# What makes a "good Republican?" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787 "2019-02-01T15:34:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/121 "2019-02-04T20:06:00Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > The side that literally spawns Nazis are being portrayed like the victims of Nazis? And you actually wonder why you’re considered a joke? Uh huh. Just like that other asshole who was in the news … they called him “the crying Nazi”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/122 "2019-02-04T20:07:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It’s insane, but it’s also a fundamental part of how they view themselves. They are the embattled followers of the One True God in a world of Satanic unbelievers who want to damn them; they are the embattled Pure White Race in a world of subhuman _untermenschen_ who want to rape and kill them; they are the Makers in a world of parasitic Takers who want to steal from them. > > It’s a central part of how they justify their desire to torment, kill and enslave everyone else on Earth as just, holy and necessary. Wasn’t World War 2 a pretty large “NO” to them and their shit? I guess the Allies didn’t kill ENOUGH, or didn’t quite finish the job. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/123 "2019-02-04T20:20:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Here are some of the principles I feel the Republican party used to embrace (back when I was a Republican): > > 1. Fiscal responsibility: You pay for the amount of government you have. You don’t finance programs on borrowed money. You either collect the money via taxes or you shut down the program. (There can be exceptions during major emergencies like wars or depressions.) > > 2. National security: You defend the United States, its allies, and its national interests. And you choose allies and national interests with care. You fight necessary wars and support necessary military spending. You avoid unnecessary wars and unnecessary military spending. > > 3. Limited government: Let people live their own lives. Don’t tell people how to live, what to consume, or who to have sex with. People should be able to make their own decisions about their own lives. The government should also regulate business to support the free market and prevent bad business practices. And the government should provide some social services and infrastructure. > > 4. Rationality: You need to deal with the world the way it is. That doesn’t mean that you can’t work for changes; progress is important. But you have to base your policies on what is real. > > I stopped being a Republican because I feel the party has moved away from these principles in the last few decades. Now we are RINOs. Which is apparently a Democrat as far as the radio wingnuts are concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/124 "2019-02-04T22:50:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The argument for taxing sodas is the same as the argument for taxing cigarettes. The only meaningful distinction is that we are conditioned to accept high taxes on cigarettes. > > That is not to say that I am for or against soda taxes or cigarette taxes, only that you can’t distinguish between the two on principle. Yes, you can. A big argument against smoking was that second hand smoke harms people other than the smoker. For many civil libertarians, it was this third party physical harm that justified smoking regulations. Stuffing your face with Cheetos and Coke may kill you, but it won’t kill your co-workers or the staff at 7-11. And I hope you aren’t going to use the argument that poor health costs us all, because that road leads to banning or taxing about million different things that are nobody’s business. Skiing, for example. Or skateboarding. Or any other thing you do that has a negative impact on your health. ---
**Author:** ![Discordian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@Discordian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discordian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/125 "2019-02-05T06:30:45Z")
The only good Republican is an Irish Republican. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2019, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/126 "2019-02-05T07:24:41Z")
ba-da- … tick tick tick tick … boom ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/127 "2019-02-05T12:49:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Here are some of the principles I feel the Republican party used to embrace (back when I was a Republican): > > 1. Fiscal responsibility: You pay for the amount of government you have. You don’t finance programs on borrowed money. You either collect the money via taxes or you shut down the program. (There can be exceptions during major emergencies like wars or depressions.) > > 2. National security: You defend the United States, its allies, and its national interests. And you choose allies and national interests with care. You fight necessary wars and support necessary military spending. You avoid unnecessary wars and unnecessary military spending. > > 3. Limited government: Let people live their own lives. Don’t tell people how to live, what to consume, or who to have sex with. People should be able to make their own decisions about their own lives. The government should also regulate business to support the free market and prevent bad business practices. And the government should provide some social services and infrastructure. > > 4. Rationality: You need to deal with the world the way it is. That doesn’t mean that you can’t work for changes; progress is important. But you have to base your policies on what is real. > > I stopped being a Republican because I feel the party has moved away from these principles in the last few decades. If only they still existed, but they have been hunted to extinction. Now you either toe the alt-right line or you get primaried by someone who will. Gone are the days of responsible Republicans like Everett Dirksen or Howard Baker or Bob Dole or Gerald Ford. Now you not only have to drink the koolaid, you have to dive into a vat of it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/128 "2019-02-05T14:41:11Z")
