# 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:** 2057
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41125 "2019-05-18T02:25:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Thanks. Though I will admit to being skeptical about the idea of Ron DeSantis cleaning up Rick Scott’s crooked activity. DeSantis didn’t strike me as being the sort to clean up crooked activity. (I’m perfectly willing to be proven wrong.) DeSantis is an odd duck. So far his one veto is on a bill that would have prohibited local laws that ban single-use plastic straws. It passed on a pretty clear party-line vote, but then the Gov. of the party that passed it shot it down. My read is that he’s a straight-up Pubbie except for the environment. Cleaning up Scott’s mess does also seem to be a priority of the FLGOP this year. Scott got supported in his Senate bid, but he was NOT popular with the apparatchik of the Florida GOP. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41126 "2019-05-18T03:02:12Z")
So I made the mistake of arguing with a die-hard conservative, bible-thumping friend of mine, who doesn’t like hearing the Democrats are no longer the party of the 1800s, and actually support minorities. This was his response (which I’m sharing, hoping y’all can help me with my homework here): There is only one major party who continues to make race an issue and talk about race constantly, and it is not the Republicans. There is only one party whose policies continue to impoverish those who are less fortunate no matter the “intention” of those policies , and it is not the Republicans. There is only one major party who supports the murder of millions of minority babies, and that is not the Republican Party. There has been no pivot. There has only been a “rebranding”. Martin Luther King, Jr., prayed for a color blind society. Republicans have embraced just that, while Democrats pander for votes. You are just plain wrong, and I pray for you, while I know that means nothing to you. I have seen many of your offensive and wrong posts of late and have refrained from responding. But, you can’t seem to resist responding to my posts. Therefore, I suppose, “it is on”. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2019, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41127 "2019-05-18T08:19:45Z")
How stupid does your friend think African-Americans are? Is it possible that black voters, who tend to vote Democrat in the country as well as in the city, vote Democrat when they’re middle class as well as when they’re working class, and vote Democrat overwhelmingly though not universally, know something about which party takes them seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41128 "2019-05-18T08:29:41Z")
Well, you can respond that “tough on crime” and anti-abortion policies lead to people who are poor tending to stay poor, so he doesn’t get to claim it is Democrats who “continue to impoverish” minorities. I guess you could also refer to how modern evangelicals got politicized in the first place, and it wasn’t over _Roe v. Wade_ but because their whites-only bible colleges were being denied their tax exemptions. If modern Democrats were as he described, the evangelicals would now be in their camp, not the Republicans’. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41129 "2019-05-18T18:22:52Z")
Missouri Republican Rep. Barry Hovis has come up with the concept of [consensual rape](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/05/17/gop-lawmaker-used-phrase-consensual-rape-during-abortion-debate-he-says-he-misspoke/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.71b2cd411265). How oxymoronic! ---
**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:** [May 18, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41130 "2019-05-18T19:24:00Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Here is a recipe for [liver with braised fava beans](https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/mm-silence-of-the-lambs-liver-fava-beans/). I assume that everyone knows the correct wine accompaniment… Key-ANN-Tee, or Key-AHN-Tee? Key-AHN-Tee is my choice. That’s why I can’t take that movie seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41131 "2019-05-18T21:50:57Z")
(He says it that way to poke fun at Starling’s accent.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41132 "2019-05-18T23:31:37Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Key-AHN-Tee is my choice. That’s why I can’t take that movie seriously. I can’t take it seriously because he recommended drinking chianti. > [@Locrian](#): > > (He says it that way to poke fun at Starling’s accent.) Which was dead nuts PERFECT! Maybe his choice of chianti was to make fun of her background 'cuz twine-wrapped bottles of chianti were the only wine in her area liquor store/gas station/bait shop/post office. Been there, shopped there. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41133 "2019-05-19T01:16:56Z")
