# I pit DrDeth **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971 "2021-02-28T19:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 144
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2865 "2026-10-20T22:02:57Z")
Some were very pleased, [![](https://i.chzbgr.com/full/4664108032/h6672BEE1/the-evil-source-of-hitler-basement-cat) ](https://i.chzbgr.com/full/4664108032/h6672BEE1/the-evil-source-of-hitler-basement-cat) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2866 "2026-10-20T22:07:59Z")
He’s doing the “Gavin Newsom is a saint and a progressive hero who has never done anything wrong and any and all criticisms of him are invalid lies” schtick over in P&E again. It gets rather tiring. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2867 "2026-10-20T22:26:15Z")
He’s also got company over there though… ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2868 "2026-10-20T23:53:47Z")
It’s not unprecedented. I can think of at least two other posters whose views on certain topics were so, uh, _distracting_ that the only way you could have a sensible discussion about those topics was in the Pit where they dare not show their face. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2869 "2026-10-21T10:59:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > There has been conflict in Gaza since 1948, so you got to figure it has to run out of steam at some point, right? It’s overdue, really. > [@Smapti](#): > > He’s doing the “Gavin Newsom is a saint and a progressive hero who has never done anything wrong and any and all criticisms of him are invalid lies” schtick over in P&E again. > > It gets rather tiring. > [@Kron](#): > > He’s also got company over there though… Yeah, that one’s a double act of well poisoning. The argument that some resistance to Newsom is feelings-based is fair. The argument that _all_ resistance to Newsom is driven by misinformation and hatred of LGBT+ people is spectacular bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2870 "2026-10-21T15:39:11Z")
“People disagreeing with me are all part of the big conspiracy between the left-wing and right-wing accelerationists and their hapless dupes!!” ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2871 "2026-10-21T18:30:01Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > There were no real immediate military consequences for Germany, the US aid to the Commonwealth and the USSR was going to happen regardless and the US wasn’t going to be in a position to make any direct military impact for most of a year. In December 1941, were the Germans still on the outskirts of Moscow? Did Hitler still believe that the USSR was going to collapse soon, so Germany wouldn’t have to face both the Soviets and the Americans at the same time? > [@Frodo](#): > > In fact Carl Grimberg’s World History (the first book I read about the subject) advanced the theory that he expected the Japanese to declare war against the USSR in return, the Japanese fascists in a rare display of intelligence declined to do so until August 6, 1945 when the Soviets invaded Manchuria (among other things that happened on that date). That would be on August 8th, of course that the Soviets declared war on Japan and the invasion started one minute after midnight (Trans-Baikal time) on August 9th. And yes, it was a busy day in Tokyo. The Axis was never as good allies and the Allies. Germany blindsided Japan with the nonaggression pact with the Soviets at the same time the Japanese and the Soviets were fighting an undeclared war. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2872 "2026-10-21T18:38:33Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > That would be on August 8th, of course that the Soviets declared war on Japan and the invasion started one minute after midnight (Trans-Baikal time) on August 9th. And yes, it was a busy day in Tokyo. The book was wrong then, it said something like “Russians and Japanese were not at war until the atomic bombardment of Hiroshima”. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2873 "2026-10-21T19:41:35Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > In December 1941, were the Germans still on the outskirts of Moscow? Did Hitler still believe that the USSR was going to collapse soon, so Germany wouldn’t have to face both the Soviets and the Americans at the same time? No, he’d issued [Führer Directive No. 39](https://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/wardirectives/39.html) on December 8th officially acknowledging that the war against the Soviet Union wasn’t going to end anytime soon. > ## Directive No. 39 > > ``` > The severe winter weather which has come surprisingly early in the east, and the consequent difficulties in bringing up supplies, compel us to abandon immediately all major offensive operations and to go over to the defensive. > > The way in which these defensive operations are to be carried out will be decided in accordance with the purpose which they are intended to serve, namely: > > (a) To hold areas which are of great operational or economic importance to the enemy. > > (b) To enable forces in the east to rest and recuperate as much as possible. > > (c) Thus to establish conditions suitable for the resumption of large scale offensive operations in 1942. > > My detailed orders are as follows: > > ``` The Soviet counter-offensive in front of Moscow had begun on December 5th, and he’d already sacked Rundstedt, the commander of Army Group South, on December 1st for authorizing the retreat from Rostov in the [first major Soviet victory of the war.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Rostov_(1941)) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2874 "2026-10-21T20:09:06Z")
Here’s Directive 39 in more readable form: > ## Directive No. 39 > > The severe winter weather which has come surprisingly early in the east, and the consequent difficulties in bringing up supplies, compel us to abandon immediately all major offensive operations and to go over to the defensive. > > The way in which these defensive operations are to be carried out will be decided in accordance with the purpose which they are intended to serve, namely: > > (a) To hold areas which are of great operational or economic importance to the enemy. > > (b) To enable forces in the east to rest and recuperate as much as possible. > > (c) Thus to establish conditions suitable for the resumption of large scale offensive operations in 1942. > > My detailed orders are as follows: (embedded multiple spaces to achieve indent fool Discourse every time.