# 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:** 1938
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38742 "2018-08-27T19:28:43Z")
It would be an even better thing if the occasional awkward or inartfully worded thing, like everyone says from time to time, wasn’t lumped in with the things that are genuinely stupid and hateful and can’t be dismissed. But those get presented to the audience that wants to believe in the subject’s stupidity and hate just the same. That … is not a good thing. Once, reporters would ignore them or clean them up if they had to be reported. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38743 "2018-08-27T19:52:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Musing… the immediacy and ubiquity of social media has made it possible for us to see how stupid people really are. In the past, she would have said these things to a couple of friends and unless a reporter picked it up, that would have been that. Actually, even if a reporter had picked it up, the comment might have been repeated in a few outlets and died a natural and deserved death. Now that people can urp out every lame, destructive, cruel, ignorant thought as soon as they think it, with no possibility of retraction, we’re finding out that lots of people we assumed were reasonably intelligent are, in fact, dumb as a box of hair. > [@Kobal2](#): > > It’s a good thing, too. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It would be an even better thing if the occasional awkward or inartfully worded thing, like everyone says from time to time, wasn’t lumped in with the things that are genuinely stupid and hateful and can’t be dismissed. But those get presented to the audience that wants to believe in the subject’s stupidity and hate just the same. That … is not a good thing. Once, reporters would ignore them or clean them up if they had to be reported. Yes, there used to be a system for these things, a machine composed of Mass Media (the newspaper/radio/television industry, largely the same players behind the scenes after a certain point, but all working with more-or-less the same rules regardless) and PR flacks/publicity agents who collaborated on what’s now disdainfully referred to as a “narrative” but was then just called “The Story” or similar. It protected people, it ruined people, and it locked some people out entirely. It kept the “inappropriate” out of the news better than the system we have now, that’s for sure: A leading man has a drug problem? Inappropriate. Maybe Kenneth Anger writes about it, but nobody believes him anyway. A producer sexually abuses young starlets? Wildly inappropriate. Not fit for publication. Kill immediately. These days, the PR flack, reporter, and celebrity have been collapsed into the same person, the famous person live-tweeting their mental inadequacies at 2 AM. Everyone’s a gonzo journalist, sending raw notes to the ever-operating printing press that is Twitter or Facebook, no edits, no raddled geek at _Scanlan’s_ trying to make a narrative out of it. Run it. Just run it. The Temple of the Screaming Electron had a motto: Raw data for raw nerves. It’s McLuhan-esque, seeing computers as extensions of the nervous system, Brian O’Blivion without the flesh. Well, apparently some people just can’t stop muttering, even if they know they’re speaking directly into the biggest goddamned microphone in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38744 "2018-08-27T20:46:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **septimus** : > > He was confronted with a woman who said " {Lie 1} because {Lie 2} because {I am racist}." It was not the time or place for McCain to deliver a long lecture on a plurality of lies or about how despicable and ignorant the woman was. McCain did the best he could. A more eloquent man might have killed two lies with one pithy sentence … or just sowed further confusion. [Colin Powell managed it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYELqbZAQ4M). > [@](#): > > Quoth **Rick Kitchen** : > > Apparently Alex Jones watches trans porn… To be fair, “trans porn” has absolutely no connection whatsoever to actual transsexuality or transgenderism. ---
**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 27, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38745 "2018-08-27T21:52:14Z")
Senator James Inhofe says the controversy over the lowering and raising of the flag at the White House is partially McCain’s fault for disagreeing with Trump. > **[GOP Sen. Inhofe: McCain ‘Partially to Blame’ for Flag Ordeal Because He Was...](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-inhofe-mccain-partially-to-blame-for-flag-ordeal-because-he-was-mean-to-trump)** > > According to Inhofe, McCain invited the flag controversy because he “wasn’t too courteous” about his disagreements with Trump. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38746 "2018-08-27T22:00:51Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Senator James Inhofe says the controversy over the lowering and raising of the flag at the White House is partially McCain’s fault for disagreeing with Trump. > [GOP Sen. Inhofe: McCain ‘Partially to Blame’ for Flag Ordeal Because He Was Mean to Trump](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-inhofe-mccain-partially-to-blame-for-flag-ordeal-because-he-was-mean-to-trump) So, just going full-sycophant, then. Oklahomans, this is your guy. Like the look of your senator’s lips affixed to the Imperial butt? That’s yours; own it. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38747 "2018-08-27T23:40:32Z")
