# 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:** 1914
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38262 "2018-07-19T11:55:31Z")
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but Monday July 16 was a day like no other in American history, and it represents a turning point. My gut feeling is that we’re already in too deep to stop Trump and the GOP from causing significant harm to American democracy. I’m not saying it’s too late to save ourselves, but I do believe that we’re on the verge of a major national crisis of our own making. I think the Republicans are going to attempt an unprecedented power grab that will simultaneously be foreseeable yet nevertheless breathtaking and shocking when it happens. The question – _the_ – question is, will the Republicans be able to consolidate power among all of the branches of powers and will they be able to concentrate institutional power and control over the government BEFORE the public backlash. If not, then the people can unite against them in a show of mass (peaceful) protest. But as the example of Venezuela and Russia show, and as I think the example of Turkey will now begin to show, once you enable a government to concentrate power, then they can keep fucking up right and left, and it won’t be so easy to call them out on it. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38263 "2018-07-19T13:04:35Z")
When I read the following, I cried. We have to have LEGISLATION to fix this?? And BTW thump/Putin has kicked this topic off the front page, and it will probably soon be forgotten. (My bold.) [Deal to fix family separations hits snag in the Senate](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397744-deal-to-fix-family-separations-hits-snag-in-the-senate) > [@](#): > > Hopes of reaching a deal to help migrant parents and children separated along the U.S.-Mexico border appear to be fading in the Senate. > > … > > But the negotiations appear to have derailed over two issues that would be crucial to any agreement: **What to do about the Flores settlement, which places restrictions on how long children can be detained, and alternatives to detaining families together potentially indefinitely.** > > Durbin, asked Tuesday about the status of negotiations, immediately began to shake his head and said the four _[himself, Cornyn, Cruz, Feinstein]_ hadn’t met as a group in weeks. He added on Wednesday that Democrats are always interested in comprehensive legislation but were open to “other conversations and other issues.” > > “We’ve run into an initial obstacle and that is **the Republicans start every conversation by saying first we eliminate Flores, and that’s a non-starter.** If we don’t have protection for these infants, toddlers and children … it’s a very weak starting point,” Durbin said. > … Fuck you, Ted Cruz. And then there’s this (not news): [Trump Administration Considers Unprecedented Curbs on Asylum for Migrants](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/us/immigration-asylum-children.html) > [@](#): > > …Mr. Trump has taken monumental steps to shrink the asylum system and discourage people from applying based on a belief that the United States is taking in too many foreigners. The moves are part of a larger plan developing in Washington to reshape the reputation of America as a safe haven, one that has inspired generations of people like Francisco and Miguel to journey here. > > The most extreme proposal yet would upend the system by eliminating the use of offices along the border, known as “ports of entry,” as asylum processing centers. Introduced this spring by members of the leadership of United States Customs and Border Protection, according to a government official with direct knowledge of the plan, it would allow hopeful refugees to apply for protection only from abroad, stranding them for much longer in the conditions they hope to escape. > > … > > Piggybacking on that announcement, Mr. Trump declared on Twitter that he wanted the power to immediately reject people who had no clear basis for asylum at the border, before they could plead their cases in front of immigration judges. > > “We cannot allow all of these people to invade our Country,” Mr. Trump wrote, “When somebody comes in, we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from where they came.” > … Also not news: thump and the Republicans [del]want to trash[/del] are trashing everything this country has ever stood for. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38264 "2018-07-19T13:25:35Z")
Correction: In the first quoted passage above, my clarification of the “four” was partially wrong: > [@](#): > > Durbin, asked Tuesday about the status of negotiations, immediately began to shake his head and said the four [himself, Cornyn, Cruz, Feinstein] hadn’t met as a group in weeks. He added on Wednesday that Democrats are always interested in comprehensive legislation but were open to “other conversations and other issues.” Should have been: Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.) and GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38265 "2018-07-19T14:52:29Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Republicans: Stupider and stupider by the day. > Republican fucking moron describing Trump’s “strategy” in the Putin meeting: > > “The president just looked right back at [Putin] and with the same straight face… basically sent a message: ’If you can sit here and tell me that with a straight face and that’s what it takes it to move forward in other negotiations, I most certainly can match you on this, and in fact I can stand here and say, ‘Of course you didn’t do it,’ even though we all know that [you did],’” Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. > > “The reality is,” Rounds continued, expounding on his theory of Trump as a fourth-dimensional chess master, “‘I know you did it, you know you did it, and you know that I know that you did it.’ So to me, Mr. Putin tried to tell the whopper with a straight face and President Trump basically laid out, ‘You wanna play that game? Fine. I can do the same thing because we all know you did.’” > > Mike Rounds, I’ve never heard of you, but your legendary stupidity will be your trademark. Apologies if your family, kids and stuff are as monumentally fucking stupid as you are. > > [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-putin-theory-mike-rounds\_us\_5b4e49e7e4b0de86f4879ecd](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-putin-theory-mike-rounds_us_5b4e49e7e4b0de86f4879ecd) I remember learning in school how folks used to think that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and all the planets revolved around it. As more and more new data would come in, the “scientists” of that day would construct more and more elaborate attempts to reconcile that new data and make it conform to the preexisting theory rather than abandon that theory in favor of the truth that the Earth revolves around the sun. Reminds me a lot of that. Yeah. ---
