# 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:** 2058
**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, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41145 "2019-05-21T17:00:24Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I forget, but wasn’t it Reagan who closed all the mental institutions, allowing our mixed nuts to range freely? As far as I can tell, the woman in question is (mostly) rational. The non-rational part is, unsurprisingly, pretty twisted up with extreme religiosity. Even so, her beliefs are a bit odd. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41146 "2019-05-27T02:06:10Z")
[Lindsey Graham in 1998: Ignoring Subpoenas Impeachable](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lindsey-graham-in-1998-ignoring-subpoenas-impeachable/ar-BBWkCp1) > [@](#): > > Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Donald Trump, once said that a president’s refusal to comply with congressional oversight was an impeachable offense. > > In an unearthed video from December 1998 circulating on Twitter on Friday, the South Carolina legislator passionately states that Richard Nixon could have been impeached for failing to comply with subpoenas from Congress. > > “The day Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena is the day he was subject to impeachment because he took the power from Congress over the impeachment process away from Congress, and he became the judge and jury,” Graham said two decades ago. > > At the time, then-Representative Graham was a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and subsequently served as a manager in the unsuccessful impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41147 "2019-05-27T02:50:17Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Lindsey Graham in 1998: Ignoring Subpoenas Impeachable](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lindsey-graham-in-1998-ignoring-subpoenas-impeachable/ar-BBWkCp1) “Richard Nixon (D-CA)” ---
**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 27, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41148 "2019-05-27T13:23:17Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Lindsey Graham in 1998: Ignoring Subpoenas Impeachable](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lindsey-graham-in-1998-ignoring-subpoenas-impeachable/ar-BBWkCp1) > > > [@](#): > > > > Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Donald Trump, once said that a president’s refusal to comply with congressional oversight was an impeachable offense. > > > > In an unearthed video from December 1998 circulating on Twitter on Friday, the South Carolina legislator passionately states that Richard Nixon could have been impeached for failing to comply with subpoenas from Congress. > > > > “The day Richard Nixon failed to answer that subpoena is the day he was subject to impeachment because he took the power from Congress over the impeachment process away from Congress, and he became the judge and jury,” Graham said two decades ago. > > > > At the time, then-Representative Graham was a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and subsequently served as a manager in the unsuccessful impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Well, dang! This time “It’s Okay When Republicans Do It” fails. :eek: Oh noes!! What to do?? > [@Smapti](#): > > “Richard Nixon (D-CA)” That’s the ONLY possible explanation. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41149 "2019-05-27T13:38:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Richard Nixon (D-CA)” > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That’s the ONLY possible explanation. Damn! That deep state is _way_ deeper than I’d thought. I wonder how they overlooked Obama’s Kenyan passport. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41150 "2019-05-28T00:46:09Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I forget, but wasn’t it Reagan who closed all the mental institutions, allowing our mixed nuts to range freely? > [@](#): > > The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA) was United States legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter which provided grants to community mental health centers. During the following Ronald Reagan administration, the United States Congress repealed most of the law. {…}[RIGHT][CITE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_Health_Systems_Act_of_1980)[/RIGHT] CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41151 "2019-05-28T00:59:45Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > CMC fnord! **dropzone** was talking about when Reagan was Governor of California. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41152 "2019-05-28T17:29:09Z")
Hey, I actually found some common ground between the House Democrats and House Republicans. Both groups want to talk only about the Democrats on their [official websites.](https://www.gop.gov/news/) Admittedly since the Democrats are in charge their agenda is going to be the greatest topic of conversation, but one would think that in the 7 months since they lost that 2018 election they would have at least one piece on their news site that would be about what their delegation was up to. But the last article that didn’t include the word Democrats, or the name of a Democratic congressman in its title or first sentence was an Armistice day recognition on November 9th 2018. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41153 "2019-05-28T17:31:15Z")
