# Why \_are\_ today's GOP so daft?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 9, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340 "2012-03-09T22:22:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/21 "2012-03-10T21:37:02Z")
That’s pretty weak. Did you read this thread? So let me get this straight. You take no exception with the sentence I quoted–or the posts that answered it with explanations that did not question it, one after another–but you want literal support for the comment I made, actual posts that literally contain the words “Not that I’m aware of”? That’s pretty funny.
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### Author:  [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/22 "2012-03-10T21:37:15Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> Seriously? And then we cue the endless chorus of variations of, “Not that I’m aware of.”
>
> This thread is a shining example of open-minded discussion. Sometimes I think this board is the Free Republic of the left. I dismiss certain discourse in the way I do the Rolling Stone’s editorial voice, or Rush Limbaugh’s commentary. The sort of idiotic nonsense that asserts, “I am always right and my opponent is always wrong–wrong and with evil motivations. Always.” There is no need to actually support the thesis–let’s just accept it, and then offer theories on why it’s so.
>
> As a practical matter, it’s just much easier to rely on more nuanced sources.
This is the filter in action. “It’s THEM.” The liberal media, liberal board, etc.
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### Author:  [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/23 "2012-03-10T21:43:45Z")
The answer is: sure. Ron Paul and Rand Paul have often been the voice of reason.
George W. Bush was the only president I know of who seriously tried to do something about child sexual exploitation abroad. He was articulate on the issue. It wasn’t much covered in the press.
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### Author:  [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/24 "2012-03-10T21:56:23Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> Seriously? And then we cue the endless chorus of variations of, “Not that I’m aware of.”
Here’s what I posted in response to this question in the Stupid Republican Ideas thread:
> [@](#):
>
> I’d say yes, they certainly do say things that make sense. But whenever this occurs (IMHO) the larger Republican party / conservative mindset seems to quickly swoop in and kill it.
>
> Two instances come to mind with GW Bush: His initial position on port sales to foreign entities and his suggested immigration policy. Both times I remember thinking, “Finally! He says something that makes sense, I can agree with, and there’s the added bonus of showing my conservative friends that I don’t automatically hate everything associated with Bush.”
>
> Bush fairly quickly lost on both of those, as I recall. Not due to Democratic pressure, but because of the outcry from his own party.
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### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/25 "2012-03-10T21:57:21Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> You make my point, Señor Tooth.
You could’ve just given a few examples, as others have, rather than get upset that someone has noticed that the American right seems to have a bad case of collective foot-and-mouth disease. It’s not my fault that Inhofe thinks the bible is a scientific resource or that Palin thinks Obama is endorsing slavery, it’s theirs.
And you went in the wrong direction. Monsieur Tooth would’ve been more appropriate.
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### Author:  [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/26 "2012-03-10T21:57:48Z")
> [@tnetennba](#):
>
> The answer is: sure. Ron Paul and Rand Paul have often been the voice of reason.
That is the most hilarious thing I’ve read all day.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/27 "2012-03-10T22:00:35Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#):
>
> And you went in the wrong direction. Monsieur Tooth would’ve been more appropriate.
She just couldn’t handle **The Tooth**. 😃
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### Author:  [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/28 "2012-03-10T22:12:15Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> Seriously? And then we cue the endless chorus of variations of, “Not that I’m aware of.”
Echo chamber effect.
You remember that guy after 2004 saying “How could Bush have possibly gotten re-elected, no one I know voted for him?”… Apparently we have a lot of that guy’s friends on the board.
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/29 "2012-03-10T22:15:42Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#):
>
> So let me get this straight. You take no exception with the sentence I quoted
what lead you to believe that?
> [@](#):
>
> but you want literal support for the comment I made, actual posts that literally contain the words “Not that I’m aware of”?
No, the support would be actual countering of the posters ignorance. It’s not my job to look for reasonable GOP quotations. But instead of a refutation you choose to mindlessly blast the poster.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/30 "2012-03-10T22:25:57Z")
> [@Terr](#):
>
> Echo chamber effect.
>
> You remember that guy after 2004 saying “How could Bush have possibly gotten re-elected, no one I know voted for him?”… Apparently we have a lot of that guy’s friends on the board.
First off, it wasn’t a guy, it was a woman named Pauline Kael. Second, she was talking about Nixon, not Bush. Third, that wasn’t even what she said.
