# 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:** 597
**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:** [December 4, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11921 "2013-12-04T23:13:22Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > To be honest, i’m not sure why this qualifies as a stupid Republican idea. > > I mean, as a lefty, i definitely think that Scott Walker is a stupid Republican, he’s awful for Wisconsin, and there’s no way i’d vote for him, but i don’t see anything particularly disturbing about the message itself. > > All it’s asking people to do is consider spending a little bit of their discretionary income on a political campaign instead of on consumer crap. I don’t see a problem with that. Progressives were making a big deal back in 2008 about the significance of small donations to the Obama campaign, and in the absence of decent campaign finance reform, i think that encouraging campaign contributions by regular folks isn’t a bad thing. The comparisons of Walker to the Grinch all over the internet prove the stupidity of the idea. The woman who came up with it has been fired. The supposed reason was not for coming up with that boneheaded fundraising idea, but rather some racist tweets she’s issued while still in college two years ago. Right. [http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/scott-walker-campaign-aide-fired-after-tweets-demeaning-hispanics-b99155734z1-234291761.html](http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/scott-walker-campaign-aide-fired-after-tweets-demeaning-hispanics-b99155734z1-234291761.html) > [@](#): > > “I will choke that illegal mex cleaning in the library. Stop banging (expletive) chairs around and turn off your Walkman,” she posted on March 9, 2011. > [@](#): > > “This bus is my worst (expletive) nightmare Nobody speaks English & these ppl dont know how 2 control their kids #only3morehours #illegalaliens.” ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11922 "2013-12-04T23:53:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And the need for the individual mandate starts to dawn on him … I’d be surprised if it did, actually. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11923 "2013-12-05T00:05:43Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > If you’ve got a good memory, you might remember Ralph Hudgens, the Georgia Insurance Commissioner. … From our good friends over at _ThinkProgress_, news that will not surprise you in the least… > [@](#): > > …Hudgens himself has even deeper ties to insurance companies. In fact, Consumer Watchdog singled him out in a 2011 report on insurance commissioners’ relationships with the industry they regulate. It found that private insurers were Hudgens’ top supporters for his 2010 race, donating just under $150,000 to his campaign… [http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/12/04/3020831/georgia-insurance-commissioner-pre-existing-fault/](http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/12/04/3020831/georgia-insurance-commissioner-pre-existing-fault/) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11924 "2013-12-05T21:08:50Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And the need for the individual mandate starts to dawn on him … No, not at all. It’s easy to get confused because he was channeling Sarah Palin while spewing that mash-up, but what he was doing was disparaging people with pre-existing conditions. IOW, creating another class of “47 percenters” the right can look down their nose at with disdain. In his twisted worldview, someone who has a pre-existing illness who has been denied insurance coverage previously and wants to buy insurance _now_ (because the insurance companies are now being forced to sell it to them) is the same as a person who _chooses_ not to carry legally-mandated auto insurance, then calls up an agent after they’ve had an accident to buy it. IOW, a “taker.” A Very Bad Person. “Irresponsible.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11925 "2013-12-05T21:19:31Z")
I thought he was referring to the “[lucky duckies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_duckies)” who they claim would wait until they got hurt, then buy the policy in the ambulance. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11926 "2013-12-05T21:40:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I thought he was referring to the “[lucky duckies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_duckies)” who they claim would wait until they got hurt, then buy the policy in the ambulance. Nope. From his filthy remarks: “\*f you don’t really understand **what covering pre-existing conditions would be like** , it would be like in Georgia we have a law that says you have to have insurance on your automobile …” > **[GOP hits pathetic new low: "47 percent" thinking creeps even deeper](https://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/gop_hits_pathetic_new_low_47_percent_thinking_creeps_even_deeper/)** > > A GOP leader proves that sensitivity training won't stop the party's gaffes. Ideology, not civility, is the problem ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11927 "2013-12-06T04:07:19Z")
Hey, this is cool! I knew the character of “Lucky Ducky” from the comic strip “Tom The Dancing Bug,” but didn’t know the origin of the term. Thank you! (Dang! That Bolling bloke is cleverer and cleverer!) ---
**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:** [December 6, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11928 "2013-12-06T16:45:30Z")
[URL" [http://huff.to/1dUDXV8](http://huff.to/1dUDXV8) "]Rick Santorum compares Obamacare to apartheid: > [@](#): > > “Nelson Mandela stood up against a great injustice and was willing to pay a huge price for that. That’s the reason he’s mourned today, because of that struggle that he performed,” > > Santorum said. “But you’re right, I mean, what he was advocating for was not necessarily the right answer, but he was fighting against some great injustice, and I would make the argument that we have a great injustice going on right now in this country with an ever-increasing size of government that is taking over and controlling people’s lives, and Obamacare is front and center in that.” ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11929 "2013-12-06T16:49:54Z")
