# Freepers make racist attacks on Malia Obama for wearing a peace-sign t-shirt **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011 "2009-07-14T18:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/121 "2009-07-15T19:09:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The following is offered as history, there is considerable controversy, but I believe it. > > During the Cuban Missile Crisis, LeMay saw an opportunity to make an end run around the wimpy President, JFK, whom he considered “soft”. He ordered SAC bomber wings launched towards the Soviet borders in Europe, knowing that the Soviets would pick them up on radar long before they crossed any borders. He assessed that the Soviets were much weaker, missile wise, than they pretended, and the US would “win” WWIII. He was hoping to provoke a panic “first strike” launch, then America could wipe out the Soviet Union. That this would entail the certainty of millions of Russian deaths and perhaps some Americans did not faze him. > > Fortunately, the Soviets (mostly Kruschev) saw it for what it was and held fire. They could do little else, truth be known. > > I was a brat, living on a SAC base in Arizona, and even though there was some attempt to shield us, we brats knew what was up. We were advised that if we heard a particular kind of siren, to get back to the base within thirty minutes, and don’t let anyone stop us. Oh, the Colonels kids had the flu, didn’t get on the buses that took us off base to school. It is not one of my fonder memories. > > My step-dad, who’s political leanings were just to the right of Otto von Bismarck, said he was a cigar-smoking runt who tried to get us all killed. He also engineered the firebombing of Tokyo, with the stated and deliberate goal of killing as many Japanese civilians as possible. He is alleged to have cheerfully remarked that if the US lost the war, he would be tried and hanged as a war criminal. > > In his own view, a hard-headed, no-nonsense realist. In my view, a monster. YMMV. **lalenin** hates Commies, so he’d probably like LeMay–although LeMay bombed quite a few Fascists in his day, too. (An uncle served under him in The Mighty 8th.) I lived on a SAC base quite a bit earlier than you & remember a few LeMay legends. He once landed there but thought security had been lax; he got out of the plane & said “You’re all dead.” In the mediocre film _Strategic Air Command_, his character was named “General Hawks.” Yuk, yuk. _To get back to the Freepers:_ Yes, they are racist, sexist idiots. As they say i California–duh! But they ought to get out of their Moms’ basements & check out the malls. Which are full of [Hippie Revival Fashions](http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1603013.html) this year–for all ages. (Even for guys–although they are skipping the bell-bottoms.) Peace Symbols are everywhere, with a fuzzy message of peace, love, flowers. (When the original message was Nuclear Disarmament.) Heh–I’ll bet these fashions are\* not\* making **Starving Artist** happy. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/122 "2009-07-15T19:14:02Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > _Technically_, it’s true that the quote in his autobiography only advocates _threatening_ to take the Stone Age option. Cold comfort to those the bombs actually fell on. Well, yes, that’s technically true. But he was pretty much a “Ends justify means. Any means. And I’ve got this here bomb, see ?” kind of guy. He was a proponent of nuking Russia right at the end of WW2 (So was Patton, BTW. But everyone knew Patton was a mad man, even back then), and China in the 50s, because he foresaw that China could get nukes down the road, and the US might as well squash this future problem right now, dontchernow. Whether that makes him a monster is up to the reader. As for me, I’d say that makes him an asshole and a sociopath to be sure. But then, I didn’t live in the 50s, so maybe my values are all twisted like. One of the most egregious errors we humans make when assessing the past is reading it in our current, modern eyes. What’s barbarous now used to be progressive and all that jazz. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/123 "2009-07-15T19:14:13Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > That quote is not in reference to ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, in fact the term ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ does not appear in LeMay’s wiki page ??? Has someone been doing some quick editing? The link. > [@](#): > > Additional evidence of Lemay’s thinking is that in his 1965 autobiography, co-written with MacKinlay Kantor, LeMay is quoted as saying his response to North Vietnam would be to demand that “they’ve got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression, or we’re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age. And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power—not with ground forces.” > [@](#): > > I think a reasonable person will conclude that the two are unrelated. > Again, as far as wikipedia is concerned, and so far that is my only source of information on this. A reasonable person would not use Wiki as a sole source of information, or infer that anyone else had suggested that. A reasonable person would go to Google and Snopes, too, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/124 "2009-07-15T19:15:26Z")
> [@lalenin](#): > > That quote is not in reference to ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’, in fact the term ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ does not appear in LeMay’s wiki page, and LeMay’s name does not appear in the Operation Rolling Thunder page. I think a reasonable person will conclude that the two are unrelated. Again, as far as wikipedia is concerned, and so far that is my only source of information on this. I am trying to get a further understanding of why LeMay should be considered a monster, and so far I am not seeing it. > > By the way way please do not insult me. Fair enough, I apologize for expecting you’d try and read the page and the related ones in order to get a comprehensive picture, rather than confining yourself to what you were told to. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/125 "2009-07-15T19:18:09Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > In the mediocre film _Strategic Air Command_, his character was named “General Hawks.” Yuk, yuk. Only the script and the acting were mediocre. The flying footage was spectacular. And isn’t that all that matters? 