# 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:** 2077
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41525 "2019-07-16T23:03:02Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Kellyanne Conway says she meant ‘no disrespect’ with question about reporter’s ethnicity](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kellyanne-conway-says-she-meant-no-disrespect-with-question-about-reporters-ethnicity/ar-AAEq8mh?li=BBnb7Kz) Hey, fuck you Kellyane. No disrespect. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41526 "2019-07-17T00:17:25Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Kellyanne Conway says she meant ‘no disrespect’ with question about reporter’s ethnicity](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kellyanne-conway-says-she-meant-no-disrespect-with-question-about-reporters-ethnicity/ar-AAEq8mh?li=BBnb7Kz) > > > [@](#): > > > > “This was meant with no disrespect,” Conway wrote to her 2.8 million Twitter followers, referring to her exchange with the reporter during a press gaggle earlier in the day at the White House. > > > > “We are all from somewhere else ‘originally.’ I asked the question to answer the question and volunteered my own ethnicity: Italian and Irish,” she continued. “Like many, I am proud of my ethnicity, love the USA & grateful to God to be an American.” > > Yeah, that’s a good one. Go with that. Of course she’s missing a few nifty details. White people, not even Italian and Irish white people, were subjected to Jim Crow, nor held in slavery before that. Nor are white people routinely treated as though they’re from another country as many Asian-Americans are. Oh, and why isn’t the proper answer to her “question” NOT “I’m American, you bigoted piece of crap”? ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41527 "2019-07-17T00:18:50Z")
I’m from Ohio originally, and now I live in Maryland. Is that what she meant? Moron. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41528 "2019-07-17T00:20:22Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Hey, fuck you Kellyane. No disrespect. That’s no way to treat a Desiccated-American. ---
**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 17, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41529 "2019-07-17T01:04:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Andy Harris says that when Individual 1 said that the liberal Congresswomen should go back to where they came from, he meant their Congressional districts. Even though Individual 1 himself said, right their in his tweet, “country”. > [Andy Harris says Trump could’ve meant ‘go back to the district’ in tweets; president says no, he meant leave the country – Baltimore Sun](https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-trump-harris-defense-racism-20190716-usx2wh2am5aenpjliqdmqtyboq-story.html) > [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > [Kellyanne Conway says she meant ‘no disrespect’ with question about reporter’s ethnicity](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kellyanne-conway-says-she-meant-no-disrespect-with-question-about-reporters-ethnicity/ar-AAEq8mh?li=BBnb7Kz) > > > [@](#): > > > > “This was meant with no disrespect,” Conway wrote to her 2.8 million Twitter followers, referring to her exchange with the reporter during a press gaggle earlier in the day at the White House. > > “We are all from somewhere else ‘originally.’ I asked the question to answer the question and volunteered my own ethnicity: Italian and Irish,” she continued. “Like many, I am proud of my ethnicity, love the USA & grateful to God to be an American.” > > Yeah, that’s a good one. Go with that. These “explanations” are so epically, blatantly, radically bad, that they must be something other than what they literally purport to be: means of justifying atrocious speech and conduct. That’s what they seem to be, but that’s not what they are. They must, instead, be intended to be seen as a means of declaring WE HAVE ALL THE POWER AND WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS WE PLEASE. They are a giant “fuck you” to all non-deplorables. They are the Bully’s Boast. While it’s important both to use whatever’s left of the rule of law against these disgusting individuals (including using the ballot box to ensure they have no place in government), we should also keep in awareness that these self-aggrandizers are contemptible. That contempt can armor us against the common reaction to being bullied—to wonder if we should attempt to placate the bully, or to fear the bully, or to look for ways to stay out of the bully’s way. We should not react that way; we should react with resolve to get these people out of positions of power. Kellyanne Conway, Andy Harris, and all their ilk are despicable. They need to go. > **[Bullying Prevention | American Institutes for Research](https://www.air.org/resource/spotlight/bullying-prevention)** > > The 2018 Indicators of School Crime and Safety reports that 20 percent of students ages 12-18 reported being bullied at school during the 2017 school year. As more is being learned about the negative psychological and physical effects of bullying,... ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41530 "2019-07-17T01:28:47Z")
If it were an exotic name, or a hard to place name like DeVos or Kobach, I could understand Ms. Conway’s question. It might be impolite in that particular context, but still, a fair question. _The reporter’s name was Feinberg._ Kellyanne has lived in NYC, she presumably has seen an ornamental German-language name before. ---