“Trump judicial nominees decline to endorse Brown v. Board under Senate questioning” > **[Trump judicial nominees decline to endorse Brown v. Board under Senate...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/trump-judicial-nominees-decline-to-endorse-brown-v-board-under-senate-questioning/2019/05/16/d5409d58-7732-11e9-b7ae-390de4259661_story.html)** > > Conservatives see a setup, but civil rights activists are appalled by nominees’ silence. > [@](#): > > For months, a Democratic senator has been asking Trump judicial nominees what appears to be a straightforward question: Was Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark decision that ended legalized school segregation, properly decided? > > Legal scholars across the ideological spectrum say the answer is clearly yes. Still, more than two dozen nominees have declined to answer the question at a time when many schools remain segregated by race. > > The standoff has come to resemble a serious game of chicken. If the nominees say Brown was correctly decided, are they obligated to opine on more controversial precedents, in particular Roe v. Wade, which established a woman’s right to abortion? Some nominees say the Democratic senators are not content with statements calling segregation immoral. > … I guess the 13th amendment is the next target. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41134 "2019-05-19T02:01:30Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Key-ANN-Tee, or Key-AHN-Tee? > > Key-AHN-Tee is my choice. That’s why I can’t take that movie seriously. > [@Locrian](#): > > (He says it that way to poke fun at Starling’s accent.) I’ve only ever seen that clip. They should change the clips to make that clear. ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41135 "2019-05-19T04:01:30Z")
Candace Owens was a speaker at the Wisconsin GOP state convention yesterday and [praised by the Speaker of the Assembly](https://twitter.com/repvos/status/1129559106585595905). ---
**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:** [May 19, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41136 "2019-05-19T14:07:00Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > So I made the mistake of arguing with a die-hard conservative, bible-thumping friend of mine, who doesn’t like hearing the Democrats are no longer the party of the 1800s, and actually support minorities. This was his response (which I’m sharing, hoping y’all can help me with my homework here): > > There is only one major party who continues to make race an issue and talk about race constantly, and it is not the Republicans. There is only one party whose policies continue to impoverish those who are less fortunate no matter the “intention” of those policies , and it is not the Republicans. There is only one major party who supports the murder of millions of minority babies, and that is not the Republican Party. There has been no pivot. There has only been a “rebranding”. Martin Luther King, Jr., prayed for a color blind society. Republicans have embraced just that, while Democrats pander for votes. You are just plain wrong, and I pray for you, while I know that means nothing to you. > > I have seen many of your offensive and wrong posts of late and have refrained from responding. But, you can’t seem to resist responding to my posts. Therefore, I suppose, “it is on”. Ask him if his basic position is that black people aren’t smart enough to know they’re being fooled and they should just trust the good white folks in the GOP? Because that’s what it sounds like he’s saying. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41137 "2019-05-19T22:16:54Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > … we have found the stupidest people on the planet. … We seem to be overrun with them. This here thing is not a S **R** IotD, _per se_, but I believe that the gross damage that the Rs have heaped upon edumacation, combined with their whole-hearted forstering of sharianoia has given us [this prime bit of stupid](http://amazingnewsus.com/politics-news/ballot-says-that-56-of-people-dont-need-children-taught-arabic-numerals-we-have-now-some-dangerous-information/): A group called CivicScience conducted a poll that covered a range of topics. One of the questions (I suspect it was a respondent assessment question) resulted in numbers that are at once hilarious and terrifying. 29% felt that schools should teach our children arabic numerals, as compared to **LVI%** who thought it was a bad idea. Chew on that. A majority of Americans think kids should not be taught arabic numerals. Yes, it was sorta a gotcha question, but jesus-bleeding-christ, we are fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41138 "2019-05-20T09:30:25Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > So I made the mistake of arguing with a die-hard conservative, bible-thumping friend of mine, who doesn’t like hearing the Democrats are no longer the party of the 1800s, and actually support minorities. This was his response (which I’m sharing, hoping y’all can help me with my homework here): > > There is only one major party who continues to make race an issue and talk about race constantly, and it is not the Republicans. There is only one party whose policies continue to impoverish those who are less fortunate no matter the “intention” of those policies , and it is not the Republicans. There is only one major party who supports the murder of millions of minority babies, and that is not the Republican Party. There has been no pivot. There has only been a “rebranding”. Martin Luther King, Jr., prayed for a color blind society. Republicans have embraced just that, while Democrats pander for votes. You are just plain wrong, and I pray for you, while I know that means nothing to you. > > I have seen many of your offensive and wrong posts of late and have refrained from responding. But, you