# 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:** 723
**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:** [May 1, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14441 "2014-05-01T23:23:54Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > It’s not the first time I stumble upon this right wing meme - it’s a regular of glurge emails. > > FTR, It’s not just offensive, it’s also fundamentally dishonest and based on a false premise. The reason DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS is a thing is not because bears along the trail will “grow dependent on handouts and won’t learn to feed themselves”. They’re animals, not _stupid_. > Rather, it’s because when they learn to associate humans with yummy food, they become aggressive towards humans to try and get to the treats they’re obviously secreting somewhere on their persons. > > But I suppose it’s not the first, or the last, time Republicans twist reality and facts to better fit with a preconceived ideology… If we take this parallel seriously, isn’t it an argument against private charity rather than public management of the wild human population? A park ranger would be reasonable to act in the welfare of bears and wolves in a controlled and state-run way. It’s dangerous to civilians to feed bears themselves. Is it dangerous to churches to manage charity? Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14442 "2014-05-02T00:32:31Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Do you carry your gun everywhere? > Do minorities make you skittish? > > Do you want to exercise your second amendment rights but are living in fear of the way people overreact when you kill their kids? > > Is fear of financial ruin making you turn and walk away instead of standing your ground? > > Ken Cuchinelli has a deal for you ! > > [http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/cuccinelli-3-others-start-virginia-self-defense-law-firm-defending-gun-rights/2014/02/27/fdce2b8e-9fbd-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/cuccinelli-3-others-start-virginia-self-defense-law-firm-defending-gun-rights/2014/02/27/fdce2b8e-9fbd-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html) So if you’re taking ol’ Ken and his good ol’ boys on as your attorneys, does that mean that you expect to be using your gun(s) in a way that others might consider illegal? Planning on shooting up your school, plunk your retainer down with Ken. Planning on shooting the local neighbors who happen to be walking down your street? Ken’s your man. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn wants to abolish the federal minimum wage entirely.](http://www.salon.com/2014/05/01/gop_sen_tom_coburn_wants_to_abolish_the_federal_minimum_wage/) Because “It goes against the free market principle.” (Which means, presumably, that he’d be against state/local-level MW laws as well.) Oklahoma is the state that just made it illegal for local jurisdictions to set their own minimum wages higher than what the state says you can earn. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14443 "2014-05-02T15:12:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Oklahoma is the state that just made it illegal for local jurisdictions to set their own minimum wages higher than what the state says you can earn. Oh, yeah, right. You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [May 2, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14444 "2014-05-02T17:54:22Z")
And [the latest entry](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-hickey-anal-sex-letter-south-dakota?utm_content=buffer257e2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer) in the “Gee, right-wing Republicans sure do spend more time thinking about gay sex than actual gay people” file: > [@](#): > > When he learned that South Dakota is poised to become the latest state to face a legal challenge against its same-sex marriage ban, Steve Hickey was inspired to take action. > > The Republican state House representative and pastor submitted a letter to the editor this week to the Argus Leader, South Dakota’s largest newspaper. He titled it “A One Way Alley for the Garbage Truck” and challenged the “medical and psychological communities” to weigh in on the matter. > > “I’m asking the doctors who practice in our state, is the science really settled on this issue or is it more the case that you feel silenced and intimidated?” Hickey wrote in the letter, which he posted on his Facebook page. > > He didn’t waste any time getting to the point. > > > [@](#): > > > > “Certainly there are board-certified doctors in our state who will attest to what seems self-evident to so many: gay sex is not good for the body or mind,” he wrote. “Pardon a crude comparison but regarding men with men, we are talking about a one-way alley meant only for the garbage truck to go down. Frankly, I’d question the judgment of doctor who says it’s all fine.” I’m still trying to figure out how this part fits in with his one-way-garbage-truck metaphor: > [@](#): > > Hickey told TPM on Wednesday he was driven to write the letter after Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, **a lesbian couple** from Rapid City, S.D., announced their intention to become the first state residents to challenge its gay marriage ban. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14445 "2014-05-02T18:02:47Z")
Surely it’s more of a garbage train. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14446 "2014-05-02T18:05:08Z")
Yeah, the garbage truck metaphor doesn’t work for lesbians. Maybe something about the dumpster behind Red Lobster would work better? I got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14447 "2014-05-02T18:35:26Z")
Yanno, if homosexuality really were a “defect” or something, it would still be as wrong to deny them marriage as it would be to deny it to people in wheelchairs. If it were something that was simply “bad for you” like smoking or being overweight, it would be as wrong as denying marriage to smokers. He should stick with, “its a sin!” and let the rest of us keep deciding which, of the innumerable number of your sins you’ve got on your list, we give a damn about. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14448 "2014-05-02T18:45:21Z")
Forbid butt sex? Isn’t that how we get little baby lawyers? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14449 "2014-05-02T19:01:46Z")
