# 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:** 508
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10141 "2013-07-26T15:26:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Screwy Louie”! Perfect! Stolen, mine, got here first, back off! Actually I had an 8th grade homeroom teacher, Louis \*\*\*\* , and we called him screwy. (He kinda was) This was in 1961. Do I get to keep it, or does the spelling variation doom me? He had a funny last name and he’d be over 105, if still alive, but at the last minute I decided not to include that last name. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10142 "2013-07-28T02:43:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Another WTF bit from Louie: > **Texas rep compares NSA tactics to getting a warrant for stolen potato chips to catch potheads** > > A representative from Texas recently compared the tactics of the National Security Agency program to busting cannabis consumers by tracking down stolen potato chips. [http://txcann.com/2013/07/27/texas-rep-compares-nsa-tactics-to-getting-a-warrant-for-stolen-potato-chips-to-catch-potheads/](http://txcann.com/2013/07/27/texas-rep-compares-nsa-tactics-to-getting-a-warrant-for-stolen-potato-chips-to-catch-potheads/) I kind of agree with his opinion on NSA spying on Americans, but what an odd way of saying it. ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10143 "2013-07-28T13:36:31Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [http://txcann.com/2013/07/27/texas-rep-compares-nsa-tactics-to-getting-a-warrant-for-stolen-potato-chips-to-catch-potheads/](http://txcann.com/2013/07/27/texas-rep-compares-nsa-tactics-to-getting-a-warrant-for-stolen-potato-chips-to-catch-potheads/) > > I kind of agree with his opinion on NSA spying on Americans, but what an odd way of saying it. You go with what you know… Potheads get the munchies after indulging, and having spent their paycheck on the wares of the the drug running mules with cantaloupe sized calves have to resort to the petty theft of chips. This sad scenario is played out again and again in the Loony star state. First cantaloupes and now asparagus? Is this because the fruit aisle alone wasn’t big enough to cover all the different flavors of crazy the GOP offers, so they’re co-opting the entire produce department? ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10144 "2013-07-28T15:27:23Z")
They also have a strong entry in the baked goods department with their imposing Fruitcake contingent. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10145 "2013-07-29T15:03:40Z")
GOP playing chicken with the default ceiling again. Many articles and the subject is very serious since even the threat of a default will have negative consequences on the economy. In this piece, the ceiling is being held hostage to defunding Obamacare. > **[The GOP's Unworkable Plan to Defund Obamacare](https://reason.com/2013/07/29/the-gops-unworkable-plan-to-defund-obama/)** > > Speaker.govObamacare's Republican critics in Congress have argued repeatedly that the law simply won't work, and that its supporters need to face reality. > [@](#): > > The idea, championed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in a letter released last week, is to refuse to support any continuing resolution, or debt limit increase, that does not also defund the health law. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10146 "2013-07-29T17:12:42Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > GOP playing chicken with the default ceiling again. > > Many articles and the subject is very serious since even the threat of a default will have negative consequences on the economy. > > In this piece, the ceiling is being held hostage to defunding Obamacare. > [The GOP's Unworkable Plan to Defund Obamacare](http://reason.com/blog/2013/07/29/the-gops-unworkable-plan-to-defund-obama) Since the 2013 election, I’ve noted that Boehner and Cantor have been awfully quiet as of late. And this [article](http://nymag.com/news/features/republican-congress-2013-7/)from New York Magazine explains in part why. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10147 "2013-07-30T22:32:50Z")
Watch out for that slippery slope! > **[State Republican Shares Bestiality Stories To Prove Points, Ends Up Looking...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jordan-ulery-bestiality_n_3676166?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037)** > > State Republican Shares Bestiality Stories To Prove Points, Ends Up Looking Foolish > [@](#): > > “And when we were discussing same-sex marriage people said talking about multiple partners, animal interactions made those who define marriage as a relationship between man and woman as silly and foolish,” answered Rep. Jordan Ulery (R-Hudson). “Today, however, in several states multiple partners and even bestiality have been proposed or floated as extensions." The problem? His “cites” were satire. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10148 "2013-07-30T22:50:05Z")
To be fair, conservatives by nature cannot see humor in much the same way people with not enough cones and rods in their retinas are not to be blamed for not being able to identify color. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10149 "2013-07-30T23:26:04Z")
NOTE: I posted this over in Elections (the thread is called “Will Republicans ever figure out why they lost?”), but I really felt it was something that everyone should see and I know a lot of people who read this thread don’t ever go there: The answer to the question posed in the thread title is a definitive “no”. I think **adaher** ’s posts pretty much made that clear, but now we have a denial of reality by former candidate Romney himself that is unequaled in it’s audacity. Asked about his comment that almost half of the nation is a bunch of freeloaders who don’t and won’t take personal responsibility for their lives, Romney said in an interview Sunday: [ > [@Mitt Romney](#): > > Actually, I didn’t say that …That’s how it began to be perceived, and so I had to ultimately respond to the perception, because perception is reality. > [@Mitt Romney](#): > > \*t was saying, ‘Look, the Democrats have 47 percent, we’ve got 45 percent, my job is to get the people in the middle, and I’ve got to get the people in the middle,’" he said. "They’ve got a bloc of voters, we’ve got a bloc of voters, I’ve got to get the ones in the middle. And I thought that that would be how it would be perceived – as a candidate talking about the process of focusing on the people in the middle who can either vote Republican or Democrat. ]([http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/feature/wp/2013/07/27/from-doubts-to-confidence-to-defeat/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/feature/wp/2013/07/27/from-doubts-to-confidence-to-defeat/)) Here’s what he said back in 2012 that caused so many undecided voters to decide that Romney was a jackass (bolding mine): [ > [@Mitt Romney](#): > > There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. And he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that’s what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people— **I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives**. ]([Mitt Romney on MoJo's "47 percent" tape: "Actually, I didn't say that" about personal responsibility.