# 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:** 618
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12341 "2014-01-09T19:08:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not sure it is all that plausible. Supposedly, the motivation for this was because the mayor of Fort Lee refused to endorse Christie. So why would someone on his staff retaliate and not tell Christie? If someone insulted your boss, would you take revenge and then not tell the boss? Either Christie felt slighted and ordered this, or the chief of staff did it to curry favor with him. But as a wise man once said, the entire point is lost if you keep it a secret. It’s a “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?!” kinda thing. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12342 "2014-01-09T19:40:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > It’s a “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?!” kinda thing. Yeah, but the next time you see the boss you’re wearing a hat that lights up and says “I got rid of that turbulent priest” on it. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12343 "2014-01-10T01:40:22Z")
“That turbulent priest had an unfortunate run-in with a traffic study.” “Sure, sounds legit.” ---
**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:** [January 10, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12344 "2014-01-10T02:30:58Z")
I have been living in Illinois too long. I read that story and said, “So? What did the mayor expect?” Just sounds like business as usual. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12345 "2014-01-10T02:44:30Z")
Were there any car accidents during the traffic delays? Are there grounds to sue someone for reckless endangerment or something? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12346 "2014-01-10T02:45:49Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Were there any car accidents during the traffic delays? Are there grounds to sue someone for reckless endangerment or something? Ambulances were impeded. I think a kid went missing for a while. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12347 "2014-01-10T02:54:55Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Were there any car accidents during the traffic delays? Are there grounds to sue someone for reckless endangerment or something? There were substantial delays for emergency services. In the case that is getting the most attention, paramedics were called for a 91-year-old woman, but were delayed due to heavy traffic and had to meet the ambulance en-route to the hospital instead of on the scene. The woman later died. [This article](http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/fort_lee_woman_died_as_gwb_closures_delayed_medical_help.html) discusses that case and other instances of emergency responders being delayed. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12348 "2014-01-10T03:17:03Z")
Oh good. The media like lawsuits. That should give the scandal some staying power. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2014, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12349 "2014-01-10T07:12:29Z")
Not good for the old lady and her loved ones, though. Also redundant, as there is an edict in place already that disallows any Republican from winning election to the presidency, ever again. ---
**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 10, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12350 "2014-01-10T14:56:07Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Oh good. The media like lawsuits. That should give the scandal some staying power. Public officials have certain immunities against lawsuits for official actions though. Don’t know if a lawsuit would stand. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12351 "2014-01-10T15:42:10Z")
Could petty revenge be condisered an official action? ---
**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:** [January 10, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12352 "2014-01-10T16:02:33Z")
Listening to the CNN interview with Fort Lee’s mayor after his sit down with Christie was hilarious. It was obvious it was taking everything he had to play off the fact he didn’t believe anything Christie was selling and not call him out as a liar. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12353 "2014-01-10T16:27:24Z")
Sokolich was kinder than I would have been. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12354 "2014-01-10T22:33:44Z")
Toll Booths blah, blah, blah…lane closings… What about Benghazi??? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12355 "2014-01-10T23:03:31Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Toll Booths blah, blah, blah…lane closings… What about Benghazi??? 😃 What indeed? > **[How not to respond to scandal](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/how-not-respond-scandal-msna244531)** > > Chris Christie's admirers have taken a long look at bridge scandal and are asking the question that matters most to them: "Isn't President Obama awful?" ---
**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:** [January 11, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12356 "2014-01-11T00:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=Euty’s link] When Giuliani says, “We have a president who runs away from press conferences,” he has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. [/QUOTE] Is this true? No, not the part about Giuliani not knowing what he’s talking about; we knew that. The part about Obama. I thought Obama has Bubba’s Disease and we can’t _make_ him stop talking to the press. Or anybody else. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12357 "2014-01-11T00:13:52Z")
Actually it’s not true. It isn’t that Guiliani doesn’t know what he’s talking about; it’s that he’s completely full of shit - partisan hack extraordinaire that he is. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12358 "2014-01-11T02:58:57Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > To be more precise, the shutdown was meant to “punish” Mark Sokolich, the _Democratic_ mayor of Fort Lee, for endorsing the _Democratic_ candidate for governor. > > Even accepting that this was a rational motive, how in the world did they think that this shutdown would hurt _Sokolich_ in any way at all? What harm did he suffer? Adding to **jayjay** ’s response to your post, I read somewhere on the Internet\* that when people stalled in the massive traffic jams complained to Port Authority cops about it, the cops replied that it was the fault of the Fort Lee mayor. Who might have told them to say that is left as an exercise for the reader. \*No, I’m not going to go back through all the blogthreads I’ve been reading today and find the cite; yes, I am a lazy layabout good-for-nothing. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12359 "2014-01-11T03:04:46Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Actually it’s not true. It isn’t that Guiliani doesn’t know what he’s talking about; it’s that he’s completely full of shit - partisan hack extraordinaire that he is. But he no longer works 9/11 into every sentence, showing that the pony has learned a second trick. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12360 "2014-01-11T03:37:32Z")
Ha! Found the cite for my unsupported allegation, and it turns out it’s a quote from the Fort Lee mayor himself, as posted in [one of the CNN stories](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/10/nearly-a-thousand-new-documents-released-in-n-j-bridge-scandal/) today: > [@](#): > > Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich charged that Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police were telling residents of his community that he was responsible for access lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that snarled traffic for several days in September. > > “Many members of the public have indicated to me that the Port Authority Police Officers are advising commuters in response to their complaints that this recent traffic debacle is the result of a decision that I, as the mayor, recently made,” Sokolich wrote in a scathing September 12 letter to Baroni. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=617) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=619)