# 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:** 730
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14581 "2014-05-09T17:59:44Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well, good point, Obama is not actually a Republican … he just governs like one. “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats” - George Wallace. They look the same only if you are far away from the center. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14582 "2014-05-09T23:24:03Z")
[CNN’s Jake Tapper to Trey Gowdy:](http://www.forwardprogressives.com/jake-tapper-gop-congressman-didnt-republicans-care-much-4500-deaths-iraq/) > [@](#): > > Well, CNN’s Jake Tapper hit Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman for the select committee for another Benghazi “investigation,” with the question many liberals have been asking conservatives. > > “Republicans in general did not seem to have this appetite to find out what went wrong when incorrect intelligence was used to push the war in Iraq,” Tapper asked. “Do you see why some people might say, ‘Why is this more important than that war which resulted in the deaths of more than 4,500 American soldiers and countless innocent Iraqis?” > > _ **Exactly!** _ > > Shockingly, Gowdy didn’t answer the question. > > This is the kind of nonsense that makes it impossible for me to take Republicans seriously. We have a previous administration that admitted to war crimes, ignored warnings prior to 9/11 and started a war based on lies – yet Republicans essentially gave it all the proverbial shrug of the shoulders. > > Yet here we are, nearly two years after the fact, and Republicans are still holding hearings about Benghazi. > > This is the scenario I think we should go by. Once we see George W. Bush and Dick Cheney put on trial for war crimes, willfully misleading the American people into war and for the deaths of over 4,400 American soldiers in Iraq - then we’ll talk about what **talking points** were used immediately following Benghazi. ---
**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 10, 2014, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14583 "2014-05-10T08:03:00Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats” - George Wallace. > > They look the same only if you are far away from the center. And the only REAL Americans are smack-dab in the center! Right between the two parties! YEEAAHHH! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14584 "2014-05-10T08:32:30Z")
At the risk of continuing a hijack, I feel compelled to respond to this; > [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > 1. He promised greater transparency in government, instead we got whistlebower witch hunts and NSA shenanigans You say “whistleblowing”, I say “criminal espionage”. When did Obama ever promise to disclose the nature of all America’s clandestine intelligence programs to the entire world? > [@](#): > > 1. He promised to put an end to the big banks’ financial shenanigans, instead we got “too big to prosecute” And he made good on that by establishing the CFPB. > [@](#): > > 1. He promised to help Americans who were losing their homes in the collapse of the housing bubble burst, the agency he set up did very little and permitted banks to continue with shitty practices like dual tracking (where they supposedly worked with families to keep them in their homes and at that same time proceeded with eviction proceedings So it’s not the president that screwed up, but the bureaucracy. > [@](#): > > 1. He did jack shit to end the drone program. He LURVES the drone program. Obama never campaigned on abolishing drone warfare. > [@](#): > > 1. He tried to end Guantanamo, but after initial resistance from Republicans, gave up on it There was also plenty of opposition from _Democrats_ in Congress. > [@](#): > > 1. He has made sporadic noises about raising the minimum wage, but not a lot of sustained effort has been made Congress sets the minimum wage. The president cannot compel Congress to pass legislation. > [@](#): > > 1. He makes noises about helping out with unemployment, but has done little or nothing along those lines Congress controls unemployment insurance and reduction. The president cannot compel Congress to pass legislation. > [@](#): > > 1. He famously promised to not take a dime from Super PACs. Bwahahahahahahaha! (Hint: he took a lot more than a dime.) Fine, I’ll give you that one. Would you be happier if he had remained idealogically pure and we were now partway through President Romney’s first term? > [@](#): > > 1. He promised to protect Social Security but has repeatedly floated a “grand bargain” that would involve making cuts on it Congress controls Social Security. The president cannot compel Congress to pass legislation. > [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I would be OK with him trying. I understand the Republicans are obstructionists, but man, he mostly seems to be content to make mouth noises and do nothing of substance. What do you suppose he _should_ be doing? He can’t introduce legislation on his own and he certainly can’t force Congressional Republicans to act like adults. > [@Kobal2](#): > > Come on. [PROGRESS/HOPE/CHANGE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22CHANGE%22_poster) ? Yes We Can ? That don’t sound progressive at all to y’all ? A campaign slogan is not a political platform. I think too