# 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:** 985
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19682 "2015-03-04T17:28:26Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > 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.” Funny, the same thing seems to happen when homophobes join the GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19683 "2015-03-04T18:48:30Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > **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. I figured he was gunning for his own half hour Fox News show, and Tea Party Speakers’ fees. ---
**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 4, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19684 "2015-03-04T18:57:20Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Matt Blunt? That’s the one. I still want to know what shoe was about to drop that made him decide not to run for a second term. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19685 "2015-03-04T19:05:54Z")
Michael Carvin is [the lawyer who is arguing against Obamacare](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-carvin-obamacare-statutes-white-women-minorities) before the Supreme Court. Part of his argument is that the law centers on a statute that was “written by white women and minorities.” He also said, “I don’t know that four justices, who are needed to [take the case] here, are going to give much of a damn about what a bunch of Obama appointees on the D.C. Circuit think.” ---
**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, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19686 "2015-03-04T19:44:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Michael Carvin is [the lawyer who is arguing against Obamacare](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-carvin-obamacare-statutes-white-women-minorities) before the Supreme Court. Part of his argument is that the law centers on a statute that was “written by white women and minorities.” He misspelled “health insurance companies.” ---
**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 4, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19687 "2015-03-04T20:01:45Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > … Dean of Medicine at Liberty University --they have a law school, why not a college of medicine, now or in the future. LIBERTY UNIVERSITY School of Medicine - required courses Medicine 100: Which Prayer For Which Disease? Anatomy and Physiology 100: Why Women are Weak Neurology 100: A New Look at “The Vapors” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19688 "2015-03-04T20:17:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > 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.” Sure, rape and sexual slavery in prison is just straights choosing to be gay. Tidies up that little problem nicely. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19689 "2015-03-04T21:17:20Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Sure, rape and sexual slavery in prison is just straights choosing to be gay. Tidies up that little problem nicely. To be fair, Republicans have always had a problem with rape where women are concerned, why should it be any different with men? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19690 "2015-03-04T21:17:36Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 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. From his wiki bio: “Carson was a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics, and he was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.[9] At age 33, he became the youngest major division director in Johns Hopkins history, as director of pediatric neurosurgery. He was also a co-director of the Johns Hopkins Craniofacial Center.” I’m pretty sure you have to be very, very smart to have those credentials. I have enough personal experience with very smart people who are also very religious to know that intelligence does not necessarily correlate with rationality, but I find it very difficult to believe that this guy really believes some of the things he says. I think he’s in it for the money — books, speaking fees, Fox News shows. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19691 "2015-03-04T21:42:00Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Michael Carvin is [the lawyer who is arguing against Obamacare](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-carvin-obamacare-statutes-white-women-minorities) before the Supreme Court. Part of his argument is that the law centers on a statute that was “written by white women and minorities.” He also said, “I don’t know that four justices, who are needed to [take the case] here, are going to give much of a damn about what a bunch of Obama appointees on the D.C. Circuit think.” From a legal perspective, **who the fuck cares who wrote it**??? It passed through congress and the president signed it. How would the identity of the author or authors affect the constitutionality? ---
**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, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19692 "2015-03-04T21:52:45Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > From a legal perspective, **who the fuck cares who wrote it**??? It passed through congress and the president signed it. How would the identity of the author or authors affect the constitutionality? White women and minorities. Them’s ain’t real people, doncha know? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19693 "2015-03-04T22:17:11Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > White women and minorities. Them’s ain’t real people, doncha know? It may sound funny and/or sick, but I’ve actually heard people argue against giving women and minorities equal weight in political discussions, because they weren’t included in the original constitution, only in amendments. It falls to the same absurd illogic, of course: “Amendments: Them’s ain’t the real constitution, doncha know?” ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19694 "2015-03-05T01:31:53Z")
Texas state Rep, Betty Brown, R-Terrell, said [Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Texas-lawmaker-suggests-Asians-adopt-easier-names-1550512.php?cmpid=fb-mobile&fb_ref=Default)to deal with.” > [@](#): > > . . . But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes. . . So we should have another thirty thousand John Lees? Lee is a good American name. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19695 "2015-03-05T01:56:29Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > From a legal perspective, **who the fuck cares who wrote it**??? It passed through congress and the president signed it. How would the identity of the author or authors affect the constitutionality? Based on the article I’m not sure that his statement was as racist of sexist as it sounds out of context, just really really stupid. The idea is that all them activist liberals feel free to overturn the Constitution because they say it was written by dead white men who aren’t relevant to today. While this argument is based on words that were written a few years ago not by dead white men and so those activist liberal judges can’t use that argument. Of course this is a straw man, as the fact that the constitutions was written by dead white men wasn’t the reason the court declared the ACA constitutional. Also unlike the constitution we can actually ask the people who wrote this law what they meant, and 100% of them say that they didn’t mean it the way he wants to interpret it. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19696 "2015-03-05T02:37:08Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > The idea is that all them activist liberals feel free to overturn the Constitution because they say it was written by dead white men who aren’t relevant to today. While this argument is based on words that were written a few years ago not by dead white men and so those activist liberal judges can’t use that argument. Of course this is a straw man, as the fact that the constitutions was written by dead white men wasn’t the reason the court declared the ACA constitutional. Also unlike the constitution we can actually ask the people who wrote this law what they meant, and 100% of them say that they didn’t mean it the way he wants to interpret it. I think that’s close, but not exactly it. I thought he was trying to say that the idea of a “living constitution” relies on the constitution being really old so things have had the opportunity to change, and the constitution must therefore change to keep up, while a law that’s only a few years old can’t be said to be out of date in any way. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19697 "2015-03-05T03:01:59Z")
I don’t really have words for this. [So I’ll just quote a few snippets.](http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/arkansas_lawmaker_and_school_owner_gives_adopted_6_year_old_to_employee_who_then_rapes_her) The stupid Republican part: > [@](#): > > Justin Harris is a conservative Arkansas State Representative who serves as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Children and Youth. A Tea Party Republican, Harris has voted to allow the Christian bible to be taught in public schools, and has co-sponsored anti-abortion bills. The pure evil but it probably isn’t an SRIOTD part starts a few years back when he and his wife adopted two little girls who came from a sexually abusive background. Within a few months: > [@](#): > > Despite being “very excited” to adopt the girls, sometime probably in late 2013 Harris and his wife apparently “re-homed,” or gave those two little girls to Eric Cameron Francis, a man they later hired to be a teacher at their preschool, according to reports. > … > > In April of 2014, “Eric Cameron Francis was arrested by the Arkansas State Police for the rape of a 6-year-old girl in what the police said was his temporary care,” [the Arkansas Times reports](http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/a-child-left-unprotected/Content?oid=3691164). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19698 "2015-03-05T03:34:44Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It may sound funny and/or sick, but I’ve actually heard people argue against giving women and minorities equal weight in political discussions, because they weren’t included in the original constitution, only in amendments. Well then, they don’t know their Constitution. Minorities absolutely were included in the original. For example, in the very first article, there’s a section that prohibits Congress from interfering with the slave trade. ---
**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 5, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19699 "2015-03-05T17:38:41Z")
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) thinks there are [too many empty beds at Guantanamo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tom-cotton-guantanamo-bay-empty-beds): > [@](#): > > “In my opinion, the only problem with Guantanamo Bay is there are too many empty beds and cells there right now," Cotton said. “We should be sending more terrorists there for further interrogation to keep this country safe.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19700 "2015-03-05T18:29:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’ve actually heard people argue against giving … minorities equal weight in political discussions, because they weren’t included in the original constitution, only in amendments. Three fifths of them were. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19701 "2015-03-05T18:47:47Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It may sound funny and/or sick, but I’ve actually heard people argue against giving women and minorities equal weight in political discussions, because they weren’t included in the original constitution, only in amendments. > > It falls to the same absurd illogic, of course: “Amendments: Them’s ain’t the real constitution, doncha know?” Except for the Second Amendment. Especially if you ignore that “well regulated militia” part… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=984) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=986)