# 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:** 2186
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43709 "2020-03-17T03:53:23Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The Republican Governor of Ohio wants to delay the primary. A judge rules against him. The Ohio Department of Health Director (a political appointee) halts the vote anyway. This is probably what Individual 1 will try to do in November. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43710 "2020-03-17T05:03:34Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > This is probably what Individual 1 will try to do in November. He can’t, because the federal government has nothing to do with running presidential elections. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43711 "2020-03-17T05:35:44Z")
I wonder if any Republican governors are considering it. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43712 "2020-03-17T05:45:52Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > The Republican Governor of Ohio wants to delay the primary. A judge rules against him. The Ohio Department of Health Director (a political appointee) halts the vote anyway. It’s more confusing than that, I think. AIUI, the governor asked his health director to close the polls on the basis that it poses a health risk to have open polling places with COVID-19. But that only closes the polls. It doesn’t stop the primary election. The governor doesn’t have the authority to do that. So now, it looks like they’re going to extend absentee voting and leave the election open by some unspecified period of time. No matter what, there is a ton of confusion and it will definitely affect turnout for this primary. Which, I suspect, was the whole real point. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43713 "2020-03-17T06:11:45Z")
If Individual-ONE were to somehow manage to cancel the election in November, his term would then end on January 20th at noon. There is no provision in the Constitution for extending the term of the President, so his legal authority would be null and void, as would be that of the Congress (as of the 3rd). It would be a Constitutional crisis, which would have to be resolved by, well, probably chaos and disorder. Or Vlad. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43714 "2020-03-17T06:13:54Z")
Are you the governor of a state with major urban centers, where people have everyday contacts with maybe a hundred people? Or a state where that number is more likely ten? Say you got a hundred infections, and three fatalities. You got a thousand ventilators, state wide. Gonna send five hundred of them to New York City? Or San Francisco, depending on who bids more? If Montana were to close its border, the nation could most likely stumble along. New York? California? A national disaster requires a national response. Duh. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43715 "2020-03-17T10:23:52Z")
[Coronavirus shows Donald Trump was right all this time about China](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/coronavirus-shows-donald-trump-was-right-all-this-time-about-china/ar-BB10XLkP?ocid=sf) Oh look, an MSN op-ed piece! They’re liberal - surely this must be a fair and balanced take on… > [@](#): > > Madison Gesiotto is an attorney who serves with the advisory board of the Donald Trump campaign. Ah. Anyway, the gist of it is: Trump said China bad and people crossing border bad, therefore he was right about stuff. > [@Trump campaign attorney](#): > > While the coronavirus could not have been predicted, there is always a significant risk from overdependence on any single country, especially an authoritarian one that will routinely break the rules in its quest to get ahead. Yes, authoritarian regimes that routinely break the rules to get ahead are bad. > [@](#): > > Incidentally, the coronavirus also validates the border security agenda of the president. Because viruses can’t go through walls, I guess. > [@](#): > > Closing the country off to travelers from areas affected by the outbreak is one of the most effective steps that we can take to limit its spread within our country, and Trump wasted no time in implementing that safeguard. In an alternate universe timeline, perhaps. > [@](#): > > He was roundly criticized by the left, which was primarily concerned about the possibility that restricting travel from China could promote bias against Asians So I’m sure she could provide plenty of evidence of the left saying that. Lots and lots of evidence. Somewhere. Probably. > [@](#): > > The president of course had no idea or advance knowledge of the coronavirus. Or indeed current knowledge. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43716 "2020-03-17T10:26:28Z")
I’m confused\*, **Gyrate**. Isn’t Trump an “authoritarian who breaks the rules to get ahead”? \*Actually, I’m not confused in the least. That damn dirty lying sack of dung Trump is a hypocrite, and so are his supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43717 "2020-03-17T11:51:58Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > If Individual-ONE were to somehow manage to cancel the election in November, his term would then end on January 20th at noon. There is no provision in the Constitution for extending the term of the President, so his legal authority would be null and void, as would be that of the Congress (as of the 3rd). It would be a Constitutional crisis, which would have to be resolved by, well, probably chaos and disorder. Or Vlad. The Constitution says that whenever the offices of president and vice-president are vacated, the Soeaker of the House shall become president. All hail, President Nancy Pelosi! ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43718 "2020-03-17T12:45:34Z")
