# 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:** 832
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16621 "2014-09-10T13:42:12Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is completely false. There’s plenty of evidence that early voting in states like North Carolina significantly boosted black turnout (and overall turnout) in 2008 and 2012. How about 2010? 2008 and 2012 aren’t hard to explain, and black turnout was higher than white turnout nationwide. Will 2014 feature higher black turnout than in 2010 or 2006? I doubt it very much. > [@](#): > > This directly contradicts your first statement in your post. It does boost black turnout, which is certainly a reason why Democrats support it, and why Republicans oppose it. The difference is that trying to reduce turnout, as Republicans have, is associated with restricting the rights of black people. Trying to boost turnout is not associated with restricting anyone’s rights. I’ve said that Democrats are trying to increase minority turnout. They aren’t actually succeeding, at least not with efforts to make voting easier. Putting a minority at the top of the ballot is what got people out to vote, not just minorities, but young people too. Although young people got disillusioned pretty quickly and reverted to form in 2012. Believe it not, this was not because of voter suppression efforts against young people. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16622 "2014-09-10T13:44:37Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > MacCat, that’s voting problems, and those should be addressed. > [@adaher](#): > > the mistaken assumption that voting isn’t easy enough Error! Error! Norman, co-ordinate… ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16623 "2014-09-10T13:46:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > In Australia it **is** like jury duty, i.e., compulsory. Maybe we should take a look at that. The problem with that is that you get less accountability, not more. The US system enhances the power of dedicated voting blocs, which makes it easier to hold politicians’ feet to the fire. The goal of the US system has never been “democracy”. Democracy is just a means to an end. THe end is individual liberty. In order to ensure our liberties are protected, politicians have to be held accountable. If most voters aren’t paying attention, that becomes impossible. The votes of the ignorant swamp the votes of the informed. The founders went too far in restricting the franchise. We all support universal suffrage for citizen adults now. But expanding turnout for its own sake in order to entice the uninformed to christmas tree their ballot or just vote for names they are familiar with is not good for democracy and certainly not good for protecting our freedoms. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16624 "2014-09-10T13:47:58Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Error! Error! Norman, co-ordinate… For the vast majority of people, voting is quite easy. If it’s not for some people, that has to be addressed, but early voting and same day registration aren’t really part of that solution. Those are solutions to a different problem, which is unmotivated Democratic voters that keep on costing Democrats elections. Thus making it a matter of great urgency to one party. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16625 "2014-09-10T13:56:13Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > For the vast majority of people, voting is quite easy… > Those are solutions to a different problem, which is unmotivated Democratic voters that keep on costing Democrats elections. Are these the same unmotivated voters, many of whom waited for eight hours to vote in 2004 Ohio, while Republicans were voting quickly at precincts with far more machines? My God, is your attention span so bad you can’t even remember a very recent post in another thread? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16626 "2014-09-10T14:03:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > How about 2010? 2008 and 2012 aren’t hard to explain, and black turnout was higher than white turnout nationwide. Will 2014 feature higher black turnout than in 2010 or 2006? I doubt it very much. We’ll see. > [@](#): > > I’ve said that Democrats are trying to increase minority turnout. Yes. This is a good thing for America. > [@](#): > > They aren’t actually succeeding, at least not with efforts to make voting easier. Yes they are. They succeeded in '08 and '12, as studies have shown. Now we need to translate that success into midterms. > [@](#): > > Putting a minority at the top of the ballot is what got people out to vote, not just minorities, but young people too. That probably had something to do with it, but minority turnout was higher in states like North Carolina with lots of early voting than in states without it. Again, you fail on the facts. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16627 "2014-09-10T14:04:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If most voters aren’t paying attention, that becomes impossible. The votes of the ignorant swamp the votes of the informed. Although the ignorant did not swamp the votes of the informed, they do vote in large enough numbers to make the GOPer cheating mad skillz work, with a little help from the SCOTUS 5. > [@adaher](#): > > We all support universal suffrage for citizen adults now. :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:** [September 10, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16628 "2014-09-10T14:05:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > For the vast majority of people, voting is quite easy. If it’s not for some people, that has to be addressed, but early voting and same day registration aren’t really part of that solution. Additional voting days “aren’t really part of that solution” to the problem of excessive poll delays? Really, now you’re just descending into self-parody (admittedly no mean feat, given the uphill battle you’re fighting against [Poe’s Law)](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Poeslaw). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16629 "2014-09-10T14:23:32Z")