**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 19, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38266 "2018-07-19T22:03:52Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When I read the following, I cried. We have to have LEGISLATION to fix this?? And BTW thump/Putin has kicked this topic off the front page, and it will probably soon be forgotten. (My bold.) > > [Deal to fix family separations hits snag in the Senate](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397744-deal-to-fix-family-separations-hits-snag-in-the-senate) > Fuck you, Ted Cruz. > > And then there’s this (not news): > > [Trump Administration Considers Unprecedented Curbs on Asylum for Migrants](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/us/immigration-asylum-children.html) > Also not news: thump and the Republicans [del]want to trash[/del] are trashing everything this country has ever stood for. The Trump people clearly have no interest in making next week’s deadline for reuniting kids over 4 with their parents. They got away with failing to reunite the 4-and-under kids with their parents, after all. And they just as clearly believe that ‘let no brown people in the country ever again’ is a winner for them. Will this motivate Democratic voters to send Trump a message about the actual essence of America–a nation built by immigrants, a nation that has prided itself on providing asylum for the victims of persecution? We shall see. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38267 "2018-07-20T00:12:15Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The Trump people clearly have no interest in making next week’s deadline for reuniting kids over 4 with their parents. They got away with failing to reunite the 4-and-under kids with their parents, after all. > > And they just as clearly believe that ‘let no brown people in the country ever again’ is a winner for them. > > Will this motivate Democratic voters to send Trump a message about the actual essence of America–a nation built by immigrants, a nation that has prided itself on providing asylum for the victims of persecution? We shall see. A whole lot of these children and parents will never see each other again. And now they’re off the front page. And forgotten. ☹ ---
**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 20, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38268 "2018-07-20T00:23:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > A whole lot of these children and parents will never see each other again. And now they’re off the front page. And forgotten. ☹ Well, not forgotten. I see a lot of posts on Twitter, many containing new reporting. Lots of people are remembering the plight of those kids and parents every day. But the front page is strained to bursting with the never-ending monkeyshines of the deranged six-foot toddler. Inevitably some stories have to wait for larger developments, to make it back to the top. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38269 "2018-07-20T00:33:56Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Well, not forgotten. I see a lot of posts on Twitter, many containing new reporting. Lots of people are remembering the plight of those kids and parents every day. > > But the front page is strained to bursting with the never-ending monkeyshines of the deranged six-foot toddler. Inevitably some stories have to wait for larger developments, to make it back to the top. That’s what’s so exhausting about this presidency. No one can get a handle on one crisis before Trump fucks up something else. It just never stops. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38270 "2018-07-20T03:31:47Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > That’s what’s so exhausting about this presidency. No one can get a handle on one crisis before Trump fucks up something else. It just never stops. It’s the Ponzi scheme of inept governing: a worse scandal covers up the previous one. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38271 "2018-07-20T06:33:20Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > It’s the Ponzi scheme of inept governing: a worse scandal covers up the previous one. And the last few people in are left with a mess that makes the Augean stables look like an operating room. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38272 "2018-07-20T11:26:11Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > A whole lot of these children and parents will never see each other again. And now they’re off the front page. And forgotten. ☹ But they’ll grow up hating America and Americans, and become terrorists, so we might as well just keep them locked up as a preventative, right? This is what we’ve come to. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38273 "2018-07-20T11:47:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When I read the following, I cried. We have to have LEGISLATION to fix this?? And BTW thump/Putin has kicked this topic off the front page, and it will probably soon be forgotten. (My bold.) > > [Deal to fix family separations hits snag in the Senate](http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397744-deal-to-fix-family-separations-hits-snag-in-the-senate) > Fuck you, Ted Cruz. > > And then there’s this (not news): > > [Trump Administration Considers Unprecedented Curbs on Asylum for Migrants](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/us/immigration-asylum-children.html) > Also not news: thump and the Republicans [del]want to trash[/del] are trashing everything this country has ever stood for. Here’s what scares me, something I just now realized. There is a political science term for our type of government - a government with elected leaders, political