# 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:** 2154
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43069 "2019-12-13T19:34:45Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Nitpick: I WAS wrong, so it would have been completely okay to point that out. You might have done it thusly, “Did you mean the 22nd amendment that limited the President to serving two terms.” Let’s call it even. _\_ Evens. (I thought the error itself was funny. I was trying to work in a joke about drinking and voting, but I couldn’t get it to work.) ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43070 "2019-12-13T20:01:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Evens. > > (I thought the error itself was funny. I was trying to work in a joke about drinking and voting, but I couldn’t get it to work.) Actually, that could have been very funny. 🙂 ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43071 "2019-12-13T23:19:06Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > Yeah, but if we start counting cows in the census, then we’ll see who really holds the power. Heck, if counting a cow as a whole person seems too drastic, maybe we can come to some sort of a compromise. Maybe… I don’t know - just pulling a number out of the air at random, maybe a cow could count as three-fifths of a person. Then the joke will be on all you libtards. Real America will rise again. You do know that the southern states wanted to count slaves as full persons, right? ---
**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:** [December 13, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43072 "2019-12-13T23:48:10Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > You do know that the southern states wanted to count slaves as full persons, right? It would seem so, given that McQwark’s analogy is pretty much an exact rephrasing of the 3/5th compromise. Yes the ire at the 3/5ths compromise is often mis-directed (how those racist slave owners only count blacks as only 3/5) but not by McQwark, who is arguing presumably the rural states are the ones who would prefer to count cows as full persons. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43073 "2019-12-14T07:30:46Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > No no Thelma Lou, in the Trump Era, you never admit to a mistake and you slam the accuser. You say “Reputable people told me it was the 21st. Very reputable people. I have over double your post count. Who gets read more?” AND one must always double-down using 24-point Sharpie[sup]®[/sup] Font. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43074 "2019-12-14T12:16:32Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > You do know that the southern states wanted to count slaves as full persons, right? Every time I see this partial defense of the 3/5ths compromise, I’m surprised how the point continues to be missed: racists in the north and south were agreed that Black slaves were objects, and were simply arguing about their value in order to achieve more politics power for their own white power structure. In that context, there’s no more honor in counting a slave as a full person, non-person, or 3/5ths of a person. It’s like arguing whether it is better for a handmaid to be raped frequently, a little less frequently, or moderately frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43075 "2019-12-14T12:54:11Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Pfffft. You amateur colonial wankers. Come back when [your representative critter announces he’s running for mayor again](https://www.ouest-france.fr/politique/patrick-balkany/malgre-son-incarceration-patrick-balkany-souhaite-etre-candidat-la-mairie-de-levallois-perret-6636691) via phone call from his jail cell, where he was put for (among other things) misappropriating public funds and using city hall to launder money. > That’s how we rock it in the Old World, baby. Ain’t no depths of shaaaame enough… Damnit dude, don’t give ideas to ours! ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43076 "2019-12-14T14:48:44Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > AND one must always double-down using 24-point Sharpie[sup]®[/sup] Font. My political career is toast. _sob_ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43077 "2019-12-14T15:32:09Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Every time I see this partial defense of the 3/5ths compromise, I’m surprised how the point continues to be missed: racists in the north and south were agreed that Black slaves were objects, and were simply arguing about their value in order to achieve more politics power for their own white power structure. I’m not sure quite what your point is, here. Racists everywhere who thought slaves were objects thought slaves were objects. Non-racists everywhere who thought slaves weren’t objects thought slaves weren’t objects. Anyone who wanted the south to have more political power wanted slaves counted as much as possible and anyone who wanted the south to have less political power wanted slaves counted as little as possible. The way the issue is usually framed these days, however, certainly implies that it was the racists back then who viewed slaves as only 3/5 of a human. And there’s a lot of symbolic power to that. Except that it was pro-south, pro-slavery (and thus presumably more racist) people back then who wanted that number to be higher, and anti-south (including, presumably, most abolitionist) people back then who wanted the number to be lower. And purely from a realpolitik standpoint, the slaves themselves were better off being counted as not human at all than they were being counted as 3/5 of a human, and would have been worse off still if counted as full humans. