# 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:** 2212
**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:** [April 29, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44229 "2020-04-29T20:44:45Z")
Florida has ordered the state Medical Examiners Commission to stop releasing the numbers of coronavirus deaths because their numbers are higher than the state’s official count. > **[Florida medical examiners were releasing coronavirus death data. The state...](https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/04/29/florida-medical-examiners-were-releasing-coronavirus-death-data-the-state-made-them-stop/)** > > When the medical examiners’ list was available, it showed more deaths than the state’s count. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44230 "2020-04-30T02:13:45Z")
Serious question here, spurred by the information in **Rick Kitchen** ’s post. Is the medical examiner considered an officer of the court? If so, that order sure looks like interference with a court officer in the performance of their duties. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44231 "2020-04-30T04:56:02Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Okay, [this](https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/clerk/forms/2020_Primary_Absentee_Request_Fillable.pdf) seems a little odd. > > It is the Idaho state primary election absentee ballot request form. On the right-hand side, you see where you mark your party affiliation (Constitution, Democratic, Libertarian, Republican, or unaffiliated) for the state primary and select the ballot you want sent to you. > > Observe that every row offers you the choice of the ballot for the party you identify as, or a Democratic ballot, or a non-partisan ballot. > > Hence, a person who marks Republican has the option of either a Republican primary ballot or a Democratic primary ballot, but if you mark Democrat, you have only the choice of a Democratic ballot (or non-partisan, which is almost useless). > > Which means that we (the Rs) can fuck with your (the Ds) primary, but ours is locked up for you. What’s the worst thing that could happen if a Democrat identified himself as a Republican? I mean, other than his wife divorcing him? ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44232 "2020-04-30T05:11:14Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Serious question here, spurred by the information in **Rick Kitchen** ’s post. Is the medical examiner considered an officer of the court? If so, that order sure looks like interference with a court officer in the performance of their duties. It is not the duty, _per se_, of a medical examiner to publish their findings. In some cases, autopsy records are held back or redacted for one reason or another. The report goes to whomever needs it and is not required to be made immediately available to anyone and everyone. And in any case, this is about a sort of medical examiners’ guild – the ManyMEs, if you will – not about the actions of any individual ME. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44233 "2020-04-30T06:00:07Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > **Grey** : In case you haven’t noticed, elections are a political process, legislated by legislation enacted by politicians. Kind of hard to not have them involved. The real question is why we let scum run it. Canada manages it, how hard could it be? ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44234 "2020-04-30T12:01:56Z")
It finally struck me what all those people screaming for the businesses to be re-opened remind me of. In November of 1963, a few weeks before Kennedy was assassinated, the _Twilight Zone_ ran an episode entitled “The Old Man in the Cave”, which made a deep impression on me: > [@](#): > > In a sparsely populated town in 1974, ten years after a nuclear war has devastated the US, the townspeople have discovered a supply of canned food. However, they are waiting for Mr. Goldsmith, the town’s leader, to return with a message from the mysterious and unseen “old man in the cave” who will tell them whether the food is contaminated with radiation. Some of the townsfolk want to take their chances and eat the food, but they refrain from doing so after seeing the disastrous harvest yielded when they failed to take the old man’s advice about which farming areas were contaminated. When Mr. Goldsmith returns, he informs them that the old man has declared the food is contaminated and that it should be destroyed. > > Shortly thereafter, a group of soldiers led by Major French enter the town and clash with Goldsmith as they try to establish their authority. The soldiers may or may not be representatives of the US government > > … > > A clash of wills ensues and, frustrated by Goldsmith’s quiet and steadfast refusal to bend, French tries to dispel the townspeople’s strange beliefs about the seemingly infallible old man in the cave and take control of the area. French tempts the townspeople with some of the food Goldsmith claimed was contaminated and many throw caution to the wind and partake. Everyone except Goldsmith eventually consumes