# 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:** 532
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10621 "2013-09-13T14:27:17Z")
I just read the article that **yanceylebeef** linked to. Is that even legal for a state to do that?? 😕 ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10622 "2013-09-13T14:36:59Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > Children, that’s what they are. Petulant small minded children who are throwing a conniption fit because they can’t get their way. _Unfair to children!_ They are like _some_ children. To petulant and small minded, I would like to add spoiled, selfish and all too frequently sadistic. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10623 "2013-09-13T15:12:42Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Wiscorida is such a crap state. Fuckin’ geezers and their cheese. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10624 "2013-09-13T16:08:14Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > probably not the dictionary definition of stupid, [but Gov. Walker is a petty small man](http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/09/13/20476543-florida-bars-obamacare-aides-at-public-health-centers?lite). Especially if he, as governor of Wisconsin, is passing anti-Obamacare laws against residents of Florida. Has anyone told Rick Scott about this? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10625 "2013-09-13T16:13:09Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Fuckin’ geezers and their cheese. “…Czech sheep’s milk, Japanese sage Derby, Venezuelan geezer cheese?..” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10626 "2013-09-13T16:15:38Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just read the article that **yanceylebeef** linked to. Is that even legal for a state to do that?? 😕 Almost certainly not, but settling that in court will take time. Apparently, anything that **delays** implementation of the ACA is worth doing as far as they’re concerned. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10627 "2013-09-13T16:46:26Z")
Yep, they gotta keep people from finding out what’s in it. Else, they might realize they \*like \*it. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10628 "2013-09-13T16:57:32Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Wiscorida is such a crap state. The proper term is Wississippi. > [@Smapti](#): > > Especially if he, as governor of Wisconsin, is passing anti-Obamacare laws against residents of Florida. Has anyone told Rick Scott about this? Link goes to a story about Florida and Ricky Perry, not Scooter Walker. Not that the Fitzwalkers wouldn’t do such a thing. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10629 "2013-09-13T17:07:44Z")
Ok, I think everyone needs to take 5 minutes to look up US State governors and then come back here and crack jokes. Unless somebody invented Texida when I wasn’t looking. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10630 "2013-09-13T17:22:06Z")
In my defense, I posted that before I had coffee. I really should know better. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10631 "2013-09-13T17:55:23Z")
I wanted to make a joke about Governor Rick Scott Walker, but decided there wasn’t enough there. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10632 "2013-09-13T19:26:11Z")
Just say, “That gentleman in the governor’s office in that state, you know…” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10633 "2013-09-13T20:03:00Z")
“… bless his heart” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10634 "2013-09-13T20:49:52Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Dennis Prager: Tolerance is a slippery slope to fascism. So his intolerance is Kosher. Yeah, right. :rolleyes: In my readings on other debates I found a quote from Karl Popper that is relevant: > **[Karl Popper - Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper)** > [@](#): > > The so-called paradox of freedom is the argument that freedom in the sense of absence of any constraining control must lead to very great restraint, since it makes the bully free to enslave the meek. The idea is, in a slightly different form, and with very different tendency, clearly expressed in Plato. > > Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. — In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. > > We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10635 "2013-09-13T21:50:10Z")
Fascinating Popperian quote. I can’t make myself agree. Even the ugliest, most hate-filled, evil speech needs to be tolerated. Morris Dees, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an avowed opponent of social hatred, says the same thing. If someone wants to publish a newspaper article saying (in one instance) that the Holocaust didn’t really happen, censoring the article is not the right thing to do. Responding to it broadly, denouncing it, correcting it, exposing the underlying hatred, and even ridiculing it, are all proper responses. Use free speech to defend free speech. Otherwise, who draws the line? Whom do you trust with the vast power to criminalize dangerous speech? Quis Custodiet? What if “they” (you know, bad people) manage to get a majority on the censorship commission? The current example of state and local school boards mandating the teaching of Creationism is a warning against this kind of power. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10636 "2013-09-13T22:04:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Fascinating Popperian quote. > > I can’t make myself agree. Even the ugliest, most hate-filled, evil speech needs to be tolerated. Morris Dees, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an avowed opponent of social hatred, says the same thing. If someone wants to publish a newspaper article saying (in one instance) that the Holocaust didn’t really happen, censoring the article is not the right thing to do. Responding to it broadly, denouncing it, correcting it, exposing the underlying hatred, and even ridiculing it, are all proper responses. Use free speech to defend free speech. An attitude which is not only high-minded and generous, but comfortably preserves Morris Dees’ job. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10637 "2013-09-14T00:59:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The current example of state and local school boards mandating the teaching of Creationism is a warning against this kind of power. A perfect example of intolerance using tolerance to get mainstream acceptance. “My teacher talked about “intelligent design”, it MUST be plausible.” No, no it’s fucking not plausible. I have no problem with teachers addressing ID, but it should be “Here is what some people think and here is why what they are saying is not a counter to evolution and why they cannot prove that what they are saying is true and shouldn’t be treated as science.” ---
**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:** [September 14, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10638 "2013-09-14T01:24:11Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Fascinating Popperian quote. > > I can’t make myself agree. Even the ugliest, most hate-filled, evil speech needs to be tolerated. Morris Dees, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an avowed opponent of social hatred, says the same thing. If someone wants to publish a newspaper article saying (in one instance) that the Holocaust didn’t really happen, censoring the article is not the right thing to do. **Responding to it broadly, denouncing it, correcting it, exposing the underlying hatred, and even ridiculing it, are all proper responses.** Use free speech to defend free speech. I agree that they are proper responses. However, by not characterizing the ugly, hate-filled, evil speech as absolutely SPLENDID, those responses fail your admonition that such speech be tolerated. Or, so goes the caviling of the Neanderthals who wish to be intolerant without consequence. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10639 "2013-09-14T02:26:57Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > . . . I have no problem with teachers addressing ID, but it should be “Here is what some people think and here is why what they are saying is not a counter to evolution and why they cannot prove that what they are saying is true and shouldn’t be treated as science.” Exactly; the Creationists are actually trying to ban speech, even as they pretend they are promoting its freedom. They want to prevent teachers from saying what you just suggested they should say. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I agree that they are proper responses. However, by not characterizing the ugly, hate-filled, evil speech as absolutely SPLENDID, those responses fail your admonition that such speech be tolerated. > > Or, so goes the caviling of the Neanderthals who wish to be intolerant without consequence. Grin! S’truth. They sometimes seem to imagine that permission equates to endorsement. They’re wrong. The hyper-liberal ACLU fought for the freedom of jerks and assholes to march in public wearing Nazi regalia. They also fight for the freedom of all the rest of us to call those neo-Nazis jerks and assholes! Their right to display their insignia in no way implies the government’s or the people’s support for their dim, shallow, hate-filled, infantile, evil beliefs! It just says, “Whatever. Free country. Knock yourself out.” (Sotto voce: “…asshole.”) ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/10640 "2013-09-14T04:47:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Fascinating Popperian quote. > > I can’t make myself agree. Even the ugliest, most hate-filled, evil speech needs to be tolerated. Morris Dees, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an avowed opponent of social hatred, says the same thing. If someone wants to publish a newspaper article saying (in one instance) that the Holocaust didn’t really happen, censoring the article is not the right thing to do. Responding to it broadly, denouncing it, correcting it, exposing the underlying hatred, and even ridiculing it, are all proper responses. Use free speech to defend free speech. > > Otherwise, who draws the line? Whom do you trust with the vast power to criminalize dangerous speech? Quis Custodiet? What if “they” (you know, bad people) manage to get a majority on the censorship commission? The current example of state and local school boards mandating the teaching of Creationism is a warning against this kind of power. It isn’t that hard: **Protected and tolerated:** Left handed people are sinister and untrustworthy. Shun them in all ways! **Not protected and criminalized:** Left handed people are sinister and untrustworthy. Drive them from our midst and kill them! There are definite gray areas, but we don’t have to tolerate inciting violence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=531) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=533)