😃 The movie did use the story about his smoking a cigar near an airplane, and someone expressing the worry the plane might explode. The retort? “It wouldn’t dare”. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/126 "2009-07-15T19:29:08Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Fair enough, I apologize for expecting you’d try and read the page and the related ones in order to get a comprehensive picture, rather than confining yourself to what you were told to. Thanks, and fuck you too. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/127 "2009-07-15T19:30:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Only the script and the acting were mediocre. The flying footage was spectacular. And isn’t that all that matters? 😃 > > The movie did use the story about his smoking a cigar near an airplane, and someone expressing the worry the plane might explode. The retort? “It wouldn’t dare”. Yes, the B-36’s were pretty impressive; I have faint memories of those roaring engines in real life. And Jimmy Stewart did his best… ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/128 "2009-07-15T19:32:14Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > **lalenin** hates Commies, so he’d probably like LeMay–although LeMay bombed quite a few Fascists in his day, too. Well, I have no problem with his hatred of commies, and even less of a problem with his hatred of fascists. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/129 "2009-07-15T19:34:20Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Are you serious? The implication of being knocked up again is that she is a slut or a whore. It is? Why? Are all women who get pregnant more than once sluts or whores? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/130 "2009-07-15T19:36:52Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > And Jimmy Stewart did his best… I think he was \*Major \*Stewart, USAF (Reserve) by then. And the movie was pretty much his own idea. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/131 "2009-07-15T19:37:53Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > No, but making it constant fodder for your nationally televised standup when she’s not even newsworthy anymore is pretty low-class, particularly when you are too dumb to do your research and realize it’s not even her you’re talking trash about. The joke was really on her idiot mother’s complete inability to teach her daughter how to not get pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/132 "2009-07-15T19:40:15Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The joke was really on her idiot mother’s complete inability to teach her daughter how to not get pregnant. Indeed. I’d laugh longer than anyone if one of the Gore girls went on a murderous rampage despite Tipper’s work against explicit rock lyrics and inappropriate music videos. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/133 "2009-07-15T19:53:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The joke was really on her idiot mother’s complete inability to teach her daughter how to not get pregnant. I’m trying to figure out whether you are clueless, uncivilized or just plain mean. It’s hard to tell. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/134 "2009-07-15T19:55:14Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It is? Why? Are all women who get pregnant more than once sluts or whores? Umm…it’s not a funny joke unless it implies she’s a whore, that’s the entire point. That she’d get pregnant just by being near to A-Rod. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that you are actually as dumb as you are pretending to be. ---
**Author:** ![AThingWithFeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@AThingWithFeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AThingWithFeathers)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/135 "2009-07-15T19:56:30Z")
Just popping in to say that sexism is sexism, whether it is directed towards Sarah Palin’s daughters or Barack Obama’s. It may be less socially acceptable to attack Obama’s daughters because of their age, but it wasn’t acceptable for Letterman to attack Bristol/other daughter either. The word “whore” is way too freely applied to attack young women. It amazes me how liberal the Dope is, yet you find justification for sexism by people who would otherwise consider themselves liberal or PC. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/136 "2009-07-15T19:58:19Z")
“Sexual entrepreneur” ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/137 "2009-07-15T20:05:17Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > **lalenin** hates Commies, \ [Gee I wonder why.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8783970&postcount=1) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/138 "2009-07-15T20:08:09Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Umm…it’s not a funny joke unless it implies she’s a whore Not even then. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/139 "2009-07-15T20:08:48Z")
> [@AThingWithFeathers](#): > > It amazes me how liberal the Dope is, yet you find justification for sexism by people who would otherwise consider themselves liberal or PC. Sexism and homophobia aren’t limited to the right, unfortunately. Over at Daily Kos, which is about 1000x more liberal than this board, I’ve had occasion to take a poster to task for writing a diary in which he attributes some particularly stereotypical “gay” behavior to two of the Republican senators currently questioning Judge Sotomayor, based on rumors of those senators’ homosexuality. And I’ve had occasion to scold diarists over there for attacks on Ann Coulter that were particularly insulting to transgendered people. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011/140 "2009-07-15T20:08:56Z")
> [@AThingWithFeathers](#): > > Just popping in to say that sexism is sexism, whether it is directed towards Sarah Palin’s daughters or Barack Obama’s. It may be less socially acceptable to attack Obama’s daughters because of their age, but it wasn’t acceptable for Letterman to attack Bristol/other daughter either. The word “whore” is way too freely applied to attack young women. > > It amazes me how liberal the Dope is, yet you find justification for sexism by people who would otherwise consider themselves liberal or PC. So any joke targeted at a specific woman is automatically sexist? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freepers-make-racist-attacks-on-malia-obama-for-wearing-a-peace-sign-t-shirt/503011.md?page=8)