many people read too much into Obama’s talk about “change” and assumed he’d be some kind of Liberal Avenger who was going to take Congress over his knee and beat them into shape, end all war, abolish corporate avarice once and for all, and single-handedly lead We the People into a new golden age. And now they’re mad at him for betraying the promises that only ever existed in their own imagination in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14585 "2014-05-10T08:36:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats” - George Wallace. > > They look the same only if you are far away from the center. I see this kind of assertion all the time on Slashdot, and I think I’ve come up with the main difference between the two parties: The corrupt elements are indeed much the same between the two parties. But the Republican’s _crazy_ elements are what set them apart. IMO, their nuts are both much scarier than the Democrats’ nuts AND (perhaps more importantly) are more in the mainstream of their party. I mean, how many governing Dems are both on the Tea Party level AND are in positions of influence and power? How many Democratic nuts both want to do stuff on the level of some of the really socially conservative and religious Republicans, AND are in a position to do something about it? Probably some, to be sure, but in the same numbers? I seriously doubt it, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14586 "2014-05-10T11:26:39Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > The corrupt elements are indeed much the same between the two parties. But the Republican’s _crazy_ elements are what set them apart. IMO, their nuts are both much scarier than the Democrats’ nuts AND (perhaps more importantly) are more in the mainstream of their party. > > I mean, how many governing Dems are both on the Tea Party level AND are in positions of influence and power? How many Democratic nuts both want to do stuff on the level of some of the really socially conservative and religious Republicans, AND are in a position to do something about it? > > Probably some, to be sure, but in the same numbers? I seriously doubt it, myself. This is my exact take on the difference as well. Sure there are dirty cricket players everywhere equal enough for government work\*\*, and there are liberal nutbars, maybe even some in positions of power, but they are at least an order of magnitude if not more rarer in power than similarly crazy conservatives, and their ideas are not as dangerous. The worst thing domestically that could happen if a liberal nutbar took power is a deep recession caused by bad economic policy (again, stressing that this would only be true for a very small minority of actual american liberal office holders.) The worst thing domestically that could happen – shit, there are already people who are deliberately denied health care by conservatives who are playing with people’s lives in hopes of making Obamacare look bad. Not to mention the wide-ranging implications of an anti-science agenda. (I say “domestically” because while individual politicians differ on foreign policy, I don’t think you could predict whether an individual would implement good or bad foreign policy based sheerly on their simplified red-vs-blue political orientation.) \*\*See what I did there? ---
**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 10, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14587 "2014-05-10T12:20:18Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I would be OK with him trying. I understand the Republicans are obstructionists, but man, he mostly seems to be content to make mouth noises and do nothing of substance. The Republicans have voted 40 times in the House to repeal Obamacare. They’re trying, you can sense a real intent to repeal Obamacare there, despite the fact that they can’t do it. I don’t get any sense of intent at all from the Obama administration. Especially on economic issues. OTOH, not trying to pass something that you know won’t is sound. Why waste everybody’s time ? Like trying something that has failed 50 times for the 51th time when absolutely nothing has changed is not effort ? Which is in fact more obstructionism preventing actual shit to be done. Or it could be insanity. BTW have you met my friend Vaas ? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14588 "2014-05-10T14:15:42Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats” - George Wallace. > > They look the same only if you are far away from the center. The center has moved so far to the right in the last couple of decades that that fucking goddamn asshole conservative Ronald Reagan would be characterized as a RINO by most Republicans nowadays nowadays. The Tea Party has put the Republican Party into a clown car and driven the goal posts right off the playing field into the Twilight Zone. ---
**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 10, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14589 "2014-05-10T14:41:13Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > The center has moved so far to the right in the last couple of decades that that fucking goddamn asshole conservative Ronald Reagan would be characterized as a RINO by most Republicans nowadays nowadays. The Tea Party has put the Republican Party into a clown car and driven the goal posts right off the playing field into the Twilight Zone. And yet they somehow still manage to get money and support. What the fuck is up with that? Has three decades of trying to kneecap public education (_evil, evil teachers’ unions_) paid off [del]in spa-[/del] handsomely for them? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14590 "2014-05-10T17:54:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > And yet they somehow still manage to get money and support. What the fuck is up with that? [This.](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Tea_party_movement#Astroturf_organisation) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14591 "2014-05-10T18:05:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > … paid off [del]in spa-[/del] handsomely for them? Donations from the public are disappointingly niggardly. (No, I didn’t! I said “stingy”! Don’t give a fuck what your lying ass monitor says, “stingy”, goddamit!..) ---
**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:** [May 11, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14592 "2014-05-11T02:23:51Z")
You’re a person who hates stingy people, so you hate the Scots. And Welsh. And Jews. And Germans. And Poles. And . . . everybody else, you racist bastard. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14593 "2014-05-12T20:05:03Z")
[Un-Biblical guns laws make California vulnerable to invasion.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/12/ex-navy-chaplain-un-biblical-gun-laws-make-california-vulnerable-to-invasion-by-japan/) By Japan. And in a two-fer: [Louie Gohmert compares the cancellation of a TV reality show to female genital mutilation.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/12/louie-gohmert-compares-reality-tv-show-cancellation-to-female-genital-mutilation/) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14594 "2014-05-12T20:07:10Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Un-Biblical guns laws make California vulnerable to invasion.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/12/ex-navy-chaplain-un-biblical-gun-laws-make-california-vulnerable-to-invasion-by-japan/) > > By Japan. > > Hold me. Finally, this country will get some decent toilets. ---
**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 12, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14595 "2014-05-12T21:54:08Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Finally, this country will get some decent toilets. Yeah? You had best hope we are not invaded bt India, then. ---
**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 13, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14596 "2014-05-13T01:47:12Z")
Stipulated in advance: [This one](http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/12/tea-party-nut-allen-west-obama-boko-haram-distract-benghazi.html) is just too easy: [QUOTE=The Voices in Allen West’s Head] Are we witnessing an Obama ‘Wag the Dog’ moment with Boko Haram in Nigeria? I say yes. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14597 "2014-05-13T02:14:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [URL=“[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/12/ex-navy-chaplain-un-biblical-gun-laws-make-california-vulnerable-to-invasion-by-japan/](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/12/ex-navy-chaplain-un-biblical-gun-laws-make-california-vulnerable-to-invasion-by-japan/)”]Un-Biblical guns laws make California vulnerable to invasion. > > By Japan. Now I’m just a heathen, but I have a passing familiarity with the Bible (darn liberal arts degree). I don’t remember any guns in the Bible. 😕 Rocks, swords, pillars of salt, sure, but no guns. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14598 "2014-05-13T04:18:28Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Finally, this country will get some decent toilets. I dunno about that. Japanese toilets are known as [Burakumin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14599 "2014-05-13T04:19:33Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > Now I’m just a heathen, but I have a passing familiarity with the Bible (darn liberal arts degree). I don’t remember any guns in the Bible. 😕 Rocks, swords, pillars of salt, sure, but no guns. Consult the Book of Armaments. The Holy Hand Grenade is just the beginning. And in the New Testament, did not Our Lord teach us, “Whosoever would steal thy coat, fill the thieving bastard with hot lead!”? ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/14600 "2014-05-13T07:34:37Z")
> [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](#): > > Now I’m just a heathen, but I have a passing familiarity with the Bible (darn liberal arts degree). I don’t remember any guns in the Bible. 😕 Rocks, swords, pillars of salt, sure, but no guns. Good _Republican_ Christians know enough to read every _seventh_ letter: [QUOTE=Exodus Chapter 18 Verse 21] Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, _ **S** _uch as f_ **E** _ar God, m_ **E** _n of tru_ **T** _h, hatin_ **G** _ coveto_ **U** _sness; a_ **N** _d place _ **S** _uch ove_ **R** _ them, to _ **B** _e ruler_ **S** _ of thou_ **S** _ands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: [/QUOTE] The message _SWEET GUNS ‘R’ BOSS_ is plainly visible (modulo minor spelling deviations since the Finger of God wrote the Bible). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=729) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=731)