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43078 "2019-12-14T15:56:09Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Every time I see this partial defense of the 3/5ths compromise, I’m surprised how the point continues to be missed: racists in the north and south were agreed that Black slaves were objects, and were simply arguing about their value in order to achieve more politics power for their own white power structure. > > In that context, there’s no more honor in counting a slave as a full person, non-person, or 3/5ths of a person. It’s like arguing whether it is better for a handmaid to be raped frequently, a little less frequently, or moderately frequently. Thank you. Glad I read through before posting what would have been the exact same thing, along with political parties in the 21st century don’t align with political parties in the 19th century even when they have the same name. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43079 "2019-12-14T16:39:09Z")
Dianne Hensley has performed multiple weddings in her role as a Justice of the Peace. She just doesn’t do it if you happen to be gay. Last week, the Texas (of course it’s Texas) Commission on Judicial Conduct gave her a public warning for her clearly unequal treatment of homosexuals. They said her anti-homosexual bigotry is "casting doubt on her capacity to act impartially to persons appearing before her as a judge due to the person’s sexual orientation.” Despite the Justice of the Peace training manual saying: ““A justice of the peace has the choice to perform all marriage ceremonies or no marriage ceremonies but can’t discriminate by performing opposite-sex ceremonies and not same-sex ceremonies. In performing a marriage ceremony, a justice of the peace is a state actor, but does not have governmental or judicial immunity in a federal civil rights discrimination lawsuit,” it’s really poor Dianne Hensley who is the real victim. Because she’s being punished for exercising her freedom of religion. Because hating homosexuals is so very, very Christ-like. [Gosh I dislike sanctimonious, judgmental assholes](https://www.wacotrib.com/news/government/judicial-board-warns-mclennan-county-jp-for-stance-on-same/article_0ab3e64f-3acc-57bb-9b38-0bce784e3a08.html). But wait. I did mention this was Texas, didn’t I? So, of course it didn’t stop there. Apparently the governor of Texas is now tampering with the Commission of Judicial Conduct, to protect her and others. "Last week Hearst Newspapers reported that two members appointed by Abbott to the judicial conduct commission in 2018 — neither yet confirmed by the Legislature — saw their nominations pulled by the governor’s office ahead of confirmation. The two allege conversations with the governor’s office — some secretly recorded — indicate they were withdrawn because the two considered some sort of admonition regarding Justice Hensley’s practice of officiating only wedding ceremonies conforming to her personal religious beliefs. [Cite](https://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-gov-abbott-s-meddling-in-independent-commission-s-affairs/article_a5912b0c-4f34-511c-b61e-1a05fce15cba.html). I tried really hard to come up with a witty, stinging ending to this post, but I’m just so sad and tired of the bullshit. So: Fuck You Diane Hensley. Fuck you Governor Abbott. And fuck you un-Christlike “Christians” who feel that their own personal hatred for homosexuals should allow them to do whatever they want. Fuck them all. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43080 "2019-12-14T16:40:22Z")
No mention of Kentucky governor Matt Bevin? He only [pardoned murderers and child rapists](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/13/politics/former-kentucky-governor-matt-bevin-pardons/index.html) on his way out the door. What the fuck is wrong with republicans? They are trash, from the top down. There is no escaping the fact that a huge segment of the US population is completely fucked in their collective heads. It’s downright scary… and demoralizing too. Hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43081 "2019-12-14T17:33:16Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Why should he? Trump hasn’t. It doesn’t have his name in it in big red letters. Christ, I hope all the copies are behind bulletproof glass. I don’t even want to imagine what he’d do to it with that sharpie of his. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43082 "2019-12-14T17:37:47Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > No mention of Kentucky governor Matt Bevin? He only [pardoned murderers and child rapists](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/13/politics/former-kentucky-governor-matt-bevin-pardons/index.html) on his way out the door. > > What the fuck is wrong with republicans? They are trash, from the top down. There is no escaping the fact that a huge segment of the US population is completely fucked in their collective heads. It’s downright scary… and demoralizing too. Hopeless. One of those murderer’ families held a campaign rally for Bevin and made a large donation. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43083 "2019-12-14T17:44:53Z")