The Republicans are the party of Trump. Do not expect decency. And do not expect them to stand up for the Constitution or for anyone other than the oligarchs who write their campaign finance checks. I suspect there is some serious dark money going into their campaigns. We’re perhaps just an election away, a key firing or forced resignation or two away, from becoming the Turkey of the West. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38748 "2018-08-27T23:53:06Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The Republicans are the party of Trump. Do not expect decency. And do not expect them to stand up for the Constitution or for anyone other than the oligarchs who write their campaign finance checks. I suspect there is some serious dark money going into their campaigns. We’re perhaps just an election away, a key firing or forced resignation or two away, from becoming the Turkey of the West. Maybe by Thanksgiving? ---
**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:** [August 28, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38749 "2018-08-28T01:53:34Z")
Okay, I just read the headline and the first paragraph, not the whole article (in The Atlantic online), but can anyone guess why the first thing I thought of was today’s Republican party? > [@](#): > > [ **Naked Mole Rat Queens Control Their Subjects By Having Them Eat Poop** > _Feces turns subordinates into better caretakers for the colony’s pups._](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/08/naked-mole-rats-eat-poop/568519/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > > Naked mole rats are intensely social creatures, and poop is a central part of their social lives. For one, they like to roll around in the designated toilet chambers of their large underground colonies, picking up the distinctive odor that marks them as a colony member. As wee little pups, they “beg” for poop to eat—literally chirping and scratching at adults’ butts. … ---
**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:** [August 28, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38750 "2018-08-28T03:44:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Okay, I just read the headline and the first paragraph, not the whole article (in The Atlantic online), but can anyone guess why the first thing I thought of was today’s Republican party? Mind control via wallowing in and swallowing bullshit? I did read the article and it’s actually fascinating. What bizarre little creatures. So thanks for that! ---
**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 28, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38751 "2018-08-28T05:11:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Musing… the immediacy and ubiquity of social media has made it possible for us to see how stupid people really are. In the past, she would have said these things to a couple of friends and unless a reporter picked it up, that would have been that. Actually, even if a reporter had picked it up, the comment might have been repeated in a few outlets and died a natural and deserved death. Now that people can urp out every lame, destructive, cruel, ignorant thought as soon as they think it, with no possibility of retraction, we’re finding out that lots of people we assumed were reasonably intelligent are, in fact, dumb as a box of hair. There is a sort of ecology to this, though. Consider the “Truthers" and the “Birthers” and “QANON” and the apparently growing body of FECTs. These and other CTers gather in the dark, poorly dried folds of the internet like some kind of TCP fungus that can only thrive in the interstitial spaces between network data packets. Thus, the internet harbors and sustains these types of growth in its unique way, but it also allows gaps to be torn into their dark surfaces so that the ugliness within gets exposed. The internet giveth and it taketh away – sadly, the flux appears to have a net positive balance, meaning the taking away part is not keeping up: the infestation of ignorance/idiocy is increasing. ---
**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 28, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38752 "2018-08-28T16:16:15Z")
Sycophant Alan Dershowitz [argues](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/defend-trump-his-allies-complain-about-the-al-capone-approach) against investigating Trumpian misdeeds lest businessmen be deterred from seeking public office for fear of undergoing a “legal colonoscopy”. Apparently Dershowitz is some sort of leftist commie pinko socialist who thinks that all businessmen are such dirty assholes that not one of them could bear such scrutiny… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38753 "2018-08-28T16:32:56Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Sycophant Alan Dershowitz [argues](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/defend-trump-his-allies-complain-about-the-al-capone-approach) against investigating Trumpian misdeeds lest businessmen be deterred from seeking public office for fear of undergoing a “legal colonoscopy”. Or, from a “glass half full” perspective, maybe it would discourage those with political aspirations from becoming corrupt businessmen to begin with. ---