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/29/mitt_romney_on_mojo_s_47_percent_tape_actually_i_didn_t_say_that_about_personal.html)) :rolleyes: He’s even now tricked himself into thinking that he didn’t say anything that President Obama didn’t say as well: [ > [@Mitt Romney](#): > > And I think the president said he’s writing off 47 percent of Americans and so forth. ]([http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/feature/wp/2013/07/27/from-doubts-to-confidence-to-defeat/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/feature/wp/2013/07/27/from-doubts-to-confidence-to-defeat/)) Delusion, denial, lies, hatred and pandering, will not give your party control of the White House, just like it didn’t give you control of the White House, Mr. Romney. Will the Republicans ever figure out why they lost? No, because at the moment they are unable and/or unwilling to deal with reality. They are lost in a miasma of deceit, delusion and denial. And from the looks of it, they keep stirring it up rather than letting it settle. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10150 "2013-08-01T16:18:16Z")
> [@Karrius](#): > > There isn’t a “Stereotypically evil republican idea of the day”, so this will have to go here: [http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/25/2354941/ohio-plans-unspeakably-cruel-appeal-of-dying-mans-last-wish/](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/25/2354941/ohio-plans-unspeakably-cruel-appeal-of-dying-mans-last-wish/) > > Republicans are just laughably evil. Seriously, do they get off on hurting others? It would explain a whole lot. On the one hand, as sympathetic as it may be, a dying man’s final wish should have no bearing on how the government should interpret or enforce its laws. On the other hand…dude. Didn’t the Supreme Court JUST rule on this? I’m pretty sure you can’t do what you’re threatening to do. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10151 "2013-08-01T16:57:34Z")
No. SCOTUS ruled on how state recognition of marriage should affect federal recognition. Nothing in Windsor affected state conduct. But yeah, DeWine is a shithead. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10152 "2013-08-01T17:01:59Z")
> [@](#): > > From 1999 to 2012, Hunter was a South Carolina radio shock jock known as the “Southern Avenger.” He has weighed in on issues such as racial pride and Hispanic immigration, and stated his support for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Why? The Civil War was over. Killing Lincoln then would make no difference. The better strategy is to send a robot back in time to kill Lincoln’s mom. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10153 "2013-08-01T17:04:54Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > send a robot back in time to kill Lincoln’s mom. “Mr. Emmerich, I have this idea for a movie…” ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10154 "2013-08-01T17:06:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Why? The Civil War was over. Killing Lincoln then would make no difference. > The better strategy is to send a robot back in time to kill Lincoln’s mom. But if you did that the vampires would win!!! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10155 "2013-08-01T17:07:26Z")
Meh. Then William Seward would have been nominated and elected instead, and events would have turned out pretty much the way they did anyway. The SCOTUS ruling included Kennedy’s pretty clear discussion of why gender discrimination is impermissible in marriage, so DeWine’s position (what happened to him? he was fairly sane as a Senator) is in clear violation of its spirit. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10156 "2013-08-01T17:45:05Z")
Send a robot back in time to violate Lincoln’s mom’s spirit! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10157 "2013-08-01T18:11:02Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Since the 2013 election, I’ve noted that Boehner and Cantor have been awfully quiet as of late. And this [article](http://nymag.com/news/features/republican-congress-2013-7/)from New York Magazine explains in part why. Jesus christ. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10158 "2013-08-01T18:18:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Meh. Then William Seward would have been nominated and elected instead, and events would have turned out pretty much the way they did anyway. I’m not so sure of that. I’m reading _Team of Rivals_ right now, and I just got past the part where Seward had written a scathing letter to Britain threatening war if they dared break the Union blockade on the south, that he wanted read aloud, verbatim, blah blah blah, and tell him, “so there,” when you’re done. Lincoln, softened the missive and directed (I can’t remember the guy that actually delivered the message) to use it as notes and to neither show it, nor read it to anyone. As a result, Britain basically abstained from aiding either side. If Seward had been in charge, Britain probably would have sided with the South to keep their textiles mills open and we’d all some Monday off for Jefferson Davis Day right now. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10159 "2013-08-01T18:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Seward had written a scathing letter to Britain threatening war if they dared break the Union blockade on the south, that he wanted read aloud, verbatim, blah blah blah, and tell him, “so there,” when you’re done. Ah, one of the earliest examples of a stupid Republican idea… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10160 "2013-08-01T20:51:37Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m not so sure of that. I’m reading _Team of Rivals_ right now Great, great book. I was fascinated, too. > [@](#): > > As a result, Britain basically abstained from aiding either side. Britain supported the Confederacy in every way but officially, prior to the tide turning in 1863 (look up the story of the _CSS Alabama_ sometime). But I doubt it’s realistic to think Pitt would ever have let the country’s military be pulled into the war, on the weak side at that. They simply couldn’t have made the difference, for one thing. For another the British public wouldn’t have stood for defending slavery, and especially not after Emancipation made it clear to any doubters what the war was about. President Seward, wiser than Lincoln in the ways of Washington City, might have had a quicker hook for generals who showed themselves not up to the task. The war might have been over much sooner, and perhaps without slavery being fully broken, but more probably there might have been other events that would have made the broad outline of events turn out pretty much as they did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=507) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=509)