# 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:** 622
**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:** [January 17, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12421 "2014-01-17T17:41:15Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I think he’s explaining human nature, and why rape is so common in the military. He’s not sympathizing with it. He should have said it better though. It’s easy to see why his comments are seen as sympathy with the rapists, given the conclusion he derives from a parallel boys-will-be-boys argument: > [@](#): > > Black opposed making spousal rape a crime, citing the impossibility of convicting a husband accused of raping his wife “when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth.” ---
**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 17, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12422 "2014-01-17T19:09:13Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I think he’s explaining human nature, and why rape is so common in the military. He’s not sympathizing with it. He should have said it better though. Are you sure? It sounds like he is. [QUOTE=Dan Black (Emphasis added)] **Wouldn’t you love** to have a group of 19-year-old girls under your control, day in, day out? [/QUOTE] ---
**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:** [January 17, 2014, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12423 "2014-01-17T23:17:39Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I think he’s explaining human nature, and why rape is so common in the military. He’s not sympathizing with it. He should have said it better though. I’d like to think human nature is better than that. ---
**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 18, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12424 "2014-01-18T00:04:20Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I think he’s explaining human nature, and why rape is so common in the military. He’s not sympathizing with it. He should have said it better though. Yes, and his idea of human nature is that every 25-year-old men—including all the people in his audience—are just waiting for a chance to have that kind of authority over young women, _so that they can use that authority to rape them_. He’s directly implying that there’s a limit to how much you can expect this problem to be solved, because that’s just the way that young men—_including all of you folks_—are naturally. He’s simultaneously minimizing the problem and implying that we should not expect much from efforts to solve it, and also that there’s a limit to how hard we should try. It’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12425 "2014-01-18T00:14:30Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > I think he’s explaining human nature, and why rape is so common in the military. He’s not sympathizing with it. He should have said it better though. I guess I have a higher opinion of 25 years olds, even males, that do you or this jack-wagon. I am assuming the Honorable Dick was speaking to only the men in the room. I also have much higher expectations of elected representatives. I expect them to at least act as if all their constituents are worthy of respect. The Honorable Dick appears to have none for any, as he thinks men by nature want to abuse women, and that that is just fine. I do not agree he is explaining human nature; I think he is defending very nasty behavior, resulting from a very nasty attitudes about men and toward women. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12426 "2014-01-18T22:46:37Z")
I find the comment about having a bunch of 19-year-olds under one’s control creepy. Worrying triumph of id over superego, or something. But the argument that marital rape is hard to prove is of course correct. If one is to convict someone of rape on no reliable evidence, just because they’ve been accused, and there is evidence of sex that may have been consensual, you have rewritten the standard of reasonable doubt. That’s a bad thing. That doesn’t mean marital rape should be made legal, just that it will naturally be hard to prosecute, if we maintain reasonable standards of evidence. ---
**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 18, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12427 "2014-01-18T23:44:05Z")
“No reliable evidence”? — Juries have always been given the power to decide whether a victim’s testimony is reliable. ---
**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 18, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12428 "2014-01-18T23:51:42Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > But the argument that marital rape is hard to prove is of course correct. If one is to convict someone of rape on no reliable evidence, just because they’ve been accused, and there is evidence of sex that may have been consensual, you have rewritten the standard of reasonable doubt. That’s a bad thing. > > That doesn’t mean marital rape should be made legal, just that it will naturally be hard to prosecute, if we maintain reasonable standards of evidence. The more I read this, the more I don’t understand it. How is anything you say here different in a marital rape case as opposed to a non-marital rape case? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12429 "2014-01-19T00:16:39Z")
Between two married people, there’s a much higher presumption that they have had consensual sex. ---
**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 19, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12430 "2014-01-19T00:33:43Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Between two married people, there’s a much higher presumption that they have had consensual sex. There’s no valid inference here in context. If all you know about them is that they are married, then you have a valid presumption that at some point in their marriage, they have engaged in consensual sex. And that is also just as true when the alleged victim is involved in a non-marital relationship, such as a dating situation or in a live-in romantic relationship. It is also true of the two people involved have had an ongoing relationship as a prostitute and a client. However, if one if them testifies that on X occasions listed in the charges, that the sex was not consensual, then your presumption means nothing. All that matters is whether the testimony is itself credible. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12431 "2014-01-19T22:43:04Z")
My point is that rape, or sexual assault, is typically harder to prove than crimes that offer more evidence than the accuser’s testimony. Not impossible to prove, not uniquely hard to prove, but generally harder to prove. Thus many rapes go unprosecuted. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12432 "2014-01-20T23:02:05Z")
