Unfortunately 'Republican' has become synonymous with the extreme-religious-right - itself a likely small subset of all Republicans. It's this 'subset' who actively promote certain world views - a popular one being that evolution is only a 'theory' or a hoax. It's no wonder those views attract the occasional joke or ridicule... it's low hanging fruit. Really easy, and really funny.

I'm not a US citizen, so can't vote, but if I could I would very seriously consider voting republican, but for their extreme views on 'social' issues. I suspect I'm like a lot of other people in the US - fiscally conservative, socially liberal. Sadly for the Republican party, people like me are really only left with a choice of voting Democrat when faced with the prospect of our schools teaching our children that the Universe was LITERALLY created in 7 days.

Just my $0.02