Please, please take this debate over to one of the many voter threads in the Pit and GD. It really doesn’t belong here and it’s ruining this thread. Also, this thread isn’t for debating Republican stupidity, it’s for posting about it. If anyone has a particular stupid Republican idea that should be debated, please, please take it to another thread. Gah. I hate to see this thread ruined after cruising along so well for so long. Thanks, Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16630 "2014-09-10T15:10:37Z")
What do you do after seven congressional committees have concluded that there was no “Benghazi Conspiracy”? Why, [you hold an eighth committee,](http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/benghazi-creeps-back-spotlight) which chairman Trey Gowdy(R-S.C.) insists won’t be the least bit political. Uh huh. Listen to the non-partisan words of committee member Rep. Westmoreland(R-GA) > [@](#): > > U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Grantville) addressed the Benghazi investigation and terrorist organization ISIS among other topics Saturday morning at the Cobb County GOP breakfast at its headquarters. […] > “I’m not going to stand here and confirm or deny anything,” Westmoreland told the crowd. “Our job is to figure out the truth.” > Westmoreland spent much of his speech criticizing Democrats. “I think our enemy stands on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” Westmoreland said to loud applause. And it gets better! > [@](#): > > According to the report in the Marietta Daily Journal, Westmoreland went on to say that “it’s hard” for congressional Democrats “to be bipartisan.” Using congressional committees and public funds to openly campaign against the President and the Democratic Party. How sweet. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16631 "2014-09-10T15:21:24Z")
Not stupid, just evil. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16632 "2014-09-10T16:16:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not stupid, just evil. Actually, I was referring to the absolute disconnect between “I think our enemy stands on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave", and “it’s hard” for congressional Democrats “to be bipartisan.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16633 "2014-09-10T17:14:27Z")
Drawing attention away from our pet monkey (who capers through so many other threads), here’s news from _another_ Republican idiot. [Santorum](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/santorum-call-secularism-religion-so-we-can-ban-it-public-schools)–whose name says it all! > [@](#): > > It was just yesterday that the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer was calling for people with HIV to be quarantined in the name of protecting the public health. So naturally, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum appeared on Fischer’s radio program today to share his excitement at having partnered with the AFA on his most recent film “One Generation Away.” > > During the discussion, Santorum said that Christians have allowed their faith to be removed from the public square and need to start fighting back, arguing that removing the Bible from public school classrooms is not neutrality but rather the promotion of the secular worldview. He suggested that conservative Christians should respond by “calling secularism a religion because if we did, then we could ban that too.” > > Claiming that the absence of religion is itself a religion, Santorum said that Christians must reassert themselves and insist that Christianity “should be taught in the schools” Banning a religion is a thoroughly un-American concept. Besides, he’s wrong about the past–the recent past, as well as that stuff that happened at the end of the 18th century. When I went to school in Bible Belt Texas there was _no_ daily prayer. (Graduated high school in 1966–you do the math.) Occasionally, some local Brother Whathisface would do an “invocation” for a special assembly (or that truly sacred event, a football game). He’d do that weird Protestant Our Father; everybody would have fainted at a Hail Mary. (I always remembered to cross myself.) There were _no_ Bibles in the classroom. If there had been, the community would have insisted on the KJV; but the mostly secular setting protected the minorities. (Santorum claims to be RC–as I was.) Not long ago, the [Texas Freedom Network](http://www.tfn.