> [@margin](#): > > One of those murderer’ families held a campaign rally for Bevin and made a large donation. [Could it get worse? Of course it could.](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/13/kentucky-matt-bevin-pardons-violent-offenders) > [@](#): > > In that last case, Patrick Baker was pardoned just two years into his 19-year sentence for an incident in which he and several others impersonated law enforcement officers to gain entry to a home before shooting and killing a man inside.\*\* Two others imprisoned for the crime were not pardoned, despite prosecutors saying that Baker was the one who pulled the trigger.\*\* Nakedly corrupt. Making America great again. Yessiree Bob. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43084 "2019-12-14T18:55:48Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > No mention of Kentucky governor Matt Bevin? He only [pardoned murderers and child rapists](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/13/politics/former-kentucky-governor-matt-bevin-pardons/index.html) on his way out the door. Brennt Paris ? ---
**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:** [December 14, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43085 "2019-12-14T22:53:03Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > No mention of Kentucky governor Matt Bevin? He only [pardoned murderers and child rapists](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/13/politics/former-kentucky-governor-matt-bevin-pardons/index.html) on his way out the door. > > What the fuck is wrong with republicans? They are trash, from the top down. … Bevin may not get away with this: > [@](#): > > Lawmakers are calling for an investigation into more than 400 pardons issued by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) in the final days of his term, the New York Times reports. > > What’s happening: Bevin pardoned convicted murderers, rapists and drug offenders, NPR reports. Robert Stivers, GOP president of the State Senate, also asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to examine the pardons late Friday, per the Times. > > Democratic lawmakers have called on Kentucky’s Attorney General-elect Daniel Cameron to look into the issue, per AP … [https://www.axios.com/matt-bevin-pardons-kentucky-investigation-459a77fe-729f-49ce-89db-a9864589a858.html](https://www.axios.com/matt-bevin-pardons-kentucky-investigation-459a77fe-729f-49ce-89db-a9864589a858.html) One saving grace of this debacle is that the power to pardon, in itself, may receive closer examination----and fewer shrugs from the population at large. Many who have been indifferent to Trump’s pardon-shenanigans may start to pay more attention. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43086 "2019-12-15T03:53:57Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Bevin may not get away with this: > > [https://www.axios.com/matt-bevin-pardons-kentucky-investigation-459a77fe-729f-49ce-89db-a9864589a858.html](https://www.axios.com/matt-bevin-pardons-kentucky-investigation-459a77fe-729f-49ce-89db-a9864589a858.html) > > One saving grace of this debacle is that the power to pardon, in itself, may receive closer examination----and fewer shrugs from the population at large. Many who have been indifferent to Trump’s pardon-shenanigans may start to pay more attention. Well, I guess it is potentially possible Bevins will go to jail on bribery charges or some such, but my understanding of pardon power is that once they are given, they can’t be taken back. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43087 "2019-12-15T05:03:01Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Well, I guess it is potentially possible Bevins will go to jail on bribery charges or some such, but my understanding of pardon power is that once they are given, they can’t be taken back. I’m going to make the prediction that not only won’t there be any charges filed, there _can’t_ be any charges filed. Is there anything legally preventing someone from buying a pardon from a governor? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43088 "2019-12-15T05:10:48Z")
If there’s a silver lining to this and other recent examples, it’s that Trumpism is a lot less effective in state and local races. Trump is like a figurehead of white christian nationalism, and even in the reddest of red states, voters seem to be content with just one Trump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2153) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2155)