# 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:** 211
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4201 "2012-01-17T05:16:55Z")
The things you learn from this board! ---
**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:** [January 17, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4202 "2012-01-17T05:18:46Z")
Went Lutheran so I could skip the kneeling. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4203 "2012-01-18T02:49:03Z")
From our good friends at **Daily Kos** : Fox news headline: **Ungrateful Iraq Starts “Harassing”, “Detaining” US Contractors** I swear, I am not making this up! > **[Fox News irritated that Iraq is making Americans follow their stupid laws](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/01/17/1055643/-Fox-News-irritated-that-Iraq-is-making-Americans-follow-their-stupid-laws?via=blog_1)** > > So, here's the Fox Nation headline. Because sometimes all it takes is the headline : I guess, technically, Fox Gnaws is not actually the Republican Party. Tomato, tomahto, potato, blazing turd… ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4204 "2012-01-18T04:26:38Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > From our good friends at **Daily Kos** : > > Fox news headline: > > **Ungrateful Iraq Starts “Harassing”, “Detaining” US Contractors** > > I swear, I am not making this up! > > [Fox News irritated that Iraq is making Americans follow their stupid laws](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/17/1055643/-Fox-News-irritated-that-Iraq-is-making-Americans-follow-their-stupid-laws?detail=hide&via=blog_1) > > I guess, technically, Fox Gnaws is not actually the Republican Party. Tomato, tomahto, potato, blazing turd… We should invade those fuckers and show them to be grateful! Oh, FOX News, I mean, not Iraq. Those people have suffered enough. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4205 "2012-01-18T04:32:12Z")
I like this part: > [@](#): > > But I think only Fox News has a true, conservative handle on why all this might be going on and what to do about it: It’s because Iraq is _ungrateful_. Why, those twerps are insisting that _we_ follow their laws. Are they _insane_? Don’t they remember how we bombed the holy loving _freedom_ into them? ---
**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:** [January 18, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4206 "2012-01-18T07:27:23Z")
There is a point where “amusingly insane” becomes “psychopathic.” I believe they crossed it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4207 "2012-01-18T07:32:48Z")
I know this is like splitting the hair growing out of an infected pustule on the asshole of journalism, but Fox News and the Fox Nation are two different things. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4208 "2012-01-18T15:16:40Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I know this is like splitting the hair growing out of an infected pustule on the asshole of journalism, but Fox News and the Fox Nation are two different things. Fox Nation is Fox News’ website, so yes, they are the same thing, but use different methods of communication. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4209 "2012-01-18T15:21:59Z")
Eh? [Foxnews.com](http://Foxnews.com) is Fox News’ website. Fox Nation is _a_ website owned and operated by Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4210 "2012-01-18T16:07:30Z")
I suspect Fox Nation started as an on-site parody of Fox News by some of the more sane Fox News IT employees. On a bet they made it publicly accessible, and the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4211 "2012-01-18T19:10:41Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Short-term profits are the sole purpose of corporations. Everything else - making items or services, hiring people, etc… is a means to that end. But I think that’s a fairly recent phenomenon, maybe starting with the corporate raiders of the 80’s? For instance, AT&T used to fund Bell Labs to do pretty much whatever in the hell they wanted. Worked out pretty well, but now I’m pretty sure anything the Labs works on needs to have a potential payoff in 3-5 years. You’re not going to invent transistors or discover the Big Bang that way. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4212 "2012-01-18T19:20:17Z")
The British East India Company, more or less the first big corporation ever, tried to get the entire country of China hooked up on opium to keep their profits high. The defence rests. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4213 "2012-01-18T19:36:58Z")
We’re doing a tangent, but you can pursue short-term profits and still have a long-term view. I’d guess that the stockholds in East India were as interested in passing a profitable company on to their heirs as in making a pound today (but they weren’t going to turn down an easy pound, either). Somebody smarter than me could probably make a pretty fair argument that the current short-term focus of Wall Street and companies is driven in part by the deregulation that led to discount brokers. If I’m paying $100 a trade, I think I’d be much more likely to look at the long-term health of a company, instead of playing a bet on the next quarter’s numbers. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4214 "2012-01-18T20:01:02Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > We’re doing a tangent, but you can pursue short-term profits and still have a long-term view. I’d guess that the stockholds in East India were as interested in passing a profitable company on to their heirs as in making a pound today (but they weren’t going to turn down an easy pound, either). > > Somebody smarter than me could probably make a pretty fair argument that the current short-term focus of Wall Street and companies is driven in part by the deregulation that led to discount brokers. If I’m paying $100 a trade, I think I’d be much more likely to look at the long-term health of a company, instead of playing a bet on the next quarter’s numbers. Or, how about an inverse time derived tax-rate (the more churning over time, the higher chunk Uncle Sam, et. al., receives). You give a disincentive to short-term profit taking. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4215 "2012-01-19T01:18:20Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > For instance, AT&T used to fund Bell Labs to do pretty much whatever in the hell they wanted. Worked out pretty well, but now I’m pretty sure anything the Labs works on needs to have a potential payoff in 3-5 years. You’re not going to invent transistors or discover the Big Bang that way. As a former Bell Labser, I must quibble. First, only Area 11 got to work on anything they wanted. Most people in Bell Labs were working on products, and even back before the breakup their window was a lot less than 3 - 5 years. Second, Penzias and Wilson were not working on the Big Bang, but working on something eminently practical, the source of microwave noise. Better say UNIX wouldn’t have been invented. Third, please don’t mention Bell Labs in the same thread as Fox News. There was more integrity in one Bell Labs supervisory group than in all of Fox News. We also tried not to lie our asses off. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4216 "2012-01-19T01:59:17Z")
Had a friend down in Naperville and he never worked on anything remotely interesting. Cell phones? I still haven’t woken up. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4217 "2012-01-19T02:11:33Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > We’re doing a tangent, but you can pursue short-term profits and still have a long-term view. **I’d guess that the stockholds in East India were as interested in passing a profitable company on to their heirs as in making a pound** today (but they weren’t going to turn down an easy pound, either). I doubt that. The initial charter was for just 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4218 "2012-01-19T18:08:05Z")
Has this guy been mentioned yet? [David Spence, Missouri gubernatorial candidate, does have a degree in economics.](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/spence-s-college-degree-economics-yes-but-of-the-home/article_5075c222-3bbe-11e1-bd93-0019bb30f31a.html) Only he forget to add the word “Home” in there. He _meant_ to get a degree in economics, only he was too stupid to get in to the business school. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4219 "2012-01-19T18:19:34Z")
“If you want me to change it, I will.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/4220 "2012-01-19T18:32:50Z")
Maybe now we will get an answer to the burning question: is a tablespoon “level” or “heaping”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=210) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=212)