# 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:** 281
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5601 "2012-05-29T18:39:18Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > [This article](http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120529/POLITICS01/205290388) says that only 244 of the 2000 signatures were non-duplicates. Duplicates were photocopies of the originals, some of which have different pollster names on each copy. Also, some of the signatures appear to be cut-and-pasted from some other source, but since they’re from real voters, they were not excluded. So it’s not clear how many of the 244 were actually signed this year. It also says he’s blaming a “trusted staffer” for deceiving him about the signatures. Is having judgment poor enough to trust a staffer who will engage in massive, blatant election fraud really that much better a Congressional qualification than being a corrupt fraud yourself? ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5602 "2012-05-29T18:48:21Z")
Well, Thad, if you aren’t willing to leave your wife for this [del]male or female staffer[/del] (checking for the R after his name and finding it) male staffer\* you have to expect hijinks like this. - - Baseless libel that no one should assume is true. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5603 "2012-05-29T18:58:22Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > It also says he’s blaming a “trusted staffer” for deceiving him about the signatures. Is having judgment poor enough to trust a staffer who will engage in massive, blatant election fraud really that much better a Congressional qualification than being a corrupt fraud yourself? That’s why we need voter ID laws, to prevent this kind of thing. I bet ACRN had something to do with it, too. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5604 "2012-05-29T21:35:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, Thad, if you aren’t willing to leave your wife for this male or female staffer (checking for the R after his name and finding it) male staffer\* you have to expect hijinks like this. In his defense, I believe him when he says that when it comes to hiring staffers, he just has a wide stance. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5605 "2012-05-29T21:41:40Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > [This article](http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120529/POLITICS01/205290388) says that only 244 of the 2000 signatures were non-duplicates. Duplicates were photocopies of the originals, some of which have different pollster names on each copy. Also, some of the signatures appear to be cut-and-pasted from some other source, but since they’re from real voters, they were not excluded. So it’s not clear how many of the 244 were actually signed this year. Yeah, it’s even worse than it sounded at first. What really pisses me off is, his Republican primary opponent is a Tea Partier who is running because he didn’t like that McCotter pandered to the left by voting to raise the debt limit. And this is a fairly heavily Republican district. Of the two Democratic candidates, one is a LaRouche guy and the more mainstream, party-endorsed fellow is so poorly known, that the Free Press switched his first name and last name in the McCotter article and hasn’t bothered to print a correction yet. So Tea Party guy has a pretty good shot at winning the seat. _sigh_ ---
**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:** [May 30, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5606 "2012-05-30T12:43:21Z")
More of a [point-and-laugh moment](http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/05/30/romney-app-misspells-america.html): > [@](#): > > **Romney App Misspells America** > > As if the friendship with Donald Trump weren’t bad enough. Mitt Romney’s campaign released its new iPhone app on Tuesday, but there’s one problem: its slogan is “A Better Amercia”—and the typo has already gone viral. The misspelling was spotted by Mashable on Tuesday, and within hours it had gone viral, trending on Twitter and a [Tumblr](http://amerciaiswithmitt.tumblr.com/) created about “Amercias With Mitt.” The app, whose release was timed to coincide with Romney’s clinching the Republican nomination on Tuesday, allows users to upload photos and lay them out on 14 pre-made “I’m With Mitt” banners. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5607 "2012-05-30T13:30:20Z")
“Romney can’t spell ‘America’” is as true and makes as much sense as “Obama doesn’t know how many states there are”…and hopefully it’ll prove as sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5608 "2012-05-30T14:07:00Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > “Romney can’t spell ‘America’” is as true and makes as much sense as “Obama doesn’t know how many states there are”…and hopefully it’ll prove as sticky. The odd thing is that most people will tend to point and laugh and that’s about it. It won’t see equivalent usage to the 57 states thing. At the time, there were serious questions about Palin’s intelligence and fundamental knowledge (there shouldn’t be such questions anymore). These weren’t silly cat-calls from the peanut gallery. Between the point-and-laugh type gaffes were legitimate statements that showed a substantial dearth in intelligence and awareness. Her “the Vice President is going to whatever” comment, for example. Though as technically correct as a broken clock, it demonstrated a fundamental lack of civics knowledge. There are many other examples that were rightly highlighted to demonstrate a shocking level of vacuousness. These had a point in showing the public how under-qualified she was. In between, just like any other candidate, were normal misstatements that amounted to political nose-tweaking. The right, though, took the one or two such misstatements and attempted to draw a false equivalency. No one outside of the Freepers actually believed Obama thought there were 57 states. Yet it was brought up time and again to counter legitimate criticisms of her intelligence gap. Will Obama go after Romney as ill-suited for the job? Of course, and his many statements as being out of touch will surely be highlighted, as they have substantive weight behind them. Will anyone really try and make a serious case that Romney doesn’t actually know how to spell America? Fox News certainly would, but fortunately for him they’re members of his campaign. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5609 "2012-05-30T14:15:53Z")
Romney himself didn’t misspell “America” – some techie app did. Who knows who programmed that or where it came from? And anyway, “Amercia” isn’t a misspelling. It’s just a typo. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5610 "2012-05-30T15:55:24Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Romney himself didn’t misspell “America” – some techie app did. Who knows who programmed that or where it came from? And anyway, “Amercia” isn’t a misspelling. It’s just a typo. And “57 states” was clearly a simple misstatement. That didn’t keep the Right from bringing it up over and over, now did it? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5611 "2012-05-30T16:57:10Z")
As a card carrying lefty liberal I will concede that Romney does know how to spell “America”, that he had little or nothing to do with this error and that it reflects almost zero on whether or not he should be President. It is funny as hell though. Of all the words to misspell “America” is pretty funny. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5612 "2012-05-30T17:23:35Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Romney himself didn’t misspell “America” – some techie app did. Who knows who programmed that or where it came from? Doesn’t matter who programmed it because no programmer can spell worth a shit 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5613 "2012-05-30T17:26:12Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Doesn’t matter who programmed it because no programmer can spell worth a shit 😛 To be honest, though, “worth a shit” is three words and most spell-checkers only look at whole words. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5614 "2012-05-30T18:04:04Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Doesn’t matter who programmed it because no programmer can spell worth a shit 😛 Ah take offense, suh! Ah do take offense! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5615 "2012-05-30T18:37:08Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Doesn’t matter who programmed it because no programmer can spell worth a shit 😛 Hay!!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5616 "2012-05-30T18:48:52Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Ah take offense, suh! Ah do take offense! > > 😉 Moi aussi. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5617 "2012-05-30T21:49:55Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Romney himself didn’t misspell “America” – some techie app did. Who knows who programmed that or where it came from? And anyway, “Amercia” isn’t a misspelling. It’s just a typo. So is it your theory that an app produced by a programmer on Romney’s behalf is absolutely not newsworthy? If so, then [all bets are off](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15096422&postcount=78). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5618 "2012-05-30T22:32:20Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > As a card carrying lefty liberal I will concede that Romney does know how to spell “America”, that he had little or nothing to do with this error and that it reflects almost zero on whether or not he should be President. It is funny as hell though. Of all the words to misspell “America” is pretty funny. As a card carrying liberal myself, I want evidence that _any_ politician can even read, let alone write or spell properly. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5619 "2012-05-31T11:31:42Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > So is it your theory that an app produced by a programmer on Romney’s behalf is absolutely not newsworthy? If so, then [all bets are off](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15096422&postcount=78). Hah, I wasn’t expecting that. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/5620 "2012-05-31T14:34:34Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Hah, I wasn’t expecting that. Guess it’s “not what you’d expect.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=280) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=282)