**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 28, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38754 "2018-08-28T18:30:21Z")
Andrew Grant, the Republican candidate for Congress in the district I live in, has attended the Folsom Sikh community’s annual picnic, the Sacramento Jewish Food Faire, the Indus Valley American Chamber Event and events for the Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce. But he had the gall, the absolute temerity, to pose with two Muslims. And the right wingers are not having it. “You ain’t getting my vote,” one commenter wrote minutes after Grant’s Facebook post published. “(A)nyone who befriends muslims will never get my vote.” “I want someone to represent me,” another commented. “The white, heterosexual, conservative man seems to be forgotten. Politians (sic) seem to search out victims.” > **[‘You ain’t getting my vote.’ GOP candidate faces backlash for posing at...](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article217419110.html)** > > Republican congressional candidate Andrew Grant rushed to post a photograph of him with two leaders in front of the Muslim Community of Folsom building on Sunday. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38755 "2018-08-28T18:46:02Z")
Aww, it’s so cute when Republicans accuse each other of not being fearful and hateful enough. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38756 "2018-08-28T18:50:04Z")
Those damned politians. What has the polis ever done for ME? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38757 "2018-08-28T19:05:10Z")
Get a brain, morans. ---
**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 28, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38758 "2018-08-28T20:42:32Z")
Rand Paul endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson over Republican candidate Mick Rich in the New Mexico Senate race. Conservatives are trying to convince the Republican, Rich, to drop out, not the Libertarian Johnson. > **[Rand Paul endorses Gary Johnson’s Senate bid](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/404027-rand-paul-endorses-gary-johnsons-senate-bid/)** > > Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is endorsing fellow libertarian former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in his Senate bid in the state.Paul is throwing his weight behind Johnson, instead of his Republican … ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38759 "2018-08-28T22:30:42Z")
Randy is making his move, getting out in front of the inevitable political hegemony for the Libertarian Party. ---
**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 28, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38760 "2018-08-28T23:15:53Z")
It’s [stoopid](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-mccain-brings-out-the-loons/2018/08/27/6877c6e4-aa35-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html) all the way down: > [@](#): > > According to a conspiracy theory network popular among some Trump boosters, when McCain supposedly died on Saturday, he did not succumb to cancer but took his own life to avoid being hauled off to Guantanamo Bay and put before a military tribunal for his longtime work helping Islamic State terrorists and others. (And before he died, he concealed his criminal ankle bracelet by wearing a medical boot on his leg.) > > Unless, of course, the suicide, like the cancer, was just a ruse. In that case, McCain will continue to work secretly for the deep state and for the Clinton Foundation… ---
**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:** [August 28, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/38761 "2018-08-28T23:22:44Z")
So this is becoming the new Republican courtroom strategy now: anytime the Department of Justice prosecutes a Republican for anything, they’re going to claim that federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents are Democrats and that their criminal investigations are politically motivated. So says Duncan Hunter (who apparently shows up to House meetings and other gatherings drunk but that’s another story) > **[Analysis | GOP congressman claims Democratic prosecutors are out to get him](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/08/28/gop-congressman-claims-democratic-prosecutors-are-out-get-him/)** > > Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) says the indictment against him is "pure politics," but it's not just Democrats alleging he misused more than $250,000 in campaign funds. I would laugh if I knew that 30-40% of the population wouldn’t buy into this shit - but the reality is that 30-40% of the population just might buy it. That’s what seems to be happening now. We have 30-40% of people in this country who don’t need much persuasion to buy into conspiracy theories. Does anyone not see how fucking dangerous this is? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1937) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1939)