One for the Stupid Gun News and this thread: [Oregon GOP group defends gun raffle to honor Lincoln and MLK with inept slavery analogy](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/20/oregon-gop-group-defends-gun-raffle-to-honor-lincoln-and-mlk-with-inept-slavery-analogy/) First there was the raffle itself. Because what better way to honor two men famously assassinated with guns than to raffle off a gun? I mean, we honor Christ with crosses, right? And then there was the apology for the raffle: > [@](#): > > “Our rights to freedom in choosing our own medical care, our freedom to build businesses to enhance the lives of ourselves and our neighbors, our freedom to be free of debt, our freedom to be free of oppressive taxes and misguided regulations, and yes our freedom to defend our lives under the Second Amendment — all are under attack.” > > “The great political issue today,” the group continued, “is whether or not the American people of all creeds and races will live free or live as slaves — slaves to their own overreaching government. 50 years ago, Martin Luther King’s great speech was an appeal for freedom for African Americans. Today, those same words he spoke 50 years ago are an appeal for freedom for all Americans.” Well, that makes it all better. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12433 "2014-01-20T23:11:53Z")
Freedom to be free of debt ? The fuck is he on about ? Are there some Debt Bandidos out there, tagging innocent Americans with their debt guns I should know about before I make any travel plans ? ---
**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:** [January 20, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12434 "2014-01-20T23:15:07Z")
Also, there’s an [unverifiable quote](https://www.facebook.com/PPAKM/posts/1975912356042) making the rounds which, if accurate, is pretty stupid: > [@Rep. Allan Rothlisberg](#): > > Women over 50 don’t need gynecological services anymore. It seems to have come from a small committee meeting that does not do full transcripted minutes, so take it with the approprate number of salt grains. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12435 "2014-01-20T23:33:40Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Well, it is primarily because “he ain’t our kind”. > I didn’t move here because it is a progressive community. > The place is beautiful and peaceful. > The land and the people I know are wonderful. > > But, the folks who have lived here for generations are somewhat backwards. > It is something of a timewarp to drive into town and shop for groceries. > The supermarket is relatively modern, but the clientele? Less so. > > It was only a decade ago that I first spotted a real live black couple shopping here. > Two of my close friends shopping with me (who happen to be black) noticed them first. > We debated whether we should say, “Hello” or just smile when we saw them. > We ended up saying “Hello” and gained a couple of new friends. They are from Indiana and apparently intend to retire here. Things have changed for the better since the 1990s but still, there is a strong residue of bigotry and racism remaining. > > But, I am from the city and was raised as anti-racist as it was possible to be in Atlanta in the mid 20th century. I am a fish out of water. I am sure all the folks around here consider themselves to be good people who are just worried about somebody they don’t feel comfortable with being President. > > And they vote. So, apart from race it’s not really political, and they might vote for a white Democrat? A white female Democrat, even? ---
**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 21, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12436 "2014-01-21T05:24:04Z")
Oklahoma: Congressman Lankford (R) to seek Coburn’s seat. Conservative, deeply religious, disciple of Coburn - what could go wrong? Within moments - eating their young. ““We won’t support Congressman Lankford’s bid for the Senate because of his past votes to increase the debt limit, raise taxes, and fund Obamacare,” said SCF (Senate Conservatives Fund) Executive Director Matt Hoskins in a statement released Monday. “We have reviewed his record and it’s clear that conservatives cannot count on him to fight for their principles,” he continued.” You make a few sane votes (prevent national default, actually Obama decreased taxes using the metric of lost tax money total, do something for approximately 40,000 Okies without insurance who would benefit) and they throw you to the wolves. Read more: [Lankford announces Senate bid - POLITICO](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/james-lankford-tom-coburn-senate-seat-102384.html#ixzz2r0UAE9VE) ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12437 "2014-01-21T05:51:29Z")
No mention of Sarah Palin’s “inspiring” mlk day message? > **[News from California, the nation and world - Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/)** > > The L.A. Times is a leading source of breaking news, entertainment, sports, politics, and more for Southern California and the world. Apparently, to honor Dr. King, Obama should stop “playing the race card.” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12438 "2014-01-21T07:53:51Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > No mention of Sarah Palin’s “inspiring” mlk day message? > > [http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-me-ra-on-mlk-day-tonedeaf-sarah-palin-says-obama-plays-the-race-card-20140120/](http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-me-ra-on-mlk-day-tonedeaf-sarah-palin-says-obama-plays-the-race-card-20140120/) > > Apparently, to honor Dr. King, Obama should stop “playing the race card.” I wish a didn’t read that. There’s so much irony in that article it burns when I pee now. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12439 "2014-01-21T09:20:25Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > No mention of Sarah Palin’s “inspiring” mlk day message? > > [http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-me-ra-on-mlk-day-tonedeaf-sarah-palin-says-obama-plays-the-race-card-20140120/](http://touch.latimes.com/#story/la-me-ra-on-mlk-day-tonedeaf-sarah-palin-says-obama-plays-the-race-card-20140120/) > > Apparently, to honor Dr. King, Obama should stop “playing the race card.” Jeeeeez! What in the living crap…!!! This snowbound nobody probably thought it was “MILK” day and was speaking out against chocolate milk rights. Good effing grief. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12440 "2014-01-21T09:22:29Z")
So there’s [this guy called Joshua Black](http://www.joshuablack2014.com/) running for the Florida House. Like many politicians these days, Mr. Black has a Twitter account. And since 140 characters is much too short for any sort of rational discourse but plenty long enough to spout stupid shit, Mr. Black has opted to write that [President Obama should not only be impeached, but arrested and hanged high](http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2014/01/20/florida-house-candidate-tweets-a-call-to-hang-the-president/). He further added that “Execution is the appropriate punishment for traitors #BenedictArnold #criminalpoliticians” [A pic of the full tweet exchange here](http://i.imgur.com/LYvNAWn.jpg) (courtesy of SomethingAwful). Amusing detail for those listening to our show on the radio : Mr. Black is \*actually \*black. And calling for a lynch mob. Which I think says something about racial equality in America today ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=621) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=623)