[Darryl Issa subpoenas John Kerry over Benghazi.](http://www.salon.com/2014/05/02/darrell_issa_subpoenas_john_kerry_over_benghazi/) ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14450 "2014-05-02T21:18:56Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yeah, the garbage truck metaphor doesn’t work for lesbians. Maybe something about the dumpster behind Red Lobster would work better? I got nothing. Surely we can create a perfect metaphor for lesbians and garbage if we put our minds to it. Maybe a really garbagey rug that you lick and get AIDS and shit? On second thought, heterosexual couples might do that as well so how dirty can it be? Perhaps like two mountains of garbage that are grinding against each other or something. Also, the mountains smell like fish if we want it to be especially hateful. Man, writing good bigoted material is hard. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14451 "2014-05-02T21:44:41Z")
So hetero couples who enjoy a discreet bit of buggery every now and again, marriage revoked as well, right ? That being said, I admire the candor of the legislator in question, who asks a question of medical professionals, but pre-emptively states he’ll disregard any answer other than “yes you’re right” because it’s just common sense that he’s right. I should put that tactic to work in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14452 "2014-05-02T22:16:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Darryl Issa subpoenas John Kerry over Benghazi.](http://www.salon.com/2014/05/02/darrell_issa_subpoenas_john_kerry_over_benghazi/) Is there a way to determine whether Congress (mostly Issa) has spent more time investigating Benghazi than 9-11? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14453 "2014-05-03T00:26:31Z")
[this guy is kind of creepy](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/02/alabamas-chief-justice-buddha-didnt-create-us-so-first-amendment-only-protects-christians/) > [@](#): > > Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment only applies to Christians because “Buddha didn’t create us, Mohammed didn’t create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures” who created us. Is “Cracker” a proper term for Alabamanians, or does that only apply to Georgians? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14454 "2014-05-03T00:31:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > [this guy is kind of creepy](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/02/alabamas-chief-justice-buddha-didnt-create-us-so-first-amendment-only-protects-christians/) > [@](#): > > “Now,” he continued, “if technology’s supposed to increase our knowledge, how did we become so stupid?” How indeed. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14455 "2014-05-03T00:39:08Z")
I’m… not sure how the internal logic of this piece of crazy even works. Like, OK, say your pet god created everyone. Didn’t he also, necessarily, create Buddhists and Muslims as well ? And as such, if the rights enumerated in the Constitution come from having been created by god, they have 'em too ? I dunno, I guess I just don’t get it, or where “it” might even come from. I think I’m thinking about this rather more than I’m expected to, and possibly more than the Honourable Chief Justice himself. BTW, further crazy : [QUOTE=Crazy McInsane] Chief Justice Moore later defined “life” via Blackstone’s Law — a book that American lawyers have “sadly forgotten” — as beginning when “the baby kicks.” “Today,” he said, “our courts say it’s not alive ’til the head comes out.” [/QUOTE] Actually, I’m \*pretty \*sure the laws of today state that you can’t end a pregnancy by the time the baby can fucking kick (unless the baby would _kill you_. Though possibly not via kicking). But what do I know, I’m no Chief Justice. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14456 "2014-05-03T00:45:50Z")
Hey, I remember him. He’s the guy who wanted the Ten Commandments posted in his courthouse. He has a point. I think it would be great to execute everyone who mows his lawn on Sunday mornings. And if he also uses a leaf blower, execute unto the seventh generation. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14457 "2014-05-03T01:23:15Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Actually, I’m \*pretty \*sure the laws of today state that you can’t end a pregnancy by the time the baby can fucking kick (unless the baby would _kill you_. Though possibly not via kicking). But what do I know, I’m no Chief Justice. No, that’s not nuts - it was referred to as ‘quickening’, which takes place in the second trimester and yes, the fetus does kick in utero (or so I have been told). I have read (sorry, no links to source material) that terminating pregnancies before ‘quickening’ was generally acceptable - in part, no doubt, because of difficulties in distinguishing between a spontaneous and non-spontaneous event. However, I am more opposed to defining life too early - _ **before fertilization** _. Some state law - it’s probably listed here - did. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14458 "2014-05-03T01:44:48Z")
> [@j666](#): > > No, that’s not nuts - it was referred to as ‘quickening’, which takes place in the second trimester and yes, the fetus does kick in utero (or so I have been told). While they are adept at martial arts, including kicking techniques, the quickening involves the use of tiny swords. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14459 "2014-05-03T01:52:00Z")
> [@j666](#): > > No, that’s not nuts - it was referred to as ‘quickening’, which takes place in the second trimester and yes, the fetus does kick in utero (or so I have been told). Yes. I am aware. But that was my point. By the time the fetus \*can \*kick it’s already too late to have a legal abortion in the existing framework, which generally speaking restricts electives to first trimester or very early second trimester barring weird shit going on. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14460 "2014-05-03T01:56:14Z")
> [@j666](#): > > However, I am more opposed to defining life too early - _ **before fertilization** _. Some state law - it’s probably listed here - did. I believe that would be Embarizona, where, for counting purposes, your pregnancy begins at the end of your last period. How, exactly, they would expect to enforce that is disturbing to think about (“show me your tampon receipts”). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=722) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=724)