# 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:** 2067
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41325 "2019-06-19T05:22:12Z")
So I guess Mitch just calls anything he doesn’t like “socialism”. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41326 "2019-06-19T05:50:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > So I guess Mitch just calls anything he doesn’t like “socialism”. It’s all they’ve got. It’s what they always do: Demonize words and make them take on sinister meanings they doesn’t actually mean. Then beat us over the head with it until the meme takes. “Benghazi.” “Unmasking.” “(No) collusion.” “Hoax.” “Spying.” “Liberal.” “Democrat.” I’m sure you can think of dozens more. Notice how they all start howling like coyotes in a chorus when they agree on whatever misdirection they’re going to undertake. I watched some Republican House member today gish gallop away while being interviewed by Chris Hayes. He repeatedly brought up Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and implied that they are the true “criminals.” This is the new “Benghazi.” Expect Bill Barr to attempt to prosecute both as election day approaches. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41327 "2019-06-19T07:10:14Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s all they’ve got. > > It’s what they always do: Demonize words and make them take on sinister meanings they doesn’t actually mean. Then beat us over the head with it until the meme takes. > > “Benghazi.” > “Unmasking.” > “(No) collusion.” > “Hoax.” > “Spying.” > “Liberal.” > “Democrat.” You left off: “Fake”. Anything Trump and his ilk don’t like, it’s “fake news”, “fake investigation”, “fake _whatever_”. Veracity has nothing to do with their use of the word _fake_. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Notice how they all start howling like coyotes in a chorus when they agree on whatever misdirection they’re going to undertake. > > I watched some Republican House member today gish gallop away while being interviewed by Chris Hayes. He repeatedly brought up Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and implied that they are the true “criminals.” > > This is the new “Benghazi.” Expect Bill Barr to attempt to prosecute both as election day approaches. Good call on using the word _chorus_. Over in the Trump admin cluster thread, I posted [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21704821#post21704821) pardoy (to the tune of _Holy, Holy, Holy_): > [@](#): > > _The best, the best, the best > Trump’s Wall Almighty > Early in the morning our song shall rise to him > The best, the best, the best > Beautiful, wonderful > The Wall he says Mexico’s paying for_ It’s far beyond obvious by now that [Mexico is not going to pay for that fucking wall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4OwJOVi0ec); however, many of his supporters–and Tan the Conman himself–still insisst that somehow the funding for that wall is actually coming from Mexico. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41328 "2019-06-19T11:56:31Z")
[**Trump admin shifts goal post to reduce poverty without helping people**](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Trump-admin-shifts-goal-post-to-reduce-poverty-14015323.php) > [@](#): > > The Trump administration has proposed a novel plan to shrink the number of people who need food stamps and subsidized health insurance: change the definition of poverty. > > The idea is not original, but the methodology is ingenious. Rather than unilaterally lower the federal poverty level, the Office of Management and Budget wants to change how inflation is used to adjusted the poverty threshold over time. > > For example, the federal poverty level for a family of four in 2009 was $22,050, and over the past decade, the government has adjusted the rate for inflation to $25,750. The OMB, though, wants to use a new methodology for calculating inflation, one that produces a lower inflation rate. > > By lowering the Official Poverty Measure’s inflation rate, **the number of people living in poverty would shrink every year, even though their standard of living would be unimproved.** That would reduce the number of people who qualify for services and shrink the federal budget deficit. > … > > If the new methodology is adopted, 250,000 seniors and people with disabilities would lose their eligibility, or receive less help, over the next 10 years from Medicare’s Part D Low-Income Subsidy Program, according to the Washington-based Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. > > More than 300,000 children would lose comprehensive health coverage, and more than 150,000 consumers who buy insurance through [healthcare.gov](http://healthcare.gov) would receive lower subsidies. > > Before you cheer the reduction in government spending on poor people, consider that **none of this money actually goes into poor people’s pockets.** > > SNAP and WIC funds go straight from the state government **to the grocer** providing the food. Medicare, Medicaid and other health care dollars go from the government **to health care providers.** Head Start pays for \*\*teachers \*\*to give lessons to poor children, so they have a better shot in life. > … My bold. WINNING! ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41329 "2019-06-19T12:06:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > June 16, 2019 > Right winger Candace Owens thinks people should have their citizenship revoked if they burn the flag. > [https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1140235720843550720](https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1140235720843550720) Thick skulled right wingers value the flag more than they do the actual fucking country. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41330 "2019-06-19T12:27:58Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > June 16, 2019 > Right winger Candace Owens thinks people should have their citizenship revoked if they burn the flag. > [https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1140235720843550720](https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1140235720843550720) [Ri-i-i-ight!](https://futuristguy.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/vintage-bumper-stickers-of-the-1970s.jpg?w=600&h=448) Is that the scent of patchouli in the air? ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41331 "2019-06-19T14:20:38Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > So I guess Mitch just calls anything he doesn’t like “socialism”. That’s been the right-wing playbook for decades. Lately, though, they’re undermining their own point, because all of these post-Cold-War Millennials/GenZ folks are seeing them calling pretty much everything that makes the average person’s life better or easier called “socialism” and thinking “Hey, this socialism thing sounds like a great idea!” ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41332 "2019-06-19T15:47:23Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Thick skulled right wingers value the flag more than they do the actual fucking country. They don’t, really, any more than they value the Constitution or the Bible. In all three cases they **say** they do, but then you find them doing lots of stuff that directly contradicts those claims. Wearing the flag as a sweatband or boxer shorts or plastering it all over your bumper where it will get muddy and covered with dead bugs is virtue-signalling, not reverence. (I will note that the conservatives I know with military backgrounds tend to take flag etiquette seriously, unlike their flag-humping brethren.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41333 "2019-06-19T16:01:40Z")