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_religious_freedom_bible_courses), always on the alert, said that elective Bible courses might be offered in public schools. Various curricula were reviewed & some were found lacking because they taught a certain narrow brand of Christianity rather than literature, history, etc. New developments: > [@](#): > > An independent review raises serious concerns about a new curriculum that promoters hope will combat what they see as ignorance about the Bible among public school students. _Museum of the Bible_, a nonprofit created by Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green, is publishing the curriculum, _The Book: The Bible’s History, Narrative and Impact_. Mark Chancey, a religious studies scholar at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, reviewed a preliminary version of the curriculum in May 2014 for the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund. Chancey’s review finds that the curriculum represents a classic example of preaching religious beliefs in the guise of promoting religious literacy in public schools. (Yes, in Texas the folks trying to screw up Public Education are overwhelmingly Republican.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16634 "2014-09-10T17:26:13Z")
Yes, that’s the runner-up for their last Presidential nomination - and, under their rules of succession, their rightful \*next \*nominee. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16635 "2014-09-10T17:34:47Z")
Inspired by the discussion of Santorum, it’s the return of man-dog unions! This time through [another rightie nut](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/09/fox-same-sex-marriage-means-anything-goes-including-man-dog-unions/). In response to a question about at what point a line is drawn about discrimination and if people will get cakes when they marry their dogs, he said: > [@](#): > > “And when you think about it, though,” Starnes said, “when you do redefine marriage, that means anything goes. You’re no longer allowed to say, well, you can’t marry. Well, who are we to say who can’t marry if we’ve already redefined it. So, now, it really is anything goes.” I feel for them. I mean, other laws that apply to people are really hard to distinguish from those that apply to dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16636 "2014-09-10T17:54:45Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Inspired by the discussion of Santorum, it’s the return of man-dog unions! This time through [another rightie nut](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/09/fox-same-sex-marriage-means-anything-goes-including-man-dog-unions/). This kind of tragedy could be avoided if they just refrained from putting their dogs at the bottom of those slippery slopes. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16637 "2014-09-10T18:05:53Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > This kind of tragedy could be avoided if they just refrained from putting their dogs at the bottom of those slippery slopes. _snerk_ It really does convince me that conservatives in this country struggle with what “consent” means. That would explain why they are so befuddled by rape. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16638 "2014-09-10T18:06:19Z")
[Republican candidate for Governor of Colorado wants to seize all national parks, forests, and national property within the state](http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/10/3565669/beauprez-seize-sell-public-lands/). And damn the costs. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16639 "2014-09-10T18:12:12Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > This is one of those cases where I’ll be happy to be wrong. Who knew that having an election on Election Day was inherently racist? The problem with Election Day is that it’s a WORK day. This was fine in the days when you worked near (or even where) you lived, but in this day and age it isn’t. I live more than an hour’s travel from where I work when it _isn’t_ rush hour. On Election Day, I either have to get to work late or leave work early if I want to vote. If I were an hourly worker, I’d have to hope that I weren’t scheduled during voting hours. I live in a state that doesn’t have early voting and doesn’t allow absentee voting except for very limited reasons, such as “not in the country” or “in the hospital ICU”. Otherwise, you have to be at the polls, on the day, to vote. Voting isn’t a walk in the park for me, and registering required a trip to the DMV (and time off of work), but _for me_ that’s a minor inconvenience. My salary is high enough that I don’t have to choose between working enough to feed myself that week or voting. Not everyone has that luxury. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/16640 "2014-09-10T18:34:50Z")
I hate distract this thread, but why do we do elections this way? Why on Tuesday? Why only ONE day? Why couldn’t we have Election Weekend? You go to church on Sunday? Vote Saturday! Synagogue on Saturday? Vote on Sunday! open 24/7! I would gladly donate my entire weekend to host a polling place. AND…we can announce results on Wednesday and ONLY on Wednesday! Enough of the ‘with 22% of polls checking in, Incumbent Dickstain has a 5 point lead on Challenger Nitwit’. Everybody can chill the fuck out, vote at their leisure (I know some folks work on weekends, so the ‘time off for voting’ rule would still apply) and the pundits can keep their pie holes shut till mid-week! I know. It’s a brilliant idea and will never happen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=831) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=833)