# 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:** 422
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8421 "2013-01-31T20:22:43Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > [Idaho lawmaker: Obamacare is like ‘Jews boarding the trains to concentration camps’](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/31/idaho-lawmaker-obamacare-is-like-jews-boarding-the-trains-to-concentration-camps/) “My comparison of health care exchanges to concentration camps was hurtful and insensitive, and I apologize to anyone who was offended. This doesn’t change my serious concerns about this law.” - pretty much her apology that will be in the news in a few days ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8422 "2013-01-31T20:27:14Z")
A refreshing change from the more-typical “I’m sorry you were offended (but I \*was \*right and I’m \*not \*actually apologizing)” apology that is so \*au courant \*these days, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8423 "2013-01-31T20:43:28Z")
Stupid bitch doesn’t even know what she’s talking about. For Og’s sake, even Bill Frist [has been **begging** Republicans to set up the exchanges in their states](http://theweek.com/article/index/230655/why-both-parties-should-embrace-obamacares-state-exchanges) … because it’s philosophically a Republican solution! These people really and truly are The Stupid Party. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8424 "2013-01-31T20:51:32Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A refreshing change from the more-typical “I’m sorry you were offended (but I \*was \*right and I’m \*not \*actually apologizing)” apology that is so \*au courant \*these days, at least. Well, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. We shall see. The point is that she’ll be apologizing. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8425 "2013-01-31T21:06:17Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Well, I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. We shall see. The point is that she’ll be apologizing. Why the hell would you give the benefit of the doubt to someone who would say something that goddamn offensive in the first place? Why the fuck should I care about her apology, let alone accept it? She said what she meant. She’s only sorry people are rightfully chewing her ass out for it. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8426 "2013-01-31T22:33:59Z")
She hasn’t apologized. He’s speculating that she will. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8427 "2013-02-01T00:24:49Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Why the hell would you give the benefit of the doubt to someone who would say something that goddamn offensive in the first place? Why the fuck should I care about her apology, let alone accept it? She said what she meant. She’s only sorry people are rightfully chewing her ass out for it. Relax. I was making fun of her, specifically how she’s just another politician/celebrity who spouts off saying outragerous crap and then issues the standard apology. Sure would be better if they didn’t say outrageous crap in the first place. And an apology doesn’t change the fact that they believed those things, and likely still do. They usually apologize for saying it, but not for thinking it. I’m not letting her off the hook, not at all. She’s a pathetic idiot, and she’ll still be one after the inevitable apology comes out in the next few days. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8428 "2013-02-01T00:38:29Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > She hasn’t apologized. He’s speculating that she will. If she does apologize, pay attention. She might be sorry for offending any Nazis. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8429 "2013-02-01T01:18:41Z")
At Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing today, the man who picked Sarah Palin as the most qualified person to be Vice President of the United States said he had concerns about the quality of Hagel’s professional judgement. > **[McCain, Hagel and the Surge (Video and Transcript)](https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-WB-37607)** > > One of the most dramatic exchanges in the confirmation hearing for former Sen. Chuck Hagel came near the beginning of the session, as Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) pressed Mr. Hagel on his statement about the Iraq troop surge. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8430 "2013-02-01T01:28:04Z")
Now, now. McCain _didn’t_ pick Sarah Palin. He did _settle_ for her, though. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8431 "2013-02-01T01:33:01Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Now, now. McCain _didn’t_ pick Sarah Palin. He did _settle_ for her, though. He wanted Joe Lieberman, but that would never fly with the Republican Party. Not exactly proof of quality judgment on McCain’s part, there, either. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8432 "2013-02-01T03:52:37Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Relax. I was making fun of her, specifically how she’s just another politician/celebrity who spouts off saying outragerous crap and then issues the standard apology. Sure would be better if they didn’t say outrageous crap in the first place. And an apology doesn’t change the fact that they believed those things, and likely still do. They usually apologize for saying it, but not for thinking it. > > I’m not letting her off the hook, not at all. She’s a pathetic idiot, and she’ll still be one after the inevitable apology comes out in the next few days. It was hard to tell, what with you saying you were going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Wasn’t wearing my expose-the-invisible-sarcasm-hat glasses. Sorry about that, dude. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8433 "2013-02-01T04:27:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If she does apologize, pay attention. She might be sorry for offending any Nazis. Granted, this is Idaho we’re talking about. The pro-Nazi vote there is probably larger than the Jewish vote. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8434 "2013-02-01T09:36:02Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > At Chuck Hagel’s confirmation hearing today, the man who picked Sarah Palin as the most qualified person to be Vice President of the United States said he had concerns about the quality of Hagel’s professional judgement. > > [http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/01/31/mccain-hagel-and-the-surge-video-and-transcript/](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/01/31/mccain-hagel-and-the-surge-video-and-transcript/) At that link I couldn’t get the video to play (why not?) but [did watch it here.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/chuck-hagel-john-mccain-iraq_n_2591001.html) Question: What if another Senator had interrupted to blurt out “Would you rather the very qualified Ms. Palin were the nominee, Senator?” ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8435 "2013-02-01T09:40:07Z")
[http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339003/president-obama-commemorates-senseless-holocaust-eliana-johnson](http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339003/president-obama-commemorates-senseless-holocaust-eliana-johnson) > [@](#): > > President Obama issued a statement yesterday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. He noted that survivors who bore witness to “the horrors of the cattle cars, ghettos, and concentration camps have witnessed humanity at its very worst and know too well the pain of losing loved ones to senseless violence.” (We noted below how some in Europe chose to mark the day, which takes place each year on January 27, the day Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz.) > > The idea that all violence is “senseless” violence is one that has taken deep root on the left; it’s also, unfortunately, one that poses a major impediment to understanding the world. > > Nazism may have been an ideology to which the United States was — and to which the president is — implacably opposed, but it is hardly “senseless.” By the early 1930s, the Nazi party had hundreds of thousands of devoted members and repeatedly attracted a third of the votes in German elections; its political leaders campaigned on a platform comprising 25 non-senseless points, including the “unification of all Germans,” a demand for “land and territory for the sustenance of our people,” and an assertion that “no Jew can be a member of the race.” Suffice it to say, many sensible Germans were persuaded. William F Buckley must be rolling in his grave considering the willingness of the National Review to publish nitpicking bullshit like this. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8436 "2013-02-01T12:40:27Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > William F Buckley must be rolling in his grave considering the willingness of the National Review to publish nitpicking bullshit like this. [Asked and answered](http://debgeisler.livejournal.com/2107904.html): > [@](#): > > To Eliana Johnson of The National Review > Your current attack on U.S. President Barack Obama because he called the Holocaust a horrible act of “senseless violence” claims that Nazism was all about making sense. > > You are a farking idiot… If President Obama said, “It’s a nice day outside,” those of you at The National Review would no doubt whine that the president took time away from destroying the economy and the social fiber of the nation to engage in pleasantries. My question for you **Qin** is: How do you stumble on such tripe in the first place? Can you cite a useful intelligent article at the _National Bullshit_ that you couldn’t find from a rational commentator or mainstream media? ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8437 "2013-02-01T12:41:12Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If she does apologize, pay attention. She might be sorry for offending any Nazis. 'Zactly! ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8438 "2013-02-01T12:42:19Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > [http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339003/president-obama-commemorates-senseless-holocaust-eliana-johnson](http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/339003/president-obama-commemorates-senseless-holocaust-eliana-johnson) > > William F Buckley must be rolling in his grave considering the willingness of the National Review to publish nitpicking bullshit like this. It’s not nitpicking. The point is that people with lots of sense went along with the violence anyway. It’s a warning about human nature. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8439 "2013-02-01T12:43:20Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > It was hard to tell, what with you saying you were going to give her the benefit of the doubt. Wasn’t wearing my expose-the-invisible-sarcasm-hat glasses. Sorry about that, dude. No problem, my bad - I should have been more clear. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/8440 "2013-02-01T12:54:28Z")
Regarding McCain’s condemnation of Hagel as possible Sec’y of Defense, in the video [on this page](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/31/maddow-republicans-wish-we-were-still-in-factually-wrong-iraq-war/) (about 1:24 in) from several years ago, McCain touts Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=421) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=423)