> **[Pauline Kael](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Kael)**
>
> Pauline Kael (/keɪl/; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the consensus of her contemporaries.
> One of the most influential American film critics of her era, she left a lasting impression on the art form. Roger Ebert argued in an obituary that Kael "had a more positive influence on the climate for film in America than any oth...
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/31 "2012-03-10T22:26:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Some of the factors you’ve described have always been around.
>
> Gingrich didn’t invent the lock-step principle; he just revived it somewhat. That used to be standard procedure. The party elders ran things and the juniors did what they were told and waited for their turn. This system weakened in the sixties and seventies when changes in election procedures gave politicians more independence from party control, which made it possible for a politician to defy his party line and still successfully run for office.
He sure didn’t invent it - parliamentary democracies have used it for quite some time. But in the old days there was enough spread of opinion in both parties that coalitions across party lines were put together. I don’t remember it being the case that someone wishing to negotiate or compromise on an issue was treated like dirt. Also, all parties did have some belief that the good of the country was more important than ideological rigidity, though there was of course of variation in what was good for the country. The debt ceiling mess shows this is no longer true for most Republicans.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/32 "2012-03-10T22:28:42Z")
The Dems have their Blue Dogs, the Pubbies have their Mad Dogs. Same thing, really. Sorta. Kinda.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/33 "2012-03-10T22:30:07Z")
> [@tnetennba](#):
>
> The answer is: sure. Ron Paul and Rand Paul have often been the voice of reason.
>
> George W. Bush was the only president I know of who seriously tried to do something about child sexual exploitation abroad. He was articulate on the issue. It wasn’t much covered in the press.
He was also quite good at support for fighting AIDS in Africa. He started the auto bailout, not that Republicans today will like him for it. He also was smart enough to get out of the way and listen to the experts about the financial crisis.
See, even liberals can give credit where credit it due, but that still doesn’t mean his administration was a disaster on the whole.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/34 "2012-03-10T22:32:06Z")
> [@Voyager](#):
>
> …See, even liberals can give credit where credit it due, but that still doesn’t mean his administration was a disaster on the whole.
Got a nickel says you meant to say “wasn’t”.
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### Author:  [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/35 "2012-03-10T22:32:35Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> First off, it wasn’t a guy, it was a woman named Pauline Kael. Second, she was talking about Nixon, not Bush. Third, that wasn’t even what she said.
Of course. Because she’s the only one who could have possibly said it.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/36 "2012-03-10T22:33:17Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> I’ll never understand the concept that the GOP is or used to be ‘the party of good ideas’. That is as divorced from reality as you can get.
who started the EPA? Who opened China? Who got us off the gold standard for good?
Hint: it was a Republican.
Nixon’s corruption came out of paranoia and a desire to hold onto power. Many of his policies would be called socialist in today’s political climate. Nixon was a pragmatist, not an ideologue. Reagan was also, but was clever enough not to show it and the base was too stupid to realize it.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/37 "2012-03-10T22:39:01Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> Got a nickel says you meant to say “wasn’t”.
Go buy yourself a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in 1960.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/38 "2012-03-10T22:39:10Z")
> [@Terr](#):
>
> Of course. Because she’s the only one who could have possibly said it.
Google it. First page, Pauline Kael. Google is your friend. Well, mine. Maybe not so much yours, being about facts, and stuff.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/39 "2012-03-10T22:44:35Z")
> [@Lightnin](#):
>
> Personally, I blame Fox News.
Me too, but for a different reason. In the old days a person might be nuts, and might read a local newspaper which was nuts, but when he tuned in to Uncle Walter or Huntley and Brinkley he’d get something reasonable moderate and sensible, working under fairly good journalistic principles. If the read Time or Newsweek, same thing. Today this guy might never encounter a dissenting opinion honestly presented. And if he does he has been inoculated against the “Liberal Media” and their damn facts. The more extreme Fox News gets, the better a lock they have on this audience.
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### Author:  [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-_are_-todays-gop-so-daft/615340/40 "2012-03-10T22:50:16Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#):
>
> I’ll never understand the concept that the GOP is or used to be ‘the party of good ideas’. That is as divorced from reality as you can get.
But they are the party of the really good soundbite. I find it astonishing how often I hear the meme of “tax-and-spend Democrats” as though that was worse than the typical Republican behavior which is the equivalent of “dine-and-dash” only it’s leaving the next generation(s) with the bill instead of some poor waitress.
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