**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 17, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41531 "2019-07-17T01:35:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > If it were an exotic name, or a hard to place name like DeVos or Kobach, I could understand Ms. Conway’s question. It might be impolite in that particular context, but still, a fair question. > > _The reporter’s name was Feinberg._ Kellyanne has lived in NYC, she presumably has seen an ornamental German-language name before. Of course. Conway was asserting her first-class citizenship, and putting the second-class citizen in his place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41532 "2019-07-17T01:55:17Z")
Trump said they hate America, based on nothing. How can that be meant with anything other than disrespect? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41533 "2019-07-17T02:03:12Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Trump said they hate America, based on nothing. How can that be meant with anything other than disrespect? They hate Trump. Trump IS America. Dear Leader Trump and America are the exact same thing. Therefore, they hate America. QED ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41534 "2019-07-17T04:43:07Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > These “explanations” are so epically, blatantly, radically bad, that they must be something other than what they literally purport to be: means of justifying atrocious speech and conduct. That’s what they seem to be, but that’s not what they are. > > They must, instead, be intended to be seen as a means of declaring WE HAVE ALL THE POWER AND WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS WE PLEASE. > > They are a giant “fuck you” to all non-deplorables. They are the Bully’s Boast. This seems to be about right. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > We should not react that way; we should react with resolve to get these people out of positions of power. Kellyanne Conway, Andy Harris, and all their ilk are despicable. They need to go. > > [Bullying Prevention | American Institutes for Research](https://www.air.org/resource/bullying-prevention) I don’t know how to do that. I can call my congressman or supposed representative, who is not going to do anything. I’ll be lucky to get a form letter that says, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Pipe down.” I’d have to spend all my free hours between now and November 3, 2020, going door to door or making phone calls and probably still not get anyone to change their minds. I don’t have any money so can’t buy any TV ads or get any attention. I’d like to donate to some candidates or organizations, but they either can’t or won’t do what really needs to be done. They will get distracted and trip over their own feet, politely handing “him” the ammunition to make them sound like the bad guys. It feels like I’m being forced to lie in the street with a big 18-wheeler just coming to run me down. There is nowhere else to go and nothing to be done. There will be lawsuits to fight every atrocity, but eventually “he” will get his way because he always does, it’s just a matter of whether it will be now or in a few months. I don’t know what to do with this feeling of despair. And it’s not about some petty political disagreement. It’s about a bully who can and will insist that everyone live the way he wants them to, with no health care coverage, no protection for preexisting conditions (he says he will do something about that but I won’t hold my breath), enact racist and inhumane policies, lie about socialism, abortion, etc. I’m just so tired of it. I have no representation and no voice at all and I guess I never did but just now realized it at the age of almost 50. It’s so lonely. I’m so tired of the constant insistence that people with similar political beliefs as mine don’t deserve representation and are just crazy and should be stomped down. ---