the food and drink and Goldsmith falls into disfavor among the townspeople. After being bullied and threatened with his life, Goldsmith finally opens the cave door and it is ultimately revealed that in reality, the townsfolk have been using information from a computer the whole time. French rallies the townspeople into a frothing frenzy into destroying the machine, after which French leads the people into celebrating their new found freedom from this “tyranny”. However, as Mr. Goldsmith had insisted, the “old man” was correct; without an authority figure to tell them which foods are safe, the entire human population of the town (including French and the soldiers) die—except for the lone survivor, Mr. Goldsmith, who somberly walks out of the now dead town. > … > In the post-apocalyptic world presented in the episode, humanity has destroyed itself, but does so through “greed, desire and faithlessness”. Major French is played with Trumpian arrogance by James Coburn. The last scene, of Goldsmith walking through a street littered with fallen bodies, is pretty devastating. > **[The Old Man in the Cave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_in_the_Cave)** > > "The Old Man in the Cave" is a half-hour episode of the original version of The Twilight Zone. It is set in a post-apocalyptic 1974, ten years after a nuclear holocaust in the United States. The episode is a cautionary tale about humanity's greed and the danger of questioning one's faith in forces greater than oneself. > What you're looking at is a legacy that man left to himself. A decade previous he pushed his buttons and a nightmarish moment later woke up to find that he had set the clock back ... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44235 "2020-04-30T16:10:41Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > How did we get to the point where thinking that maybe she was just profiteering actually makes her look better? Crooks want to keep the country functioning so they can keep stealing from it. Idiots and insane people are more dangerous. They might destroy the country. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44236 "2020-04-30T18:20:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It finally struck me what all those people screaming for the businesses to be re-opened remind me of. > > In November of 1963, a few weeks before Kennedy was assassinated, the _Twilight Zone_ ran an episode entitled “The Old Man in the Cave”, which made a deep impression on me: > > Major French is played with Trumpian arrogance by James Coburn. The last scene, of Goldsmith walking through a street littered with fallen bodies, is pretty devastating. > > [The Old Man in the Cave - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_in_the_Cave) That comparison had occurred to me as well. Along with the mayor from JAWS. And a slightly older one, the city fathers of Las Vegas in the TV movie “Night Stalker” who wouldn’t shut down the town despite the vampire running loose. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44237 "2020-04-30T19:46:28Z")
Former Individual 1 Florida campaign team leader says that the Olympics opening ceremonies in 2012 were designed to brainwash into accepting the coronavius. 2012. > **[Kelly Ruiz Says the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony Was 'Mind Control' to...](https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kelly-ruiz-says-the-2012-olympic-opening-ceremony-was-mind-control-to-prepare-the-world-for-the-coronavirus/)** > > On last night's episode of her "Steel Truth" program, right-wing QAnon conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel interviewed fellow QAnon conspiracy theorist ---
**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:** [April 30, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44238 "2020-04-30T20:07:04Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Former Individual 1 Florida campaign team leader says that the Olympics opening ceremonies in 2012 were designed to brainwash into accepting the coronavius. 2012. > [Kelly Ruiz Says the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony Was 'Mind Control' to Prepare the World for the Coronavirus | Right Wing Watch](https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kelly-ruiz-says-the-2012-olympic-opening-ceremony-was-mind-control-to-prepare-the-world-for-the-coronavirus) Normally I would object to assigning to a group the attributes of its most extreme members (which the left gets rightly upset about when it happens to them), but Ms Ruiz is probably not that far off the baseline for a modern conservative. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44239 "2020-04-30T22:26:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Former Individual 1 Florida campaign team leader says that the Olympics opening ceremonies in 2012 were designed to brainwash into accepting the coronavius. 