# 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:** 984
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19662 "2015-03-03T02:56:55Z")
Was it Poe wrote the one about the virulently anti-gay lawyer who unwillingly revealed his true sexual attraction? “The Tell-Tale Hard”, was it? ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19663 "2015-03-03T08:54:07Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Oh right was that when they brought in Joshua Malina? And shipped out Rob Lowe, exactly. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19664 "2015-03-03T09:44:43Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Here is the article: [http://m.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-from-voicemail-to-voicemail-the-short-political-life-and/article\_d287e178-0463-53d8-9393-595c9b40dcf5.html?mobile\_touch=true](http://m.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-from-voicemail-to-voicemail-the-short-political-life-and/article_d287e178-0463-53d8-9393-595c9b40dcf5.html?mobile_touch=true) > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And, this is a political career-killer among Missouri Republicans? > > In this day and age? > > Seriously? > > :eek: :dubious: I wouldn’t think so, really. But maybe. There’s some amount of Christianism in the base, and I suppose a Jew might be regarded with a little suspicion by a few people. Not so much for racial reasons as for not being “born again.” As for the billionaire donors: I don’t know those guys, they may be Nazis. :shrug: I would note that he just won re-election unopposed, because the Dems didn’t even put up a candidate for State Auditor. That’s the first time I remember a statewide office not being contested by the Democratic Party since I started voting. We joke about Missouri politics sometimes, but it may be getting crazier. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19665 "2015-03-03T20:49:26Z")
[Proposed House bills on the EPA:](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/house_republicans_want_to_legally_forbid_epa_from_looking_at_science_it_doesnt_like/) > [@](#): > > Two bills are up for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, both of which could significantly impact the way the Environmental Protection Agency is allowed to use science to come up with regulations. The Secret Science Reform Act and the Science Advisory Board Reform Act both require the EPA to consider only publicly available, easily reproducible data when making policy recommendations. Scientific organizations and environmental groups, as well as a number of Democrats, disapprove of the bills, arguing that they favor industry over real science. > > Over 50 scientific organizations spoke out in opposition to the Secret Science bill, noting that large-scale public health studies would be ineligible for consideration because large sample sizes could not be easily reproduced. > > \ > > The Science Advisory Board (SAB) Reform Act would change the structure of the SAB, the board of scientists and economists that review EPA risk assessments. The bill would give industry scientists more opportunities to join the panel, while preventing academic scientists from discussing their own research, ostensibly to avoid conflict of interest. What it actually does is “turn the idea of conflict of interest on its head,” according to Andrew Rosenberg, the director of the Center for Science and Democracy. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19666 "2015-03-03T20:54:04Z")
Is there something _wrong_ about making **Readers’ Digest** the main source of scientific information to Congress? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19667 "2015-03-03T21:35:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Proposed House bills on the EPA:](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/03/house_republicans_want_to_legally_forbid_epa_from_looking_at_science_it_doesnt_like/) I’d like to point out that according to this article, the final vote whether it goes to the senate is up to none other than Oakie Inhofe. And you do remember what source Inhofe claims that refutes all the climate-control data and knowledge we have, right?? The Bible Now why does everyone get on MY ass when I use him as an example that those who are devout shouldn’t be allowed to represent, unless it’s in a church? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19668 "2015-03-03T21:37:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Is there something _wrong_ about making **Readers’ Digest** the main source of scientific information to Congress? It probably is now. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19669 "2015-03-03T21:42:59Z")
So when do they get done grandstanding and start governing? There’s only about 600 days to the next election, guys. Need to have something to show for it, don’tcha? ---
**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:** [March 3, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19670 "2015-03-03T22:08:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > So when do they get done grandstanding and start governing? There’s only about 600 days to the next election, guys. Need to have something to show for it, don’tcha? Well, they ran for office on the precept that government is evil and can’t do anything right. So, in order to be successful, they have to _prove_ that, right? ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19671 "2015-03-03T22:11:12Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > We joke about Missouri politics sometimes, but it may be getting crazier. It’s been well on its way since Blunt’s reign of terror. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19672 "2015-03-04T03:40:01Z")
Matt Blunt? ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19673 "2015-03-04T04:23:06Z")
Emily. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19674 "2015-03-04T04:40:29Z")
Rollo? ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19675 "2015-03-04T04:54:59Z")
James. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19676 "2015-03-04T14:12:24Z")
Ben Carson says [homosexuality is a choice](http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/04/politics/ben-carson-prisons-gay-choice/) because many people “go into prison straight – and when they come out, they’re gay.” ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19677 "2015-03-04T15:42:58Z")
**Fear** , I can’t help but think that there are any number of people out there, including Dr. Carson, who sit down and study the worse possible impulses of the most narrow-minded and willfully ignorant of our fellow citizens and then deliberately opt to follow that course. There are matters on which reasonable men can differ, but the stuff this guy and others of his ilk are throwing out eliminates the reasonable demographic from the discussion. Someone said that 30% of the electorate will believe any thing, no matter how irrational. That I believe to be true. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19678 "2015-03-04T15:50:01Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > **Fear** , I can’t help but think that there are any number of people out there, including Dr. Carson, who sit down and study the worse possible impulses of the most narrow-minded and willfully ignorant of our fellow citizens and then deliberately opt to follow that course. There are matters on which reasonable men can differ, but the stuff this guy and others of his ilk are throwing out eliminates the reasonable demographic from the discussion. Someone said that 30% of the electorate will believe any thing, no matter how irrational. That I believe to be true. We can’t really rule out the possibility that he sincerely **believes** every bit of it. Liberal/agnostic/sane incredulity on that point is why [Poe’s Law](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Poe%27s_law) exists. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19679 "2015-03-04T16:30:19Z")
**Brain** , some comedian said that he tries to be as cynical as possible but he just can’t keep up. I am afraid I’m ahead of you on the cynical scale. I don’t think for a minute that Dr. Carson has not taken a premeditated stand on this and other questions, like the interplay between religious faith and observational science. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19680 "2015-03-04T16:37:49Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > **Brain** , some comedian said that he tries to be as cynical as possible but he just can’t keep up. I am afraid I’m ahead of you on the cynical scale. I don’t think for a minute that Dr. Carson has not taken a premeditated stand on this and other questions, like the interplay between religious faith and observational science. I don’t buy it. If Carson were smart enough to think that way, he would also be smart enough to know that it is all pointless, that he will never be the GOP presidential nominee in this or any adjacent alternate universe. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19681 "2015-03-04T16:53:24Z")
**brain** , you assume that he is looking to be President. Clearly. he should know that just isn’t going to happen. It seems more likely that he is shooting for something less lofty, like Surgeon General US in a Perry/Huckabee administration or Dean of Medicine at Liberty University --they have a law school, why not a college of medicine, now or in the future. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=983) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=985)