**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 17, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41535 "2019-07-17T05:02:33Z")
They are punching down; get yourself prepared to punch up. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41536 "2019-07-17T10:38:44Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > I’m so tired of the constant insistence that people with similar political beliefs as mine don’t deserve representation and are just crazy and should be stomped down. You sound like a tired, poor, huddled mass yearning to be free. Wish there was some place those could be tempest-toss’d. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41537 "2019-07-17T11:32:17Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > These “explanations” are so epically, blatantly, radically bad, that they must be something other than what they literally purport to be: means of justifying atrocious speech and conduct. That’s what they seem to be, but that’s not what they are. > > They must, instead, be intended to be seen as a means of declaring WE HAVE ALL THE POWER AND WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS WE PLEASE. Yeah, it’s not even right to call it gaslighting at this point because they know you won’t believe them. They’re just saying “fuck you, I’m in charge.” Speaking of Trump’s military parades, (we weren’t, but now I am), some people say that that is the whole point of goose-stepping in totalitarian regimes: the leaders are saying “I can make my men perform a silly walk and everyone needs to pretend to take them seriously or I’ll kill them,” rather than saying “look at this beautiful display of synchronized walking.” ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41538 "2019-07-17T11:52:26Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > These “explanations” are so epically, blatantly, radically bad, that they must be something other than what they literally purport to be: means of justifying atrocious speech and conduct. That’s what they seem to be, but that’s not what they are. > > They must, instead, be intended to be seen as a means of declaring WE HAVE ALL THE POWER AND WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS WE PLEASE. > > They are a giant “fuck you” to all non-deplorables. They are the Bully’s Boast. > > While it’s important both to use whatever’s left of the rule of law against these disgusting individuals (including using the ballot box to ensure they have no place in government), we should also keep in awareness that these self-aggrandizers are contemptible. > > That contempt can armor us against the common reaction to being bullied—to wonder if we should attempt to placate the bully, or to fear the bully, or to look for ways to stay out of the bully’s way. We should not react that way; we should react with resolve to get these people out of positions of power. Kellyanne Conway, Andy Harris, and all their ilk are despicable. They need to go. > > [Bullying Prevention | American Institutes for Research](https://www.air.org/resource/bullying-prevention) Have a look at this **Salon** piece by Heather Digby Parton – [https://www.salon.com/2019/07/15/trump-and-pences-racist-weekend-spectacle-was-no-accident-its-the-re-election-plan/](https://www.salon.com/2019/07/15/trump-and-pences-racist-weekend-spectacle-was-no-accident-its-the-re-election-plan/) > [@](#): > > I noted last week that Trump had mentioned in passing that he wanted to take reporters to a recently cleaned-up facility featuring happy, well-fed children to prove how “fake” the reports of cruel and disgusting conditions were. So last Friday officials rounded up the vice president and a couple of senators, including Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, and brought them in for an “inspection.” The propaganda ploy was exactly as one might expect: The kids were in a new, air-conditioned facility and seemed to be well cared for. > > But even after observing and writing about the Trump administration’s depraved use of xenophobia, racism and general fear-mongering for years now, I’m never quite prepared for the depths to which they will sink. I assumed they were doing this because they believed they needed to reassure their own voters of their basic humanity. I was wrong. The visit to the kiddie-camp was a little sop to some embarrassed churchgoers and the press. \*\*What Team Trump really wanted their voters to see was another camp — the one with hundreds of single, dark-skinned men in overcrowded cages, sleeping on concrete floors, desperately trying to get the attention of the exalted visitors from Washington to let them know what was going on. > > As I see it, Trump officials wanted to reassure their voters that they were treating the scary brown people with much cruelty as they could get away with.\*\* > … > Pence objected to media coverage of this event over the weekend, complaining that they failed to show the nice pictures of the happy children and instead focused on the misery of all those men caged up like animals. But you’ll notice that he immediately turns to the claim that many of the men were criminals, a charge Trump himself made over the weekend as well. > … > **I’ll say it again: If they hadn’t wanted people to see those men being held in inhumane conditions, they wouldn’t have gone there with the press in tow.