claims to be a fellow with the American College of Preventative Medicine. This being a bit disconcerting that a fellow with a reputable medical organization was making false medical claims so they contacted them on this matter. The email exchange [here.](http://goqnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/forresterlies.pdf)(pdf) [QUOTE=ACPM] The quick answer to your questions is that Dr. Forrester is not, and never has been, a member of ACPM (much less a Fellow, which is our highest designation of membership). [/QUOTE] When confronted with the fact he’s a liar he’s jumped to the only logic conclusion It’s a [gay conspiracy](http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/10/03/NC_Senator_Gays_Working_to_Discredit_Me/) against me ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3550 "2011-10-04T07:05:49Z")
Pffft! I’ve seen enough of North Carolina’s politics to know that that Caesar and Christ are interchangeable. As long as Dr. Forrester maintains a thin veneer of humble self-righteousness and politeness, the citizens will ignore his latest dabbling with the Prince of Lies. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3551 "2011-10-04T09:39:04Z")
While his remarks are despicable (“gay conspiracy”? Go fuck yourself, buddy!), I can very well imagine that in the last 6 years, he might not have checked his resume… The article claims that he _was_ in the ACPM as a fellow, but let it lapse in '05… But the quote says he never was. Which is accurate? It makes a fairly big difference in determining just how bad this is. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3552 "2011-10-04T18:32:46Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > While his remarks are despicable (“gay conspiracy”? Go fuck yourself, buddy!), I can very well imagine that in the last 6 years, he might not have checked his resume… The article claims that he _was_ in the ACPM as a fellow, but let it lapse in '05… But the quote says he never was. Which is accurate? It makes a fairly big difference in determining just how bad this is. No, the article says there are two different groups he was claiming membership in: > [@](#): > > Forrester, a physician, claimed in his official biography to be a fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine and an associate fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association. Forrester is not a fellow — the highest level of membership — or even a member of the former, although he apparently was a fellow in the 1980s, and he let his associate fellow status with the latter lapse in 2005, officials with the groups said. So he was NEVER a fellow or a member of the American College of Preventative Medicine (ACPM). But he WAS a fellow in the 1980’s with the Aerospace Medical Association, but has not been since 2005. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3553 "2011-10-04T18:34:59Z")
Link per **Budget Player Cadet** on the state senator and his [credentials](http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10207269/). ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3554 "2011-10-04T18:40:44Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Link per **Budget Player Cadet** on the state senator and his [credentials](http://www.wral.com/news/state/nccapitol/blogpost/10207269/). So it looks like he WAS a member of ACPM, but his membership lapsed sometime between 1984 and 1990. Has he come up with any evidence for his absurd statement about gays living 20 years less than average? Or is he hoping that people just believe him because he has 30 year old credentials? ---
**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 4, 2011, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3555 "2011-10-04T19:07:22Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Has he come up with any evidence for his absurd statement about gays living 20 years less than average? Or is he hoping that people just believe him because he has 30 year old credentials? That sounds like Paul Cameron’s shitsack lies. It’s an oldie but a goodie…Cameron made a study of obituaries in gay newspapers _in the middle of the worst years of the AIDS epidemic_ and concluded that gay men have a life expectancy of 40 years. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3556 "2011-10-04T19:21:20Z")
What exactly is his point? Let’s make being gay illegal so people will live longer? Or do people gain one month of life back for every opposite sex partner they fuck? What’s the friggin’ dealio here, anyway? ---
**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 4, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3557 "2011-10-04T19:36:22Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > What exactly is his point? Let’s make being gay illegal so people will live longer? Or do people gain one month of life back for every opposite sex partner they fuck? What’s the friggin’ dealio here, anyway? The usual crap about the homosexual “lifestyle” not being the inoccuous, safe thing that all the gay-enablers want to make it look like and sell to our precious children. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3558 "2011-10-04T19:41:27Z")
Yes, I understand the usual crap argument. And his solution is? Make people stop being gay at the point of a gun? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3559 "2011-10-04T19:42:12Z")
Gay-enablers? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/3560 "2011-10-04T19:44:22Z")
Noted objectivist Senator Rand Paul is drawing the line on US assistance to international refugees who make it to this country. It seems that Senator Paul believes that elderly and disabled refugees from Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan are secret terrorists. Proponents of the bill to extend these temporary benefits to those who are fleeing torture, war, and persecution note that some of the beneficiaries have come to the US because they helped US troops at great risk to themselves and their families. In response, Senator Paul said, “Get a f-in’ job, you lazy immigrants… and SPEEKEE THE ENGLISH, KA-PEESH?” [Link.](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/65142.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=177) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=179)