And those are the ones who display the \*US \*flag, not the one of slavery. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41334 "2019-06-19T16:16:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And those are the ones who display the \*US \*flag, not the one of slavery. If people want to desecrate the Confederate flag, it’s fine by me and I’m not aware of any laws or even rules of flag etiquette against it. Ditto the Nazi flag. That said, I don’t think burning or otherwise abusing an American flag should be illegal. Deliberately doing so may, however, make you look like a dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41335 "2019-06-19T17:46:36Z")
I meant it’s desecrating the American flag, and shitting on the ideals it stands for, to proudly display that other thing _at all_. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41336 "2019-06-19T20:57:54Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I think it’s one of those things that made good sense almost 250 years ago. When “Wyoming” was the name of a region in Pennsylvania? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41337 "2019-06-19T23:01:52Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > TODAY 3:43 PM > Mitch McConnell says proposals to make District of Columbia and Puerto Rico states are “full bore socialism”. > > [https://www.thenation.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-puerto-rico-full-bore-socialism/](https://www.thenation.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-puerto-rico-full-bore-socialism/) > > From the 2016 Republican Party platform: > “We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state.” I know they put things in the platform they never meant to honor. But by attaching the snarl word(\*) “socialism” to it he lets it out that he considers the mere possibility to be simply hateful. (\*and yeah that’s what it is to him and his ilk, alright) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41338 "2019-06-20T15:22:46Z")
[How come we get all these people elected in Florida?](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-trump-orlando-aftermath-20190619-aearswhyxfa6tcehgi3uphicbm-story.html) > [@](#): > > State Rep. Anthony Sabatini’s response to a tweet about a man who attempted to knock the phone out of an Orlando Sentinel reporter’s hand at Amway Center was “MAGA,” a comment he stood by Wednesday despite the man being arrested and charged with battery. > …Williams, who identified himself as a reporter, “was videotaping two men, one of which was Kestner, involved in an argument in reference to the Trump Rally,” the police report states. “Kestner told Williams to stop recording and stated that he would kick Williams in the testicles. Kestner approached Williams and used his right hand to slap Williams’ right hand, which was holding the phone.” The assaulter himself apologized, claiming drunkenness, but the state rep just doubled down instead. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41339 "2019-06-20T19:39:13Z")
Roy Moore announces he’s running for Senate again. > **[Roy Moore, Who Was Accused Of Child Molestation, Is Running For Senate Again](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/roy-moore-running-alabama-senate-again)** > > Moore lost a special election for the US Senate in 2017 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, including some who were teenagers at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41340 "2019-06-20T20:01:42Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Roy Moore announces he’s running for Senate again. > > [Roy Moore, Who Was Accused Of Child Molestation, Is Running For Senate Again](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kadiagoba/roy-moore-running-alabama-senate-again) Larry Sabato (The Crystal Ball) called that a “good thing” on twitter today, saying that Judge Roy was possibly the only Republican candidate that Doug Jones could beat. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41341 "2019-06-20T20:41:00Z")
June 19, 2019 Jim Bakker says that if Individual 1 loses, Christian leaders will start dying mysteriously. > **[Jim Bakker: If Trump loses in 2020, Christians will ‘die one after another’](https://deadstate.org/jim-bakker-if-trump-loses-in-2020-christians-will-be-suddenly-killed-one-after-another/)** > > On a recent episode of The Jim Bakker Show, host Jim Bakker returned to one of his favorite conspiracy theories, which involves various assassination plots planned by liberals targeting Christian leaders and politicians who support President Trump.... ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41342 "2019-06-20T20:55:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > June 19, 2019 > Jim Bakker says that if Individual 1 loses, Christian leaders will start dying mysteriously. > [Jim Bakker: If Trump loses in 2020, Christians will ‘die one after another’ – DeadState](https://deadstate.org/jim-bakker-if-trump-loses-in-2020-christians-will-be-suddenly-killed-one-after-another/) Nifty! ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41343 "2019-06-20T21:01:36Z")
Kind of a win/win that keeps on winning. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41344 "2019-06-20T21:02:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > June 19, 2019 > Jim Bakker says that if Individual 1 loses, Christian leaders will start dying mysteriously. > [Jim Bakker: If Trump loses in 2020, Christians will ‘die one after another’ – DeadState](https://deadstate.org/jim-bakker-if-trump-loses-in-2020-christians-will-be-suddenly-killed-one-after-another/) He says that like it’s a bad thing. I’d call it a highly desired feature. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2066) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2068)