# 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:** 642
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12821 "2014-02-15T04:15:38Z")
> [@Wash](#): > > That statement is confusing. I’m assuming Brattin is religious? So is he saying Christianity is pulled out of thin air, or he believes in evolution as much as he does his god? If only there were some way to determine which statements were more pulled out of thin air than others… ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12822 "2014-02-15T04:57:46Z")
> [@Rick Brattin](#): > > “It’s an absolute infringement on people’s beliefs,” Education is _supposed_ to infringe on people’s beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12823 "2014-02-15T13:44:11Z")
So if this becomes a law, would first degree belief infringement be a misdemeanor or a felony? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12824 "2014-02-15T14:06:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _“What’s being taught is just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion."_ It would be nice if he meant we need better - and better funding for - early education in the sciences. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12825 "2014-02-15T16:28:31Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “It’s an absolute infringement on people’s beliefs,” [State Rep. Rick Brattin (R)] told the Kansas City Star of requiring schools to teach evolution. “What’s being taught is just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion." I accept this as tacit admission that religions are “pulled out of the air.” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12826 "2014-02-16T00:41:54Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > I accept this as tacit admission that religions are “pulled out of the air.” Tacit? I thought it was loud and clear (No tacitity at all). Hmmm, maybe like “All raging homophobes have deeply-repressed gay lust”, there’s a corollary: “All raging Jesus freaks have a weak, teetering faith”. Hey, they obviously think anybody’s faith can be toppled by opening a science book, or looking at pictures of crotches (either flavor). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12827 "2014-02-16T03:06:46Z")
[Republicans kill babies!!!](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/14/do-republican-presidents-produce-higher-infant-mortality-rates/) I was going to say “Nah, not really” but fuck 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12828 "2014-02-16T03:09:44Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Tacit? I thought it was loud and clear (No tacitity at all). Tacitly includes Christianity. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12829 "2014-02-16T03:31:57Z")
Yes, he does, in book 15, chapter 44, of his [Annals.](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_%28Tacitus%29/Book_15#44) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12830 "2014-02-16T05:25:45Z")
_In tres partes omnia **Dropzone** delenda est._ ---
**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 16, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12831 "2014-02-16T11:30:43Z")
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) [may have violated the law when he implied that VW workers need to vote against unionization to keep their jobs](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/13/us-volkswagen-corker-idUSBREA1C04H20140213). > [@](#): > > Corker’s bombshell, which runs counter to public statements by Volkswagen, was dropped on the first of a three-day secret ballot election of blue-collar workers at the Chattanooga plant whether to allow the UAW to represent them. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12832 "2014-02-16T14:08:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Republicans kill babies!!!](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/14/do-republican-presidents-produce-higher-infant-mortality-rates/) > > I was going to say “Nah, not really” but fuck 'em. This is a nice metric, isn’t it? It takes a known and relatively short amount of time to grow and birth a baby\*, and mothers typically span a generation, so the effect of previous policies on their health, education, and economic status is smoothed out were it can’t be accounted for in the methodology. This is the kind of study were one has to carefully review the statistical methods to determine if they are appropriate, implement correctly, and - of course - actually use all the data that is claimed to be used. - For statisticians, not for the people directly involved ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12833 "2014-02-17T02:41:13Z")
Republican lawmaker proposes Bill forcing President Obama to only serve [school dinners](http://aattp.org/republican-lawmaker-proposes-bill-forcing-president-obama-to-only-serve-school-lunches-at-white-house/) at Whitehouse. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12834 "2014-02-17T02:49:30Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Republican lawmaker proposes Bill forcing President Obama to only serve [school dinners](http://aattp.org/republican-lawmaker-proposes-bill-forcing-president-obama-to-only-serve-school-lunches-at-white-house/) at Whitehouse. In principle, I don’t object to this sort of thing. I don’t think that government officials, not even the president, should get anything better than the lowest government employees can afford, not clothes, not furniture, not wine, not food, not offices, not flags, not marching bands. I have several friends and relatives in federal jobs, and they don’t even get a free cup of coffee or tea. Their toilet paper and paper towels and hand soap are rationed. It’s demeaning. On the other hand, if this is just to give the middle finger to Obama, then that’s fucked up. If Rodney Davis had been willing to accept the same conditions for himself and every other member of Congress and Supreme Court justice and every other government official, I would find it difficult to oppose the suggestion. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12835 "2014-02-17T04:25:31Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > On the other hand, if this is just to give the middle finger to Obama, then that’s fucked up. Judging by the posturing in the article, the middle finger is actually directed squarely at Michelle for forcing healthy food in sensible portions on innocent school children. That complete _bitch_ who has actually zero power to dictate or enforce this. It’s still stupid of course, but doesn’t appear to be proposed out of sheer spite for once. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12836 "2014-02-17T05:07:19Z")
Yeah, that’s genius. The frickin’ president of France is coming for a state dinner, and we’re going to serve him instant mashed potatoes from an ice cream scoop, a frozen chicken patty, a nice cubed-carrot/frozen pea medley, a hunk of corn-bread and a half-pint carton of milk (straw included). I’m sure that would go over well. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2014, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12837 "2014-02-17T05:14:36Z")
Hey, that’s one way never to hear from the French again. Some would call it a plus :p. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12838 "2014-02-17T05:16:02Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Hey, that’s one way never to hear from the French again. Some would call it a plus :p. But only idiots, and, even among them, only all-the-way-through idiots. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12839 "2014-02-17T05:55:07Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Yeah, that’s genius. The frickin’ president of France is coming for a state dinner, and we’re going to serve him instant mashed potatoes from an ice cream scoop, a frozen chicken patty, a nice cubed-carrot/frozen pea medley, a hunk of corn-bread and a half-pint carton of milk (straw included). I’m sure that would go over well. Again, speaking theoretically here, the French Republic has a slogan, and one the words in that slogan is “equality.” I would have zero problem serving the French president exactly what we serve in public schools. If there’s a problem with that, then we should rather consider improving the quality of school lunches. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/12840 "2014-02-17T06:05:39Z")
How would you feel about the US President going on a state visit and being served what French school children are served? Or would that be an insult the specialness of the US? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=641) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=643)