parties, a Constitution, separation of powers, and checks and balances. That term is liberal democracy. > **[Liberal democracy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_democracy)** > > Liberal democracy, western-style democracy, or substantive democracy is a form of government that combines the organization of a representative democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy. > Common elements within a liberal democracy are: elections between or among multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, a market economy with private property, universal suffrage, and ... It’s a political science term. It has nothing to do with being liberal. Or being a Democrat. But President PeePee could get half the country to join him on a quest to destroy liberal democracy with just one tweet. Just because of the way the term sounds. Scary. ---
**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 20, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38274 "2018-07-20T12:24:24Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > It’s the Ponzi scheme of inept governing: a worse scandal covers up the previous one. I was watching Colbert the other night, and he had Anderson Cooper on. After the Helsinki debacle, AC said, “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader, really, that I’ve ever seen”, and my first thought was, “And how will he top it next week?” ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38275 "2018-07-20T13:21:26Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > But they’ll grow up hating America and Americans, and become terrorists, so we might as well just keep them locked up as a preventative, right? > > This is what we’ve come to. I think a lot of the problem would be solved if the Republicans took some time to talk to these immigrants. I have. I chat with them when they are working in construction. I chat with them when they are working as housekeepers and gardeners for my clients. In general, they are very religious and family oriented. And VERY conservative on issues like gay marriage and abortion. Especially abortion. And a lot of them ( not all but a lot ) are racist towards African Americans. I’ve heard the n-word. They feel they are lazy, they feel they abandon their children. They have a strong work ethic and HATE the idea of welfare. They are really a tailor-made Republican constituency. Except for their skin color. And except the Republican Party is trying to drive them away. I think some of the Bush style conservatives understood this. But the Trumpers don’t. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38276 "2018-07-20T13:45:01Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I think a lot of the problem would be solved if the Republicans took some time to talk to these immigrants. I have. I chat with them when they are working in construction. I chat with them when they are working as housekeepers and gardeners for my clients. > > In general, they are very religious and family oriented. And VERY conservative on issues like gay marriage and abortion. Especially abortion. > > And a lot of them ( not all but a lot ) are racist towards African Americans. I’ve heard the n-word. They feel they are lazy, they feel they abandon their children. They have a strong work ethic and HATE the idea of welfare. > > They are really a tailor-made Republican constituency. \*\*Except for their skin color. \*\*And except the Republican Party is trying to drive them away. I think some of the Bush style conservatives understood this. But the Trumpers don’t. The part I bolded negates everything else you said. (Besides, you’re being _reasonable_. Must stop that!) BTW, Latinos/Hispanics are Caucasian, just like white folks. Yah, they’re WHITE! No, no, can’t be true! Fake facts! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38277 "2018-07-20T16:09:57Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > And the last few people in are left with a mess that makes the Augean stables look like an operating room. Well, there _is_ a horse in the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38278 "2018-07-21T11:56:22Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > BTW, Latinos/Hispanics are Caucasian, just like white folks. Yah, they’re WHITE! No, no, can’t be true! Fake facts! I mean, some of them are? But a lot of Central Americans have a bunch of Native American blood in them. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38279 "2018-07-21T13:23:32Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I mean, some of them are? But a lot of Central Americans have a bunch of Native American blood in them. And a lot of “whites/Anglos” do, too. The point is, Latino is not a separate RACE. “Race” is not what the Census Bureau says it is. [In-depth discussion here.](http://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/how-many-major-races-are-there-in-the-world/) Ethnic group =/= race. Too big a topic to go into here. ETA: According to the link above, Jews are also Caucasian. Note that Aryans and Semites are in the same group. I’d say “ha!” but it’s not funny. > [@](#): > > [ul] > [li]Caucasian races (Aryans, Hamites, Semites)[/li][li] Mongolian races (northern Mongolian, Chinese and Indo-Chinese, Japanese and Korean, Tibetan, Malayan, Polynesian, Maori, Micronesian, Eskimo, American Indian),[/li][li] Negroid races (African, Hottentots, Melanesians/Papua, “Negrito”, Australian Aborigine, Dravidians, Sinhalese)[/RIGHT][/li][/ul] Don’t want to get off on a tangent. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38280 "2018-07-21T14:44:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Race” is not what the Census Bureau says it is. [In-depth discussion here.](http://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/how-many-major-races-are-there-in-the-world/) Ethnic group =/= race. Too big a topic to go into here. I hope you’re fucking kidding with that link. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38281 "2018-07-21T14:54:53Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > I hope you’re fucking kidding with that link. I did it in haste. My point is that Latino is not a race. Latinos are white. My apologies. Let’s not go off the rails in this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1913) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1915)