** > > Lindsey Graham made it very clear what they were up to. “I don’t care if they have to stay in these facilities for 400 days," he said. "We’re not going to let those men go that I saw. It would be dangerous.” That’s right: Apparently he could tell that they were dangerous just by looking at them. > So it’s no coincidence, I’m sure, that in the same week Trump announced that ICE would be conducting raids around the country to round up alleged criminals who have managed to avoid being thrown in cages, after which they will either be jailed or deported or both. Reports from major cities show that immigrant communities are now living in the grip of a terrible fear, which is half the point of doing it. The other half is to make Republican voters believe that Donald Trump is as tough and macho as he constantly proclaims himself to be. > > I was prepared to call Pence’s border tour the most insidious public demonstration of bigotry we’d seen in many a moon. But Trump took it to a whole other level on Sunday with his openly racist tweets about the four freshman Democratic women of color, in which he basically told them to go back to their shithole countries. > > … > > This escalation of bigotry is no coincidence. I’m not saying that Trump sat down and strategized all this. He doesn’t do that. But he has a well-honed feral instinct about the ugly underbelly of American life and he knows how to make it work for him. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41539 "2019-07-17T12:11:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Have a look at this **Salon** piece by Heather Digby Parton – [https://www.salon.com/2019/07/15/trump-and-pences-racist-weekend-spectacle-was-no-accident-its-the-re-election-plan/](https://www.salon.com/2019/07/15/trump-and-pences-racist-weekend-spectacle-was-no-accident-its-the-re-election-plan/) Many people who have associated with Trump have seen their reputations destroyed. Has anyone fallen further than Senator Graham? ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41540 "2019-07-17T12:39:20Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > If it were an exotic name, or a hard to place name like DeVos or Kobach, I could understand Ms. Conway’s question. It might be impolite in that particular context, but still, a fair question. > > _The reporter’s name was Feinberg._ Kellyanne has lived in NYC, she presumably has seen an ornamental German-language name before. Worse yet, it is a German Jewish name. Her question was a warning, “We have our eyes on you, Jew.” ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41541 "2019-07-17T13:06:36Z")
> [@Lindsey Not\_Lohan](#): > > "We’re not going to let those men go that I saw. It would be dangerous.” That’s right: Apparently he could tell that they were dangerous just by looking at them. Shades of late Bush era Gitmo rationalization there. “Well, they probably weren’t terrorists when we nabbed them but now that we’ve tortured them and held them incommunicado for years, we can’t release them, they \*really \*hate us !” ---
**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:** [July 17, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41542 "2019-07-17T19:06:43Z")
Congressman Mike Kelly: “I’m a person of color. I’m white.” > **[GOP congressman: 'I'm a person of color. I'm white.'](https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-congressman-im-a-person-of-color-im-white-175120812.html)** > > Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who voted against the House resolution to condemn Trump’s tweet as racist, offered an unusual rationale for doing so. Apparently Congressman Kelly is unaware of the discrimination against Irish people in this country. Kelly is an Irish name, even though he tries to claim he’s Anglo-Saxon. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41543 "2019-07-17T19:17:52Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Trump said they hate America, based on nothing. How can that be meant with anything other than disrespect? He says what he wants to be true. Anybody who disagrees with him deserves disrespect. Therefore, lies about his opponents become truth because they deserve it for being mean to him. Repeat a lie often enough, and it becomes the truth. Followers have gone from “Trump speaks the truth” to “Trump is so funny!” Then they say Obama and the Clintons did the same thing. Anything to avoid buyer’s remorse. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/41544 "2019-07-17T20:39:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Congressman Mike Kelly: “I’m a person of color. I’m white.” > [GOP congressman: 'I'm a person of color. I'm white.'](https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-congressman-im-a-person-of-color-im-white-175120812.html) > > Apparently Congressman Kelly is unaware of the discrimination against Irish people in this country. Kelly is an Irish name, even though he tries to claim he’s Anglo-Saxon. Nah, he’s pretending that the phrase “people/persons of colour” is really meaningless or to not understand that it describes non-white people for historico-cultural reasons. Further, he pretends to not understand why it matters, or why telling non-whites to “go back to their country” is beyond the fucking pale because hey, he’s a person of colour by his revelatory definition and if somebody said that to him (not that anyone ever would, or did) he wouldn’t be offended. Why do these bitches have such thin skin, amirite ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2076) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2078)