This link is dated "2 hours 11 minutes ago " The We Build the Wall group, who raised money to build WALL and then didn’t, actually built one mile of wall over the holiday weekend, after Steve Bannon stepped in to make sure it got done. > **[Steve Bannon-Led Group Erects Border Wall Using Crowdfunded Donations](https://news.yahoo.com/we-built-the-wall-construction-151119347.html)** > > The near one-mile wall was propped up over the weekend on private land between Texas and New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41154 "2019-05-28T17:42:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > This link is dated "2 hours 11 minutes ago " > > The We Build the Wall group, who raised money to build WALL and then didn’t, actually built one mile of wall over the holiday weekend, after Steve Bannon stepped in to make sure it got done. > [Steve Bannon-Led Group Erects Border Wall Using Crowdfunded Donations](https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/we-built-the-wall-construction-151119347.html) If the government has given itself permission to bypass environmental and/or construction laws, does that make it legal for private citizens to do the same? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41155 "2019-05-28T18:03:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If the government has given itself permission to bypass environmental and/or construction laws, does that make it legal for private citizens to do the same? It looks like they purchased the land. Are environmental studies and such needed to build a wall on your own land? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41156 "2019-05-28T18:17:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > This link is dated "2 hours 11 minutes ago " That was good, shows you’re not mad at people pointing it out. And, as I tell my wife “See, I CAN learn new tricks!” (usually for some kind of “housebreaking” that she’d given up on me learning… but then I surprise her!) ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41157 "2019-05-28T18:58:22Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > It looks like they purchased the land. Are environmental studies and such needed to build a wall on your own land? I don’t know about Texas, but in Ohio, yes. Pretty much any form of construction is going to need a permit, which is going to need impact studies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41158 "2019-05-28T19:00:18Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I don’t know about Texas, but in Ohio, yes. Pretty much any form of construction is going to need a permit, which is going to need impact studies. Especially a mile-long fence of unusual size that stretches across several properties. ---
**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 28, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41159 "2019-05-28T19:02:20Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > It looks like they purchased the land. Are environmental studies and such needed to build a wall on your own land? ISTM that most building is carried out on land that is owned by the builder, so those things don’t seem like they would be reserved for projects on land that the builder DOESN’T own… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41160 "2019-05-28T19:21:22Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Especially a mile-long fence of unusual size that stretches across several properties. “The FOUSes? – the Fences of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.” (Wesley is immediately slammed by a piece of Fence of Unusual Size.) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41161 "2019-05-28T19:39:16Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I don’t know about Texas, but in Ohio, yes. Pretty much any form of construction is going to need a permit, which is going to need impact studies. I’m not doubting you, but if you decided to build a fence around your yard, you would need to do an environmental impact study? Well, I guess I am doubting you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41162 "2019-05-28T19:46:48Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I’m not doubting you, but if you decided to build a fence around your yard, you would need to do an environmental impact study? > > Well, I guess I am doubting you. 🙂 “A fence around your yard”. Disingenuous much? ---
**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:** [May 28, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41163 "2019-05-28T19:49:35Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I’m not doubting you, but if you decided to build a fence around your yard, you would need to do an environmental impact study? > > Well, I guess I am doubting you. 🙂 I would have to get permits, and those permits say what kind of fence I can build. As long as I am building that type of fence, I do not have to do an impact study, as those fences do not have much of an impact. Were I to want to build a different type of fence (or wall) than is usually granted permits for, one that would interrupt the flow of groundwater, then yes, I would have to go to zoning meetings and try to get waivers granted, and probably have to do some sort of offset, or make sure that proper drainage or culverts are installed. Are these people putting up fences or walls? I’ve never been that involved with building walls, but parking lots? Yeah. If I put in a parking lot, I need to do impact studies to see how much drainage I need to offset and how large a retention pond I need to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41164 "2019-05-28T19:56:00Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “A fence around your yard”. > Disingenuous much? I’m not the one who said “any form of construction” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2057) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2059)