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The Top Ten Dumbest Republican Quotes of 2012
more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
It is indicative of conservative hatred of Hollywood and of Republican myopia in general, that you find on FoxNews.com a list of the “dumbest celeb quotes of 2012” but no corresponding list of the dumbest Republican quotes of 2012. You can be sure the latter outshine the former.
Sure, Paris Hilton offended many when she said “Gay guys are…disgusting. Dude, most of them probably have AIDS” but I can match that with any Republican comment on rape. And yeah, Justin Bieber didn’t show a lot of brights when he said, referring to the Sistine Chapel, ”I’m not going for the Sixteenth Chapel.” but how bright is Mitt Romney when the best thing he can find to say about Michigan is, “This feels good, being back in Michigan. You know, the trees are the right height”?
What makes such a list problematic is the sheer abundance of stupid things Republicans said during the course of 2012. From the local, state, and federal levels, there are literally scads of outrageously stupid comments to choose from. I mean, look, we’re talking about a party that produces people like Ann Coulter (“We just want Jews to be perfected, as they say”) and Michele Bachmann (“Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas”).
It was not easy to pare down to ten a list from literally hundreds of candidates, but out of patriotism and love of country I have decided to make such a list rather than, like Newt Gingrich (talk about dumbest quotes), drop my pants to as many women as I can:
“There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. And what I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn’t trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them.” (March, 2011).
My own list ultimately comes down to two categories: Republican comments on rape and Mitt Romney. The rape category doomed several Republican campaigns directly and indirectly probably affected the presidential elections. Why Republicans would choose to follow in the foosteps of Ken Buck (“A jury could very well conclude that this is a case of buyer’s remorse … It appears to me … you invited him over… the appearance is of consent.” -October 2010 ) and Clayton Williams (“If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it” - mid 1990 Gubernatorial race in Texas) is anyone’s guess. And it didn’t work for Sharron Angle to suggest rape victims make rape lemonade in 2010, but maybe they figure trying the same thing will lead to different results, or maybe they just can’t help but be stupid.
And Romney…Romney is a genre unto himself. He certainly doomed his own campaign through an inability to articulate any ideas at all. That’s assuming he had any actual ideas, which cannot be proven. It is impossible to know why the things that came out of his mouth came out of his mouth, but they did, and they were a gift that kept on giving, right up to the day he stopped talking to protect himself from himself.
So without further ado, here are my Top 10 Dumbest Republican Quotes of 2012:
10. Chuck Winder (R-ID): ”I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on.” - March 2012
9. Rick Santorum: “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” - January, 2012
8. Mitt Romney: “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” – January 2012
7. Mitt Romney: “I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.” — January 2012
6. Roger Rivard (R-WI): ”Some girls rape easy.” – October 2012
5. Mitt Romney: “I went to a number of women’s groups and said ‘Can you help us find folks?’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.” —October, 2012
4. Richard Mourdock (R-IN): ”I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” – October 2012
3. Todd Akin (R-MO): “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down” - mid 2012 Senate Campaign
2. Mitt Romney: ”As president, I will create 12 million new jobs.” —Second presidential debate
1. Mitt Romney: ”Government does not create jobs. Government does not create jobs.” — 45 minutes later (Oct. 16, 2012)
Honorable Mention:
I cannot drop this subject without giving honorable mention to one of my favorite Romney quotes of 2012:
Mitt Romney: Mocking a group of NASCAR fans wearing plastic ponchos, “I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks.”
And now it is time to buckle yourself in for a scary, fun-filled ride through the Republican brain of 2013. We here at PoliticusUSA will be with you every step of the way.
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Older_Wiser
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 10:35 am
Terrific! All those Rmoney quotes gives me hope that there are many Americans more intelligent than he is–he lost, didn’t he?
Bill
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 10:57 am
I agree with you, but it is also disturbing for our country that 47.3% of voters voted for him.
Reynardine
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Yep. The exact percent he said he wasn’t worried about.
JustNosy
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 4:23 pm
With all the shenanigans the GOP attorneys general played, it wouldn’t be surprising if the percentage was actually lower. One would have to have legally run polls in every county. I don’t think that happened, do you?
Inez
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
We have had our share of wing nuts running for and in an elected offices in DC. The reaction to doing right for Americans seems to have a psychological withdrawal from reality. I would like everyone running for the House, Senate, and Presidency to have a psycholical exam before their petitions are accepted. Moral fiber, sensistivity to those in need, acceptance of the Constitution., sense of responsibility to the office, and egotism, power are all important. We need to know as much as we can in light of the twisted dialogue to win elections.
djchefron
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 11:19 am
What no Herman Cain?Well heres one
And I’m here to tell you, the reaction that I’m getting around the country, people are sick and tired of this word in Washington, compromise. This is why nothing ever gets done.
Read more at www.brainyquote.com/quote...
Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 11:56 am
Well, first of all, that quote is from 2011, not 2012, to Neil Cavuto on Fox Business. Second, as I said, there were too many to choose from.
Bob Doyle
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 11:36 am
112th U.S. Congress ~ No Progress to pay the bills they created as a Congress. FAILED 2012, setting up to resume in 2013, the epic sign of insipid insanity. “Whhooopie, we all gonna die” they sing skipping merrily down the aisles of hell…2013~
Terri
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
great list! thanks:-)
Anne
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
Although Willard Romney and other ethically- and other intellectually-challenged Republican politicians lost, it IS frightening to think that roughly 47% of Americans who voted cast their votes for Romney. Neither he nor the other Republicans named in this article deserve one single vote they got. That’s because they offered absolutely nothing of value. The fact that so many Americans hate this president so much that they were willing to overlook the many examples of Willard’s stupidity, dishonesty, ignorance of national/international issues, and his verifiable record of throwing countless Americans under the bus in the pursuit of more wealth is perturbing. While I can laugh at his demonstrable stupidity now, it’s chilling to think that someone else this arrogant and ignorant could ever again get so close to winning the presidency
Dorothy Adams
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
In reply to Helen. Just watch out for Marco Rubio in 2016. He is an idiot and he is very fullmof himself.
Susan
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
My all time favorite was at the Iowa Caucus… when he told a group of older people concerned about the fate of medicare and social security.. that if they wanted programs like that, they needed to go vote for Obama. Yep, they did!!! :-)
ARF
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I know a woman who festooned her Facebook account with photos of Romney and Ryan during the campaign. Now she has put up one asking Washington to Save Our Social Security. Apparently she feels the need to keep out those nasty Democrats or they will take our social security away.
Crittersmith1
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Maybe a very small percentage voted for Romney but most of that 47% voted against PBO. Remember Repubs slogan, “Anyone But Obama”!
sherrie heckendorn
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
We have the corporate owned media to blame for the people in our country that will blindly follow and believe the gop rhetoric
Rho
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
The GMO poisoning surely doesn’t help. the media poisons the mind while Monsanto poisons the body.
Jan F Hirsch
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
I am amazed that you were able to narrow this list down so beautifully…there were sooooo many to choose from! It is scary that, although Romney lost, it was by an uncomfortably close margin.
AKinPA
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Was listening to a local NPR end of the year interview yesterday with a reporter covering Delaware politics. He (sorry, I forgot his name) mentioned that Christine “I-m-not-a-witch” O’Donnell is planning to run for the Senate again in 2014 and then added that the Republican brains in DE will be concentrating in 2013 on how to prevent her from getting their party’s nomination. I almost feel sorry for Republicans, but then I remember how they “severely” courted the religious right and the tea-baggots, so I’ll just sit back and enjoy the ride through the Republican “brain” (it really needs quotation marks) with all of you in 2013.
James Threadgill
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
The vapid, insipid, and obsequious and the billionaires who run provided a fine season of entertainment. The primaries were one the longest running gags in history. Then Mitt was the gift that kept giving. I, humbly, submit this for your enjoyment: www.facebook.com/Regressi...!/photo.php?fbid=515047031859324&set=a.469722749725086.109170.469715723059122&type=1&theater
Larry Dillon
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Remember when Rick Santorum said at the Value Voters Summit that smart people wouldn’t vote Conservative.The deranged Zealot was correct on that point.
Inez
Dec. 29th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Are these supposedly intellegent individuals? What if the rape victim was their wife, mother, or daughter even their son? Than God, Romney is spending his time talking about why he never wanted to run.Any excuse is better than the truth. Lying is okay in the Mormon religion.
ChristineMarie
Dec. 30th, 2012 at 3:48 am
Can we give a shout out to Herman Cain for trying to reference Pokemon when he announced he was suspending his campaign? I mean, POKEMON! And it was not even a line from the movie dialogue, but from the song playing during the closing credits, sung by Donna Summer **facepalm**
Christopher
Dec. 30th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I’m inclined to give Romney a pass on binders full of women, since you did contextualize some of your best Dem quotes in another post. It sounded a bit odd, but I think we know he meant that he made a concerted effort to find qualified women and that he was presented with binders containing the CVs of such women so A for effort on that one.
It is amazing how many stupid things were said about rape this year though.
Peter
Dec. 31st, 2012 at 5:41 pm
I can’t believe you forgot what I think is the stupidest comment by a politician in the last generation:
Michelle Bachman…
We all have the same civil rights,” Bachmann said, according to the Des Moines Register, providing an opportunity for Schmidt to press her.
“Then, why can’t same-sex couples get married?” the questioner asked.
“They can get married,” Bachmann responded. “But they abide by the same law as everyone else. They can marry a man if they’re a woman. Or they can marry a woman if they’re a man.”
Wayne
Jan. 5th, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Bachmann does not even count. To say that she is stupid would give “stupid” an unjustifiably bad reputation.