# 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:** 611
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12201 "2013-12-23T04:25:05Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Pretty sure that’s another parody site. Yeah, [\*\*jasg \*\*already tipped us to that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16950074&postcount=12183). It really worries me that, anymore, I can read a story like that and half believe it’s true. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12202 "2013-12-23T04:44:01Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > As wishful thinking. Which it always was. 😕 Beyond Fay Dunaway’s wild ride (hey! it’s censored on YouTube!) I don’t recall any wishful thinking I experienced watching that movie. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12203 "2013-12-23T16:05:41Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > 😕 Beyond Fay Dunaway’s wild ride (hey! it’s censored on YouTube!) I don’t recall any wishful thinking I experienced watching that movie. Wishful thinking that significant numbers of Americans would actually respond that way to the “I’m Mad as Hell!” message. The nearest real-life manifestations we’ve seen recently are the OWSers and the Tea Partiers, neither of which appears likely to have much staying power in the long run. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12204 "2013-12-23T16:11:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Meanwhile, in duck country, the Douglas county sheriff’s office has decided to respond to A&E’s imaginary First Amendment violations with[an _actual_ First Amendment violation;](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/12/21/3098591/sheriff-retaliates-suspending-duck-dynasty-star/) That’s not a First Amendment violation. They’re just not going to give them special access for recording stuff, as is their right. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12205 "2013-12-23T18:11:30Z")
Depends on the circumstances surrounding the granting of special access when they _were_, I suppose. In this case, since the sheriff is “pulling the plug” (as it were) on his own initiative, it suggests that there’s not an official Office of Film Production situation from which A&E is now barred. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12206 "2013-12-23T18:51:49Z")
I strongly suspect any “special access” consisted of free dash camera tapes for “OMG! Caught on Video!” or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12207 "2013-12-23T19:09:08Z")
Which sounds like something he shouldn’t have been doing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12208 "2013-12-23T20:58:49Z")
The Sheriff’s Department was probably providing security and crowd control for location shooting off the Robertson’s private property. ---
**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 24, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12209 "2013-12-24T00:24:23Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Yeah, [\*\*jasg \*\*already tipped us to that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16950074&postcount=12183). It really worries me that, anymore, I can read a story like that and half believe it’s true. That story is sort of true in the sense that the teahadists don’t want to raise taxes to save children from tornadoes. God’s will was never mentioned in the real story and neither were alternative funding methods. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12210 "2013-12-24T00:52:14Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > That story is sort of true in the sense that the teahadists don’t want to raise taxes to save children from tornadoes. God’s will was never mentioned in the real story and neither were alternative funding methods. Wait, you mean that was half true? That is bizarre. I’m from that part of the country. I’ve had friends who lived in the OKC area, which has been hit by monster storms a couple of times in the last twentyish years. How myopic do you have to be, to be unwilling to spend money on something like that? ---
**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:** [December 24, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12211 "2013-12-24T01:32:36Z")
Well, it’s easy to picture someone who hates taxation and, if told taxation is necessary to pay for beneficial government services, contends that the private sector could provide those services more efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12212 "2013-12-24T03:02:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, it’s easy to picture someone who hates taxation and, if told taxation is necessary to pay for beneficial government services, contends that the private sector could provide those services more efficiently. Now welcoming investors in a private for-profit tornado-rescue-and-relief company. Shares start at . . . oh, just pm me all your credit card numbers and I’ll take care of the details. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12213 "2013-12-24T03:36:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, it’s easy to picture someone who hates taxation and, if told taxation is necessary to pay for beneficial government services, contends that the private sector could provide those services more efficiently. That’s worked out _so well_ for the prison system. And the “private security firms” working with our armed forces in war zones. And the believers in ALEC and Ayn Rand, Mike Huckabee, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Glen Beck.[sup]1[/sup] May every single last one of these cynical manipulators and misled morons get their own, highly \*personal \*visits from the 3 christmas ghosts. [sup]1[/sup]Note that I am talking about the delusional dolts who believe in them, not they themselves. They’re doing just fine, but then they’re amongst the cynical manipulators. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12214 "2013-12-24T04:33:14Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Wait, you mean that was half true? That is bizarre. I’m from that part of the country. I’ve had friends who lived in the OKC area, which has been hit by monster storms a couple of times in the last twentyish years. How myopic do you have to be, to be unwilling to spend money on something like that? Part of the problem is that wealthy communities/schools already have them. It’s an issue of wealth redistribution if the state pays for all kids to have shelters attached to their schools. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12215 "2013-12-24T05:02:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Wishful thinking that significant numbers of Americans would actually respond that way to the “I’m Mad as Hell!” message. The nearest real-life manifestations we’ve seen recently are the OWSers and the Tea Partiers, neither of which appears likely to have much staying power in the long run. Again, huh? Are Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh not our own Howard Beales? Is Fox News not the UBS Evening News? Anecdote Time: When Fox bought its Chicago affiliate it showed _Network_ unexpurgated, Floppy Faye and all. At the time I thought it was to show how edgy Fox was going to be. I did not know at the time that they were broadcasting their business plan. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12216 "2013-12-24T05:05:30Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Part of the problem is that wealthy communities/schools already have them. It’s an issue of wealth redistribution if the state pays for all kids to have shelters attached to their schools. Fortunately, there is a private-sector solution: [Tornado Rods!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rainmaker_(1956_film)) ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12217 "2013-12-24T08:07:47Z")
It’s very simple, according to the Republicans. Just use property taxes to pay for the tornado shelters. The rich communities will have them, and the poor children will die and we won’t have to pay for school lunches. Everybody wins! ---
**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 26, 2013, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12218 "2013-12-26T03:26:17Z")
Congressman Steve King eats reindeer dinner for Christmas: > **[GOP Congressman Eats Reindeer For Christmas](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/steve-king-reindeer-christmas_n_4501041?utm_hp_ref=tw)** > > GOP Congressman Eats Reindeer For Christmas ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12219 "2013-12-26T04:03:11Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Congressman Steve King eats reindeer dinner for Christmas: > > [http://huff.to/1d85U92](http://huff.to/1d85U92) OK, but how is that a stupid republican idea? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12220 "2013-12-26T04:05:58Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > OK, but how is that a stupid republican idea? Timing. He utterly failed to make whatever point he was trying to make. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=610) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=612)