[He compares Apartheid](http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/12/06/rick_santorum_nelson_mandela_former_gop_presidential_hopeful_compares_nelson.html) to the GOP’s fight against the “injustice” of Obamacare, because racial minority rule, discrimination, and prejudice is the same as covering health care costs for sick people, the poor, and paying into a communal bank so that more people can be treated and cost less overall. What must the crack in Santorum’s world taste like I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11930 "2013-12-06T17:22:14Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What must the crack in Santorum’s world taste like I wonder? Santorum. What else? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11931 "2013-12-06T17:23:23Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Santorum said. “But you’re right, I mean, what he was advocating for was not necessarily the right answer . . .” What he was advocating for was exactly what SA ultimately got, and it worked out pretty well. How was that not the right anwer, Rick? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11932 "2013-12-06T17:31:54Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What must the crack in Santorum’s world taste like I wonder? Please refrain from using the words “Santorem”, “crack” and “taste” in the same sentence, I’m eating my lunch here. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11933 "2013-12-06T17:50:12Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What he was advocating for was exactly what SA ultimately got, and it worked out pretty well. How was that not the right anwer, Rick? I’m glad I’m not the only one who caught that. [QUOTE=Rick Santorum] “Nelson Mandela stood up against a great injustice and was willing to pay a huge price for that. That’s the reason he’s mourned today, because of that struggle that he performed,” Santorum said. “But you’re right, I mean, **what he was advocating for was not necessarily the right answer** , but he was fighting against some great injustice, and I would make the argument that we have a great injustice going on right now in this country with an ever-increasing size of government that is taking over and controlling people’s lives, and Obamacare is front and center in that.” [/QUOTE] So tell me, Rick. How is a peaceful transistion to a full democracy where everyone has equal rights regardless of skin color not “the right answer”? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11934 "2013-12-06T17:57:39Z")
Senator Cruz shows a moment of class and dignity – his followers show their true colors: > [@](#): > > [Conservatives Blast Cruz for Praising Mandela](http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/news/2013-12-06/conservatives-blast-cruz-for-praising-mandela/): Senator’s supporters yearn for the days of apartheid > > This just in from the “you can’t make it up” department: Sen. Ted Cruz has upset his base by (wait for it, wait for it) eulogizing Nelson Mandela… > Cue moral outrage from the GOP’s hard right. > You can catch the full [Facebook exchange here](https://www.facebook.com/SenatorTedCruz/posts/468367399942232), but the edited highlights are enough… (To be fair, the mouth-breathers have gotten some push-back.) ---
**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:** [December 6, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11935 "2013-12-06T22:06:00Z")
It’s not just Cruz - Rubio, Boehner, Cantor and the guy trying to primary Mitch McConnell Matt Bevin [have all taken flak for praising Mandela](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/republicans-who-lost-their-r-card-for-praising-mandela). And this is why the GOP can’t escape from the Quagmire of Crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11936 "2013-12-06T22:15:43Z")
Holy shit. Is there _any_ event the GOP can’t stick their dicks in? ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11937 "2013-12-06T22:19:27Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > So tell me, Rick. How is a peaceful transistion to a full democracy where everyone has equal rights regardless of skin color not “the right answer”? Presumably, Santorum decided to throw the racists a bone to avoid… [QUOTE=Gyrate] It’s not just Cruz - Rubio, Boehner, Cantor and the guy trying to primary Mitch McConnell Matt Bevin have all taken flak for praising Mandela. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11938 "2013-12-06T22:48:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s not just Cruz - Rubio, Boehner, Cantor and the guy trying to primary Mitch McConnell Matt Bevin [have all taken flak for praising Mandela](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/republicans-who-lost-their-r-card-for-praising-mandela). > > And this is why the GOP can’t escape from the Quagmire of Crazy. I recall back in the 1980s, Congress was debating whether to impose economic sanctions on South Africa, and Jesse Helms on the floor of the Senate warned that ending Apartheid would lead to “minority rule, that is, Commernist rule!” But it didn’t, did it? But some people still haven’t learned their lesson from that. Some people never do. It was the same thinking that allowed American segregationists in the 1950s and 60s (and in some cases to this day) to call civil rights activists “Communists.” Some of them **were** Communists, after all, and all Communists and socialists and lefties in general were anti-segregation, and segregation was a stick the USSR used to beat the U.S. But all of that rather reflected well on the lefties, not badly on the civil rights movement; and none of it constituted any good reason to keep segregation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11939 "2013-12-06T23:03:31Z")
Pat Buchanan’s nativist-paleocon magazine _The American Conservative,_ where I have sometimes seen articles about how life in post-Apartheid SA sucks and even some blacks miss the old days, has [nothing but praise](http://www.theamericanconservative.com/millman/practicing-magnanimity-in-triumph/) for Mandela. > [@](#): > > **Mandela Practiced Magnanimity In Triumph** > > By Noah Millman • December 6, 2013, 12:00 PM > > The tributes to Nelson Mandela are coming thick and fast, as well they should. Rather than add my own to the list, though, I’d like to suggest that we take those commendations to heart. > > Mandela is being praised for two qualities more than anything: his firmness and determination through decades of struggle for justice, and his extraordinary magnanimity in victory. Neither quality is particularly common, and both are highly praiseworthy—but they are particularly extraordinary in combination. > > \ > > But given the scale of the anti-Communist victory, wouldn’t it be more in tune with the moment for conservatives to be magnanimous, and say: you know, it’s entirely understandable why the ANC sought Communist support. Indeed, it’s entirely understandable why many groups fighting oppressive structures and regimes accepted or even sought the support of Soviet-backed groups during the Cold War. What looked like the most important moral question from the perspective of Washington would not have looked like the most important moral question from the perspective of Transkei, or any number of other places. **So maybe, now that the Soviet Union is dead and buried, we should stop harping on ties to Communists as some kind of unforgivable sin, in this case and in general.** Learn, Pubs. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/11940 "2013-12-07T09:45:58Z")
Christ, even Buchanan gets it right. How fucked are we? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=596) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=598)