# 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:** 637
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12721 "2014-02-10T05:54:22Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > In the post, Sears claimed that homosexuals prey on children, argued that “Satan uses homosexuality to attack the living space of the Holy Spirit” and advocated that Republicans “as a party should be purging this perversion and send them to a party with a much bigger tent.” I have a much bigger tent… IN MY PANTS!!! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12722 "2014-02-10T06:30:37Z")
Is there an established, reliable procedure for purging perverts? Or will they have to improvise something? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12723 "2014-02-10T07:19:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Is there an established, reliable procedure for purging perverts? Or will they have to improvise something? I don’t know about perverts, but maybe they could adapt the one for brake systems? It involves lots of pumping… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12724 "2014-02-10T16:33:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Is there an established, reliable procedure for purging perverts? Oh, several. They’re very well-documented. But I ain’t volunteering! ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12725 "2014-02-10T19:15:48Z")
[http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/02/10/walker\_claims\_he\_voted\_for\_reagan.html](http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/02/10/walker_claims_he_voted_for_reagan.html) and > **[An Interview With Scott Walker - John Hawkins' Right Wing News](http://rightwingnews.com/interviews/an-interview-with-scott-walker/)** > > Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has made a name for himself nationally by taking on the unions in Wisconsin and winning the battle. He has out a new book about the > [@](#): > > Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) talked to Right Wing News about voting for Ronald Reagan: > > “I remember, I was a teenager, had just become a teenager and voted for Ronald Reagan – limited government, you know, smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense. You knew what you were getting. You knew how a Reagan administration, a Reagan presidency was going to be better for you.” > > One problem: Blogging Blue notes Walker wasn’t old enough to vote in either 1980 or 1984 when Reagan ran for president. (Date of birth per Wikipedia is Nov 2, 1967) The second link is to the source, a Jan 17 interview. It does not seem at all Onion-ish. Hard to believe Walker would lie about something so easily checked, but he’s been a successful liar for years now, so I suppose it comes easy to him. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12726 "2014-02-10T19:35:44Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/02/10/walker\_claims\_he\_voted\_for\_reagan.html](http://politicalwire.com/archives/2014/02/10/walker_claims_he_voted_for_reagan.html) > > and > > [An Interview With Scott Walker | John Hawkins' Right Wing News](http://www.rightwingnews.com/interviews/an-interview-with-scott-walker/) > > (Date of birth per Wikipedia is Nov 2, 1967) > > The second link is to the source, a Jan 17 interview. It does not seem at all Onion-ish. Hard to believe Walker would lie about something so easily checked, but he’s been a successful liar for years now, so I suppose it comes easy to him. Well, if he was honest about “just became a teenager”, that would be right – if he was born Nov 2 1967, he would’ve just turned 13 for the first Regan election. So the only problem is that, if he voted, it was illegal, and he’s just confessed to Voter Fraud. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12727 "2014-02-10T19:44:30Z")
More likely a slip of the tongue - he meant to say he \*supported \*Reagan, as did many teenage-minded people attracted by his having a simple answer to every complex problem. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12728 "2014-02-10T19:50:37Z")
Plus didn’t Reagan expand government and raise taxes? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12729 "2014-02-10T19:55:55Z")
Many people haven’t caught on to that _yet_. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12730 "2014-02-10T19:58:12Z")
Yes. But he did strengthen national defense, and one out of three ain’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12731 "2014-02-10T20:05:10Z")
Was our defense actually \*strengthened \*by blowing all those gigabucks on the useless B-1 or reactivating those WW2 battleships? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12732 "2014-02-10T20:07:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Was our defense actually \*strengthened \*by blowing all those gigabucks on the useless B-1 or reactivating those WW2 battleships? They were really cool looking, so we felt stronger just by looking at them. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12733 "2014-02-10T22:00:14Z")
Grenada: finally a war the US could win! ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12734 "2014-02-10T22:03:36Z")
[This story](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/10/lawmaker-suggests-duct-tape-strategy-for-gop-pols-shut-up-until-november-elections/) may be more amusing than stupid: > [@](#): > > A Tennessee congressman feels confident that Republicans can pick up six seats in the U.S. Senate, if only candidates would stop talking until the November election. > > “I would suggest when we nominate people we give them a roll of duct tape to put over their mouths so they don’t say stupid things, and maybe we can win an election,” said Rep. Ted Poe (R-TN) during an event Monday at the Heritage Foundation. > … > He cited Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who has claimed that women are to blame for divorce, and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who called health care law’s birth control mandate an assault on religious freedom, as some of the GOP’s best candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12735 "2014-02-10T22:48:56Z")
Apparently Republicans in the House think that the Democrats have just recently fallen off the turnip truck. They want to [tie raising the debt to restoring vet pensions](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gop-weighs-undoing-vets-pension-cuts-debt-price-181148002--finance.html)– a cut that was made in the budget they approved \* two months ago\*. It’s actually clever in a Black Adder’ish sort of way. If the Dems insist on a clean bill, then obviously they don’t support the troops. And if the Dems go along with it, then the Republicans get to claim, in an election year, that _they_ champion the troops. Meanwhile, the restoration of the pensions is supported by cuts to other social programs and Medicare. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12736 "2014-02-10T23:25:36Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > … Meanwhile, the restoration of the pensions is supported by cuts to other social programs and Medicare. (And I’d bet, if I actually had money) That some non-trivial number of vets rely on? :smack: CMC ---
**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:** [February 11, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12737 "2014-02-11T00:49:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Was our defense actually \*strengthened \*by blowing all those gigabucks on the useless B-1 or reactivating those WW2 battleships? Actually it’s the useless B-2 - our not really stealthy $2 billion per machine drag on defense budget to the tune of another billion a year - bomber. The B-1B is a pretty kick-ass conventional bomber. We also examined that “Reagan as conservative (current) model BS” some years back. I have a bookmark somewhere that I drag out whenever I hear some right-wing friends get nostalgic. Points about raising taxes, sponsoring Medi-Cal, support of Social Security, immigrant amnesty, bigger government… He’d never make it past a couple of republican primaries anymore. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12738 "2014-02-11T01:47:58Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [This story](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/10/lawmaker-suggests-duct-tape-strategy-for-gop-pols-shut-up-until-november-elections/) may be more amusing than stupid: " … hell, I’ve known that for ten years …" ---
**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:** [February 11, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12739 "2014-02-11T02:41:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > More likely a slip of the tongue - he meant to say he \*supported \*Reagan, as did many teenage-minded people attracted by his having a simple answer to every complex problem. Right Wing News has said they made a transcription error and the quote should have been something like, “A vote for Reagan meant . . .” Hmmmm . . . . OK. He might very well have been a big Reagan fan as a teenager and voted for him in a mock school election, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mekhazzio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b38774/32.png) [@Mekhazzio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mekhazzio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12740 "2014-02-11T03:12:45Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > The B-1B is a pretty kick-ass conventional bomber. Considering it only became that after a very expensive post-Reagan refit, I’m not sure that’s helping the cause of justifying the project through the 70s and 80s. It ultimately did nothing that it was intended to do, and even finding recent utility as a bomb truck, is awfully overengineered for the task and thus nearly as costly to operate as the ancient B-52s. It’s a reasonably good example of a big government boondoggle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=636) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=638)