I try to avoid looking at anything tweeted by that orange numpty, but the local news had one of his tweets on the screen this morning. I notice he’s still referring to the disease as “the Chinese virus.” :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43719 "2020-03-17T12:54:36Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > If Individual-ONE were to somehow manage to cancel the election in November, his term would then end on January 20th at noon. There is no provision in the Constitution for extending the term of the President, so his legal authority would be null and void, as would be that of the Congress (as of the 3rd). It would be a Constitutional crisis, which would have to be resolved by, well, probably chaos and disorder. Or Vlad. I can’t find the article again (I really need to start bookmarking stuff like this), but there is no requirement for an election to be held to select the members of the Electoral College. I don’t know if there are enough GOP controlled state houses to pull it off, but the various states could (using Covid-19 as an excuse) cancel the presidential vote and just appoint whoever they want to be their electors. Don’t recall what it said about House and Senate elections, although I suspect they weren’t addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43720 "2020-03-17T13:01:56Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I wonder if any Republican governors are considering it. Right now I’m glad that there is blue executive control over Michigan and Wisconsin because they’re the states that actually matter that would also try this. Now they could always strip the governor of their powers but hopefully not enough to prevent them from blocking this action. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43721 "2020-03-17T13:08:17Z")
If their elections go off then we could be in the weird position of having relatively few delegates selected in an election but still have a majority out of 538, which seems analogous only to countries where an ethnicity boycotts a unification or separation referendum as being illegitimate, but that would still be legitimate in my mind with no doubts. Or would could be in the even weirder and murkier area where we _almost_ have a majority of 538 but not quite because enough states did not hold elections, and then what? ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43722 "2020-03-17T14:26:06Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I can’t find the article again (I really need to start bookmarking stuff like this), but there is no requirement for an election to be held to select the members of the Electoral College. > > I don’t know if there are enough GOP controlled state houses to pull it off, but the various states could (using Covid-19 as an excuse) cancel the presidential vote and just appoint whoever they want to be their electors. > > Don’t recall what it said about House and Senate elections, although I suspect they weren’t addressed. This [one](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/trump-cancel-election-day-constitution-state-electors-coronavirus.html), perhaps? Trump can’t cancel the elections, but there’s nothing that says the states have to have elections to select electors. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43723 "2020-03-17T17:37:18Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I can’t find the article again (I really need to start bookmarking stuff like this), but there is no requirement for an election to be held to select the members of the Electoral College. Well, I do find **Amendment XIV** §2 … But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age12, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. So, while an election is not _per se_ mandated, not having one would be somewhat problematic. A state that bypasses its electorate to choose electors would theoretically lose representation in Congress. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43724 "2020-03-17T18:00:16Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Well, I do find > **Amendment XIV** §2 > … But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age12, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. > > So, while an election is not _per se_ mandated, not having one would be somewhat problematic. A state that bypasses its electorate to choose electors would theoretically lose representation in Congress. That is damn interesting. Thanks. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43725 "2020-03-17T18:14:23Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He can’t, because the federal government has nothing to do with running presidential elections. I said “try” ---
**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:** [March 17, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43726 "2020-03-17T19:00:00Z")
Duncan Hunter sentenced to eleven months in jail. > **[Former California Rep. Duncan Hunter Is Going To Prison After Admitting To...](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/duncan-hunter-sentencing)** > > Hunter was accused of spending more than $250,000 of his campaign funds on family vacations, theater tickets, and meals for family and friends. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43727 "2020-03-17T19:18:39Z")
Was he the one who called himself a farmer because he had a tenth of an acre of land? ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/43728 "2020-03-17T19:19:08Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Fundies don’t take communion from a chalice. What are you some kind of Papist? They sip their grape juice and eat their cubed wonder bread from the safety of the pews, just like Supply Side Jesus intended. This is funny, because it’s true. At the tiny little rural Iowa Methodist church I went to growing up, communion was cubes of white bread and grape juice in individual glass cups, passed around while we sat in our pews. So at least it was sanitary. I didn’t particularly think of our congregation as being “fundamentalist” per se, but in hindsight they leaned that way. My grandmother loved Billy Graham, and I’m pretty sure she sent money to Jim Bakker and the PTL Club. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2185) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2187)