can’t seem to resist responding to my posts. Therefore, I suppose, “it is on”. Your friend is an advocate of Schrodinger’s Racism: as long as no one talks about racism, racism doesn’t exist - but the moment anyone openly points it out, the waveform collapses and bingo, racism springs fully formed into existence, entirely the fault of the person who pointed it out. I mean, you could point out that the current President of the United States has repeatedly disseminated material from white nationalist groups and has been openly endorsed by them in turn (including David Duke). You could point out that throughout his campaign the only time Trump talked about black people was in the context of urban crime. You could mention the 2012 campaign and the “Don’t Re-Nig in 2012” and “It’s Called the White House for a Reason” memes that were widely circulated. You could also point out the virulent anti-immigrant - and specifically anti-Hispanic-immigrant - rhetoric coming from Republicans which openly and in many cases exactly mirrors the language used by the Nazis against Jews (including referring to them as “vermin”), resulting in actual American citizens with Hispanic names having their citizenship questioned and passports withheld. But you can’t rebut an argument that is so fundamentally grounded in self-delusion, so I’m afraid you’ll never convince your friend of any of this. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2019, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41139 "2019-05-21T02:10:48Z")
The easy way to improve climate change numbers! WINNING! “E.P.A. Plans to Get Thousands of Deaths Off the Books by Changing Its Math” > **[E.P.A. Plans to Get Thousands of Pollution Deaths Off the Books by Changing...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/climate/epa-air-pollution-deaths.html)** > > The E.P.A. plans to change the way air pollution health risks are calculated in a way that would sharply lower estimated deaths from new, looser rules for coal plants. > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to change the way it calculates the health risks of air pollution, a shift that would make it easier to roll back a key climate change rule because it would result in far fewer predicted deaths from pollution, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans. > > The E.P.A. had originally forecast that eliminating the Obama-era rule, the Clean Power Plan, and replacing it with a new measure would have resulted in an additional 1,400 premature deaths per year. The new analytical model would significantly reduce that number and would most likely be used by the Trump administration to defend further rollbacks of air pollution rules if it is formally adopted. > > … ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41140 "2019-05-21T02:44:48Z")
Yesterday I had an exchange with a woman who is a follower of the (now-deceased, and he didn’t even prophesy it would happen!) [Kim Clement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_List). She is very-anti-abortion because, she says, it violates the laws of Nature. I asked her to explain this, and in two of the last messages in the exchange, she said, and I am copying and pasting these with NO EDITS: > [@](#): > > It is gravitational force that ensures that procreation happens, therefore we exist. Mammals give birth under the force of gravity. Negate the force of gravity, and the Darwinian code ‘Survival of Species’ is shattered. > [@](#): > > There is a myth flying around, that there are aliens on a mission to force women to breed. No such aliens exist. The only one responsible for ‘forced breeding’ is the Force of Gravity under the Laws of Physics, ensuring the Darwinian code: ‘Survival of Species’ is sealed in gold. Yes, you read that right. She’s convinced that gravity causes pregnancy \*and \*explains Darwin’s theory of evolution. She’s also homophobic. As far as I know, she has no real claim to fame, not even a blue checkmark. But I’d consider her to be pretty representative of what we’re up against in the Republican base, especially the Trump base. (I’ll have to give her a small sliver of credit for not buying into a conspiracy theory that includes aliens, but that’s a mighty low bar.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41141 "2019-05-21T05:11:22Z")
Well, of course gravity. People are heavy, they walk around, get tired. Lay down to rest, and then one thing leads to another, then those two things lead to pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41142 "2019-05-21T12:24:42Z")
Regarding gravity: have fun with the crazy person and try to convince her that gravity doesn’t exist. It is [“Intelligent Falling.”](https://www.theonion.com/evangelical-scientists-refute-gravity-with-new-intellig-1819567984) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41143 "2019-05-21T14:12:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, of course gravity. People are heavy, they walk around, get tired. Lay down to rest, and then one thing leads to another, then those two things lead to pregnancy. Pregnant women are very gravid-y. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41144 "2019-05-21T16:35:28Z")
I forget, but wasn’t it Reagan who closed all the mental institutions, allowing our mixed nuts to range freely? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2056) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2058)