2012. > [Kelly Ruiz Says the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony Was 'Mind Control' to Prepare the World for the Coronavirus | Right Wing Watch](https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kelly-ruiz-says-the-2012-olympic-opening-ceremony-was-mind-control-to-prepare-the-world-for-the-coronavirus) 😕😕😕 Did she unpack this at all? IIRC, the 2012 Olympic opening ceremonies were mostly about James Bond\* giving the Queen a zip-line ride, and Mr. Bean cheating in the _Chariots of Fire_ marathon. \*(Daniel Craig, not David Niven) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44240 "2020-04-30T23:07:08Z")
[This segment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJjvlipXpM) (a tribute to the NHS followed by/blended with a one for British children’s literature) is what got her conspiracy brain running. It really is a bizarre sequence, so I can see how someone who’s detached enough from reality to think that Trump was a good choice for president would come up with a spooky narrative to attach to it. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44241 "2020-05-01T00:04:15Z")
Not surprisingly, Google turns up nothing on Kelly Ruiz linking her to the Trump campaign in Florida, though there is one article where _ **a** _ Kelly Ruiz is interviewed at a Trump rally and [quoted as saying] ([Fans and foes gather in South Florida to mark one-year anniversary of Trump presidency – Sun Sentinel](https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/fl-reg-trump-anniversary-march-20180119-story.html)), > [@](#): > > “I have to support my president. I love my country.” > … > “He has far superseded every one of my expectations,” she said, citing economic growth, greater employment in minority communities, and a soaring stock market. > > …“He brought God back to our country.” I’m assuming that _“former 2016 Trump campaign Florida team leader”_ is a made-up, self-aggrandizing title intended to try to legitimize one idiot QAnon conspiracy loon talking to another. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44242 "2020-05-01T13:41:32Z")
This Mother’s Day, give Mom the gift of TRUMP! > **[RNC Hawks Trump-Themed Merchandise For Mother's Day And Folks Aren't Happy](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rnc-donald-trump-mothers-day-merch_n_5eabf2d6c5b64f8d5b7d4ca7)** > > "Never!" fired back actor Patricia Arquette. > [@](#): > > \*\*RNC Hawks Trump-Themed Merchandise For Mother’s Day And Folks Aren’t Happy > > “Never!” fired back actor Patricia Arquette.\*\* > > The Republican National Committee is drawing scorn for once again trying to cash in on Mother’s Day by promoting President Donald Trump-branded merchandise online. > > On its official Twitter account on Thursday, the RNC pointed its 2.3 million followers toward the Trump 2020 campaign store’s gift guide for the May 10 holiday. It has “everything you need to surprise the AMAZING mothers in your life,” promised the tweet. > > Items available on the website include hats emblazoned with “MAGA Mama” and “MAGA Babe” for $55, and a 200-piece jigsaw puzzle of Trump that costs $35. > > Patricia Arquette, the actor and activist, led the chorus of criticism condemning the RNC. “Never!” she declared in a tweet ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44243 "2020-05-01T15:17:02Z")
Yeah, my Facebook feed recently featured a Mother’s Day Trump [del]covfefe[/del] coffee mug. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44244 "2020-05-01T15:19:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This Mother’s Day, give Mom the gift of TRUMP! Ugh. Mine would no doubt be delighted. :mad: ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44245 "2020-05-01T16:02:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This Mother’s Day, give Mom the gift of TRUMP! > > [RNC Hawks Trump-Themed Merchandise For Mother's Day And Folks Aren't Happy | HuffPost Latest News](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rnc-donald-trump-mothers-day-merch_n_5eabf2d6c5b64f8d5b7d4ca7) > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Yeah, my Facebook feed recently featured a Mother’s Day Trump [del]covfefe[/del] coffee mug. Oh, I don’t know. A trump dartboard would probably be popular in some circles. 😛 A trump cat litter box. Trump dog poop bags? Proceeds to go to the DNC or some worthy charity. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44246 "2020-05-01T16:08:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Oh, I don’t know. A trump dartboard would probably be popular in some circles. 😛 A trump cat litter box. Trump dog poop bags? America-hating Fuckstick urinal cakes… ---
**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:** [May 1, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44247 "2020-05-01T16:45:23Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > America-hating Fuckstick urinal cakes… WINNER!!! _\_ Except women won’t be able to appreciate these. I didn’t even know what they were until an episode of Frasier. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/44248 "2020-05-01T17:23:15Z")
Well, I’m guessing feminine hygiene products with drawings of Trump’s tiny hands wouldn’t grab much market share. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2211) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=2213)