# 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:** 809
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16161 "2014-08-14T03:14:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Can somebody explain to me how it works, to challenge the ballot cast by a specific voter? Do they disqualify the voter, then ASK how he voted and subtract it from the total of the candidate he names? > > I can see the potential for some mischief that way. > > But no, that CAN’T be it! How does it work, really? > [@Trinopus](#): > > **kaylasdad99** : There was a case, some decades ago (sorry, only citing from memory from Time magazine) where an election was challenged. It came down to a very few votes. In the course of the lawsuit, it came out that the right to a secret ballot is not a constitutionally guaranteed right. > > The judge asked one voter how he had voted. The man refused to answer. The judge pressed him, under threat of contempt. The man stood his ground. And he was penalized (but not heavily, the judge not being a monster.) > > The secrecy of the ballot is a treasured tradition…but it isn’t actually a “right.” > > (Maybe this has been changed since then…) 😕 So what’s to stop a losing candidate from gathering enough confederates to swing the election his way, successfully challenging their ballots, and getting them to say they voted for the other guy? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16162 "2014-08-14T03:25:42Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So what’s to stop a losing candidate from gathering enough confederates to swing the election his way, successfully challenging their ballots, and getting them to say they voted for the other guy? Personal integrity. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16163 "2014-08-14T03:31:02Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That Geoff always was a jerk. Don’t you mean a geork? ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16164 "2014-08-14T13:00:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Personal integrity. If our democracy is relying on the honor system, we’re in big trouble. I agree, this is a ridiculous situation where you can vote for candidate A, then claim you voted for candidate B and deduct a vote from the total. On what basis are these votes considered invalid? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16165 "2014-08-14T13:14:02Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > On what basis are these votes considered invalid? They didn’t vote for the candidate making the challenge. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16166 "2014-08-14T13:25:21Z")
Just so no one gets a completely wrong idea about how vote challenging works, AIUI a vote must be shown to have been invalid in some way per election laws. For instance, if a particular ballot is alleged to be spoiled, or if a voter is alleged to have been ineligible to vote in some way, that would be a legitimate challenge. OTOH, the one cite I’ve seen which talked about this particular effort listed a challenge to the vote of one of Thad Cochrane’s campaign people, who is alleged to have had “no reason for casting an absentee ballot.” If the challenges are mostly at that level, I hope a judiciary smackdown is in store for the challenger. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16167 "2014-08-14T13:37:18Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > OTOH, the one cite I’ve seen which talked about this particular effort listed a challenge to the vote of one of Thad Cochrane’s campaign people, who is alleged to have had “no reason for casting an absentee ballot.” If the challenges are mostly at that level, I hope a judiciary smackdown is in store for the challenger. I hope they stick him for all of the costs associated with this farce. ---
**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:** [August 14, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16168 "2014-08-14T17:45:00Z")
There is apparently some vague language in the law saying that a voter for a primary candidate must intend to vote for that candidate in the general, but from what I’ve read it is considered unenforceable. If I had to make up a way to challenge votes, I would look into the voting history of everyone who voted in the Republican primary, and see if they have a past history of voting in Republican or Democratic primaries (there might be a way to do this, or maybe not), and if they have a history of voting in Democratic primaries, I’d challenge the vote in hopes of getting a direct admission that they were crossing party lines just to spoil the “integrity” of the Republican primary. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16169 "2014-08-14T18:20:16Z")
In a bid to get his own Stupid Idea of the Day thread, Rep Steve King says racial profiling isn’t a problem in Ferguson MO. > [@](#): > > It looks to me like you don’t need to bother with that particular factor because they all appear to be of a single, you know, of a single origin, I should say, a **continental origin** might be the way to phrase that. Bolding mine. No word on the size of the protestors calves. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16170 "2014-08-14T18:43:09Z")
I’m guessing they were the size of watermelons. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16171 "2014-08-14T19:45:11Z")
[Don’t exaggerate](http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/steve-king-still-stands-by-cantaloupe-comments/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0). > [@](#): > > Rep. Steve King, Republican of Iowa, falls into the latter category. In July he made the ridiculous, now notorious claim that for every child of illegal immigrants “who’s a valedictorian, there’s another 100 out there who weigh 130 pounds and they’ve got calves the size of cantaloupes because they’re hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.” ---
**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:** [August 15, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16172 "2014-08-15T04:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > We’re asking, Father, for two things. We’re asking, Father, that you would expose them, set division amongst them, set them one against another, bring confusion and fear into their camp, into their thinking, for the purpose of pulling them down, for casting them down out of their high offices and reducing them, Lord, to having no power in this state. So, Lord, that you might raise up and seek the righteous in the positions of power that this state might once more be a state that honors you in all that it does. In some parts of the country, this is actually a common attitude among evangelicals towards anyone who won’t join their group and submit to their authority. They claim to be all about Jesus, but really they use their beliefs to justify hate. Funny, eh? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16173 "2014-08-15T14:29:12Z")
[More Steve King](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-king-ferguson-continental-origin), this time on the police riots in Ferguson: > [@](#): > > “This idea of no racial profiling,” King said, “I’ve seen the video. It looks to me like you don’t need to bother with that particular factor because they all appear to be of a single, you know, of a single origin, I should say, a continental origin might be the way to phrase that.” ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16174 "2014-08-15T14:47:48Z")
[Rush Limbaugh](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/12/robin_williams_and_the_pop_culture_media) says Robin Williams apparent suicide is due to the fact that Leftists are never happy. > [@](#): > > “He had everything, everything that you would think would make you happy. But it didn’t.” Now, what is the left’s worldview in general? What is it? If you had to attach not a philosophy but an attitude to a leftist worldview, it’s one of pessimism and darkness, sadness. They’re never happy, are they? They’re always angry about something. No matter what they get, they’re always angry . ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16175 "2014-08-15T15:06:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [More Steve King](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-king-ferguson-continental-origin), this time on the police riots in Ferguson: Sniped. Four posts above yours. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16176 "2014-08-15T18:48:50Z")
[Sez a county commissioner in Alabama:](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/15/proposed-ten-commandments-display-has-nothing-to-do-with-religion-alabama-county-official/) > [@](#): > > “The Ten Commandments is a historical document and it has nothing to do with religion.’ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16177 "2014-08-15T18:51:17Z")
“Continental origin?” Is he suggesting the protestors are French? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16178 "2014-08-15T18:51:18Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [More Steve King](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-king-ferguson-continental-origin), this time on the police riots in Ferguson: > > > [@](#): > > > > “This idea of no racial profiling,” King said, “I’ve seen the video. It looks to me like you don’t need to bother with that particular factor because they all appear to be of a single, you know, of a single origin, I should say, a continental origin might be the way to phrase that.” _Mais ouis, Monsieur!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16179 "2014-08-15T19:00:25Z")
So, then calves the size of aubergine? ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16180 "2014-08-15T19:40:59Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > [Rush Limbaugh](http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2014/08/12/robin_williams_and_the_pop_culture_media) says Robin Williams apparent suicide is due to the fact that Leftists are never happy. > > > [@](#): > > > > “He had everything, everything that you would think would make you happy. But it didn’t.” Now, what is the left’s worldview in general? What is it? If you had to attach not a philosophy but an attitude to a leftist worldview, it’s one of pessimism and darkness, sadness. They’re never happy, are they? They’re always angry about something. No matter what they get, they’re always angry So is this Rush’s way of telling the world that he’s a liberal now? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=808) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=810)