# 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:** 999
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19962 "2015-03-16T01:07:08Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Sounds like if Louis Gohmert want’s to keep the title of “Stupidest Man in Congress” he’s got his work cut out for him! Cotton is a Senator; Gohmert is a Representative. Please. It’s dangerous to unnecessarily provoke the stupid. ---
**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 16, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19963 "2015-03-16T01:21:29Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I know it’s hard to tell the difference between fact and parody, but [Sarah Palin never actually said that.](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/05/sarah-palin-never-said-can-see-russia-house/) Okay, okay. Change the question to “See Russia from an island in Alaska.” Since there are no islands IN Alaska (they’re outside of it), the answer should be just as obvious. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19964 "2015-03-16T01:49:44Z")
[Conservative lawyer: I’ll defy marriage equality ruling the same way I’d refuse to hand a Jew over to the Nazis.](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/13/conservative_lawyer_ill_defy_marriage_equality_ruling_the_same_way_id_refuse_to_hand_a_jew_over_to_the_nazis/) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19965 "2015-03-16T01:53:27Z")
I just noticed that this thread is 400 pages and nearly 20,000 comments of pointing out The Stupid. And there’s no end in sight, apparently. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so frightening. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19966 "2015-03-16T02:20:38Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Occupying Tehran is a bridge too far, you Iranian bastards! Next thing you know, they’ll infiltrate Persia. WILL THIS MADNESS NEVER END? Stolen. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19967 "2015-03-16T02:24:14Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I just noticed that this thread is 400 pages and nearly 20,000 comments of pointing out The Stupid. And there’s no end in sight, apparently. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so frightening. That is not the most troubling part: try pointing out teh stupid to them – their typical response is not to recant, apologize or even appear to recognize it, they double down, fist-pump triumphantly and exhuberate even more vehemently in it. These people will not be satisfied until the entire nation is drowning in bullshit so deep that it is flowing across our borders like implacable lava. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19968 "2015-03-16T02:46:15Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Okay, okay. Change the question to “See Russia from an island in Alaska.” Since there are no islands IN Alaska (they’re outside of it), the answer should be just as obvious. I’m not sure I agree with your topology… ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19969 "2015-03-16T02:56:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Cotton is a Senator; Gohmert is a Representative. > > Please. It’s dangerous to unnecessarily provoke the stupid. I feel like I’m not getting the joke. I just took a walk down memory lane with the Palin/Couric interview. Couric actually got grief for supposedly asking “gotcha” questions. Who on earth could anticipate that asking someone which news publications they read would be anything other than a softball, getting-to-know-you kind of question? The same with asking which Supreme court decisions, besides Roe v. Wade, she disagreed with. Another giant softball, for any serious candidate. Unbelievable. ---
**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 16, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19970 "2015-03-16T04:20:05Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Can religious beliefs include practices from Voodoo, shamanism, Satanism, Santeria, and others? > > What if I claim that it’s my deeply held and sincere religious belief that I should be able to offer up burnt sacrifices of puppies, kittens, and the occasional human toddler? Am I covered under the new laws? I have read a lot of posts by people who are saying exactly that: that as soon as pagans, Satanists, vodoun, etc., decide they want the law to back up THEIR religious beliefs, support for the law will vanish. More likely, I think is that some lawyer or jurist will come up with a creative approach that will allow only mainstream Christians to use the law to their benefit and to others’ detriment, and it’ll go to federal court where it will be laughed at a lot and overturned. ---
**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 16, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19971 "2015-03-16T04:23:00Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Cotton is a Senator; Gohmert is a Representative. Thus they are both, as I described them, “in Congress.” Your point? > [@](#): > > Please. It’s dangerous to unnecessarily provoke the stupid. It’s unnecessary to provoke the stupid. They’ll do the stupid all by their lonesome. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19972 "2015-03-16T04:31:13Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > That is not the most troubling part: try pointing out teh stupid to them – their typical response is not to recant, apologize or even appear to recognize it, they double down, fist-pump triumphantly and exhuberate even more vehemently in it. These people will not be satisfied until the entire nation is drowning in bullshit so deep that it is flowing across our borders like implacable lava. The more wrong, the more certain – their [willful ignorance](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Willful_ignorance) appears to have entered a self-reinforcing [backfire effect](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Backfire_effect) loop. I think it is because they know they are fighting an [ultimately doomed](http://www.salon.com/2015/03/13/the_end_of_white_christian_america_is_nigh_why_the_countrys_youth_are_abandoning_religious_conservatism_partner/) cultural/social rearguard action. It breeds ever-increasing desperation and requires ever-increasing audacity. ---
**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 16, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19973 "2015-03-16T04:44:54Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Okay, okay. Change the question to “See Russia from an island in Alaska.” Since there are no islands IN Alaska (they’re outside of it), the answer should be just as obvious. The Aleutians are substantially in Alaska, in the sense of Alaskan territorial claims. Alaska isn’t only mainland any more than New York is. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19974 "2015-03-16T05:14:22Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I have read a lot of posts by people who are saying exactly that: that as soon as pagans, Satanists, vodoun, etc., decide they want the law to back up THEIR religious beliefs, support for the law will vanish. More likely, I think is that some lawyer or jurist will come up with a creative approach that will allow only mainstream Christians to use the law to their benefit and to others’ detriment, and it’ll go to federal court where it will be laughed at a lot and overturned. The Texas RFRA has been used to allow practicers of Santaria to sacrifice animals. The federal RFRA was used to allow members of the [UDV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uni%C3%A3o_do_Vegetal) to drink hoasca tea. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act allows Native Americans to possess eagle feathers and have access to sacred sites. The federal RFRA and amendments to the AIRFA were created so that the Native American Church could use peyote. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act was very recently used to let a Muslim prisoner grow a beard. These acts _are_ disproportionately cited by religious minorities. They are allowing small religions to have practices that Christians don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19975 "2015-03-16T05:53:30Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’m not sure I agree with your topology… Topology recrapitulates Palinology. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19976 "2015-03-16T12:32:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Topology recrapitulates Palinology. There is a branch of science devoted to the study of Sarah Palin? If they wanted to plumb the depths, why didn’t they try oceanography? Or maybe spelunking? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19977 "2015-03-16T12:32:52Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Topology recrapitulates Palinology. {applause} ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19978 "2015-03-16T12:42:03Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > There is a branch of science devoted to the study of Sarah Palin? And all the meta of her being? There is - Pali-ontology. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19979 "2015-03-16T12:43:16Z")
Things would have had to go only slightly differently for us now to be praying for the continued good health of President McCain. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19980 "2015-03-16T14:11:24Z")
Ted Cruz Makes Impassioned Plea For Repeal Of Federal Legislation That Does Not Exist [http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/03/16/3633972/ted-cruz-makes-impassioned-plea-repeal-federal-legislation-not-exist/](http://thinkprogress.org/education/2015/03/16/3633972/ted-cruz-makes-impassioned-plea-repeal-federal-legislation-not-exist/) > [@](#): > > Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is known for waging political battles even if the odds of success are slim. He famously launched a 21-hour filibuster in a failed, last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare. But his latest crusade may be his biggest challenge yet: repealing a federal law that does not exist. > > On Twitter, Cruz blasted the federal government role in education and called for the repeal of Common Core: > > > [@](#): > > > > ``` > > Federal govt has no business sticking its nose in education. We need to repeal every word of Common Core! #nhpolitics > > > > ``` > > > > #MakeDCListen > > > > ``` > > — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 15, 2015 > > > > ``` > > Can Cruz “make DC listen”? It will be particularly hard since Common Core is not, in fact, a federal law. > > The Common Core State Standards Initiative, known as Common Core, was developed by the states — with input from teachers, education experts and business leaders — and has been voluntarily adopted by 43 states and the District Of Columbia. Notably, “the federal government played no role in creating the standards, nor did it require that states adopt them.” ---
**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:** [March 16, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/19981 "2015-03-16T14:11:30Z")
(whoops I posted this without seeing a whole bunch of posts since levdrakon’s confusion. Oh well. This message is addressing the levdrakon Bible vs Sharia law issue) You are completely missing the point. Let me try to clarify: Religious right type people are terrified of “sharia law” because of the injustice and cruelty such a system would bring. These same people would be in favor of Bible-based law, even though a lot of the same barbaric stuff in sharia law is prescribed by Old Testament Bible law. The number of stonings in the U.S. these days is completely irrelevant, not sure how that is confusing you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=998) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1000)