I haven’t read the entire thread, but how about Massachusetts governor [Charlie Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker)? Just re-elected with 67% of the vote (in the state where Trump only got 33% of the vote 2 years ago), publicly anti-Trump, fiscally responsible, pro-education, pro-environment, has the highest approval rating of any governor in the USA for 8 quarters in a row (over 70%). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/129 "2019-02-05T14:48:02Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > publicly anti-Trump, fiscally responsible, pro-education, pro-environment That would be a Democrat anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/130 "2019-02-05T14:50:16Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > And I hope you aren’t going to use the argument that poor health costs us all, because that road leads to banning or taxing about million different things that are nobody’s business. If it costs us, even indirectly, then it \*is \*our business. Tough. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/131 "2019-02-05T14:57:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > That would be a Democrat anywhere else. He’s pro-business too, which would get him run out of town on a rail in Vermont. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/132 "2019-02-05T15:03:49Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > If it costs us, even indirectly, then it \*is \*our business. Tough. Please tell us your height, weight, and age. We’ll need a description of everything you’ve had to eat or drink in the last two weeks. We’ll need the results of your last physical exam and a list of any prescription drugs you use. We’ll need a list of all the recreational drugs you’ve ever tried. We’ll need a list of all your sexual partners, if any. We’ll need to know what kind of car you drive and how many miles per week. We’ll need a complete list of all interactions you’ve ever had with the police. We’ll need statements about your behavior in social settings and online from people who’ve known you for at least 10 years. Get posting, big guy. If you cost us, even indirectly, this is our business. Tough. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/133 "2019-02-05T17:21:27Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Yes, you can. A big argument against smoking was that second hand smoke harms people other than the smoker. For many civil libertarians, it was this third party physical harm that justified smoking regulations. > > Stuffing your face with Cheetos and Coke may kill you, but it won’t kill your co-workers or the staff at 7-11. > > And I hope you aren’t going to use the argument that poor health costs us all, because that road leads to banning or taxing about million different things that are nobody’s business. Skiing, for example. Or skateboarding. Or any other thing you do that has a negative impact on your health. I agree with this principle. Take traffic laws, as an example. I support laws like speed limits and DUI laws; because these regulate driving behaviors which could affect other people. But I don’t agree with laws that require people in cars to wear seat belts or that require motorcycle riders to wear helmets; those are both really good ideas but the effects of them will only apply to the individual so the choice should remain theirs. But I don’t really see that as a Democrat vs Republican or conservative vs liberal issue. It was insurance companies that lobbied for seat belt and helmet laws while car and motorcycle companies led the opposition to them. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/134 "2019-02-05T17:40:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But I don’t agree with laws that require people in cars to wear seat belts or that require motorcycle riders to wear helmets; those are both really good ideas but the effects of them will only apply to the individual so the choice should remain theirs. Really? You don’t see any societal cost in those things? How about family cost, then - is it \*really \*the case that “the effects of them will only apply to the individual”, not to loved ones left behind? Seat belt and helmet laws \*do \*let us avoid the bother of scraping your sorry ass up off the pavement or out of the wreckage, maybe with enough left to get you to the hospital but maybe not. Worse, maybe you go to the Vegetable Warehouse - does \*that \*cost anyone else? Those laws \*do \*limit access to your organs by people who could make better use of them, true, but that’s the trade-off we’re willing to make. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/135 "2019-02-05T18:04:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree with this principle. Take traffic laws, as an example. I support laws like speed limits and DUI laws; because these regulate driving behaviors which could affect other people. But I don’t agree with laws that require people in cars to wear seat belts or that require motorcycle riders to wear helmets; those are both really good ideas but the effects of them will only apply to the individual so the choice should remain theirs. I really don’t think this is reasonable. People’s “choice” to not use a seatbelt is better described as a bias - people are often lazy, and often stupid, and often forgetful, and requiring that people wear seatbelts is essentially mandating that people not make incredibly stupid and dangerous choices. It is never the right choice to not wear a seatbelt - it’s just that sometimes people are dumb. Given the “choice”, who would ever choose not to wear a seatbelt if they actually have to think about it? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/136 "2019-02-05T19:11:25Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I am of the opinion that othering is a non-beneficial strategy in the long run. Maybe not even in the short run. If them is not part of us, we are just fomenting conflict. > > But, there is another thing at play here. Some guys decided to goof around with some high-tech equipment and claimed that they observed an apparent correlation between ideological inclinations and brain structure. They found that those attracted to left-wing ideas tend to be heavier in the forehead region whereas those with right-wing preferences showed more development in an area called the amygdala (sometimes also called “the lizard brain”). > > Point is, if it is no longer ok to persecute people for how they are keen to use their genitals (except for some specific applications) because they cannot help being that way, and if it can be proved that political ideology is a similar thing, an aspect of your personality that is outside your control, then one could possibly see that denigrating right-wing assholes might in fact be sorta like hate speech. Interesting analogy, but there’s a difference. Even if political ideology is biologically determined, the physical manifestations of the amygdala-driven drive policy-making and voting patterns that have implications for everyone else, whereas the the physical manifestations of the biologically driven keen genital users affect only themselves. (In fact, the amygdalas often persecute the genitally keen.) So we’re not actually denigrating right-wing assholes for their unfortunate genetic predispositions; we’re denigrating them for acting like assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/137 "2019-02-05T21:11:52Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Really? You don’t see any societal cost in those things? How about family cost, then - is it \*really \*the case that “the effects of them will only apply to the individual”, not to loved ones left behind? > > Seat belt and helmet laws \*do \*let us avoid the bother of scraping your sorry ass up off the pavement or out of the wreckage, maybe with enough left to get you to the hospital but maybe not. Worse, maybe you go to the Vegetable Warehouse - does \*that \*cost anyone else? > > Those laws \*do \*limit access to your organs by people who could make better use of them, true, but that’s the trade-off we’re willing to make. I think it’s obvious that the loss of an individual includes the loss to the individual’s family. Having a family member die is a personal loss; not a societal loss. > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > I really don’t think this is reasonable. People’s “choice” to not use a seatbelt is better described as a bias - people are often lazy, and often stupid, and often forgetful, and requiring that people wear seatbelts is essentially mandating that people not make incredibly stupid and dangerous choices. It is never the right choice to not wear a seatbelt - it’s just that sometimes people are dumb. Given the “choice”, who would ever choose not to wear a seatbelt if they actually have to think about it? What you’re saying is true. But I don’t like the idea that people should be compelled to do what’s in their best interests. I think the government is only justified in prohibiting acts that harm other people. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/138 "2019-02-05T22:00:43Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > I haven’t read the entire thread, but how about Massachusetts governor [Charlie Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Baker)? Just re-elected with 67% of the vote (in the state where Trump only got 33% of the vote 2 years ago), publicly anti-Trump, fiscally responsible, pro-education, pro-environment, has the highest approval rating of any governor in the USA for 8 quarters in a row (over 70%). This has always baffled me - how some Republicans can win big in Democratic states and vice versa, when the voters there could just simply vote for a “real” Democrat or Republican instead. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/139 "2019-02-05T22:03:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree with this principle. Take traffic laws, as an example. I support laws like speed limits and DUI laws; because these regulate driving behaviors which could affect other people. But I don’t agree with laws that require people in cars to wear seat belts or that require motorcycle riders to wear helmets; those are both really good ideas but the effects of them will only apply to the individual so the choice should remain theirs. > > But I don’t really see that as a Democrat vs Republican or conservative vs liberal issue. It was insurance companies that lobbied for seat belt and helmet laws while car and motorcycle companies led the opposition to them. Their is societal cost for not wearing helmets or buckling up. The poor cop who has to scrape victims off the pavement has to be paid. The surviving family has a statistically greater chance of requiring public assistance. The medical bills for those who survive great trauma where seat belt usage would have resulted in far less significant injuries get paid by society through increased insurance premiums. None of us are islands, what happens to one of us impacts society as a whole. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787/140 "2019-02-05T22:35:53Z")
I ride a bicycle and choose not to wear a helmet. Granted, it is one of those silly bicycles that puts my feet up over the front wheel, which greatly reduces the risk of head injury in a crash, but even when I rode a regular-style bike, I much preferred not to use a helmet: riding amidst American drivers is pretty terrifying, and when a helmet bestows upon the rider a false sense of security, that feels like an undesirable benefit. Not to mention, the helmet I tried made my head hot, which was bad for my vital alertness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-a-good-republican/828787.md?page=8)