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2875 "2026-10-21T22:06:09Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > And the US was already supplying all of Germany’s enemies via lend-lease. A large chunk of the Russian lend-lease aid was coming across the Pacific to Vladivostok. Germany asked Japan to do something about it but, not wanting to provoke the Russian bear, the IJN dragged it feet at first then even after the Pacific war started in earnest the whole bushido thing about sinking enemy warships was more glorious than their merchantmen meant by war’s end fewer than 200 ships and less a million tons shipping had been sunk by its submarines. This is contrast to the USN destroying 4.8-million tons of Japanese shipping and the KM 14.7-million tons in the Atlantic war. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2876 "2026-10-22T02:33:40Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > The book was wrong then, it said something like “Russians and Japanese were not at war until the atomic bombardment of Hiroshima”. That’s technically not incorrect in that they were not at war until only a couple of days after Hiroshima. > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > The Axis was never as good allies and the Allies. Grrrrr. The Axis was never as good allies _as_ the Allies. They didn’t sit down and make grand plans together or coordinate their efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2877 "2026-10-22T20:12:09Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > A large chunk of the Russian lend-lease aid was coming across the Pacific to Vladivostok. Germany asked Japan to do something about it but, not wanting to provoke the Russian bear, the IJN dragged it feet at first then even after the Pacific war started in earnest Japan couldn’t do anything about it unless it wanted war with the Soviets. The merchants were either 1) Soviet from the get-go or 2) the ships themselves were given to the Soviets as part of lend-lease. The Pacific route got the most traffic because it was the shortest and the safest, but even if it were hypothetically to have been cut it just would have rerouted more traffic to the [Persian Corridor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Corridor). Iran had been occupied jointly by the [British and the Soviets in August 1941](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Soviet_invasion_of_Iran). The Arctic convoys to the USSR tend to get the most press because they were the most dramatic and suffered the most losses, but the reality is that they carried the least amount of lend-lease delivered to the Soviet for just that reason. And thanks for fixing the formatting @LSLGuy. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2878 "2026-10-23T19:29:24Z")
Pursuing this subforum I noticed that DrDeth has drawn criticism. I may as well mention his recent post which was both stupid and (worse?) off-topic. It began with a discussion – which I did NOT start – of the ambiguity in the sentence: _“As for her guilt, I believe in the presumption of innocence for everyone but would agree it’s stronger here than normally.”_ What is “stronger”? The guilt, or the presumption of innocence? For me, this grammatical ambiguity was a more interesting diversion than most of the messages in that thread, and I chimed in, noting that the unnecessary preamble “As for guilt” increased the tendency to treat “guilt” as the antecedent of “it.” Dr. Deth’s replay was not only off-topic – he showed us nothing but a desire to insult and should have posted, if at all, here in the Pit, not in Politics – but also stupid, failing completely to understand the discussion. > [@US House races 2026](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/175): > > > [@US House races 2026](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-house-races-2026/1023336/169): > > > > The moral of the story: Take a few seconds for a reread before posting. Ambiguities which wouldn’t arise face-to-face can wander into the written language. > > You might check you post and note that in of itself, no one could know what you are talking about. FYI it is the Rep. Ilhan Omar raid. In any case, do we need five paragraphs about grammar in this thread? But even worse than wasting space than wasting space, he shows stupidity by missing the entire point. When a sentence contains at least two pronouns, a prior sentence may sometimes help dispel ambiguity, but that is not the case here. _ **The controversy is over grammatical ambiguity, and NOT any specific person’s guilt or innocence.** _ Yet DrDeth thinks that the target’s identity is key to understanding whether it is her guilt or innocence \*\*\* that is being strengthened by the quoted sentence as written.\*\*\* The moral of THIS story: Better to remain silent than to assume a pedantic tone while demonstrating only confusion and stupidity. I’ve not reviewed the charges against DrDeth in this thread, but judging by his effort quoted here, Stupidity should be high on the list of charges. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2879 "2026-10-23T20:36:01Z")
> [@Gordon\_G](#): > > I’ve not reviewed the charges against DrDeth in this thread, but judging by his effort quoted here, Stupidity should be high on the list of charges. That’s a safe assumption for you to make. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2880 "2026-10-23T20:37:36Z")
It’s not so much “on the list” as it is “the common factor unifying the items on the list”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2881 "2026-10-23T20:40:51Z")
Most commonly, it’s saying something stupid then doggedly insisting on that stupidity. Saying something stupid is something we all do now and then (I sure do) but it’s one thing to admit it, or even to slink away when it’s pointed out, and another to keep pushing it. Even when cites discredit you, even when your own cite you are trying to use to bolster yourself discredits you. That’s where the problem usually comes in. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2882 "2026-10-23T20:58:35Z")
There’s also question of whether the stupidity is real or feigned. That’s really more of a quasi-academic question because few actually care and DD is insufferable either way ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2883 "2026-10-23T21:23:17Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > ## Directive No. 39 > > ```auto > The severe winter weather which has come surprisingly early in the east, and the consequent difficulties in bringing up supplies, compel us to abandon immediately all major offensive operations and to go over to the defensive. > > The way in which these defensive operations are to be carried out will be decided in accordance with the purpose which they are intended to serve, namely: > > (a) To hold areas which are of great operational or economic importance to the enemy. > > (b) To enable forces in the east to rest and recuperate as much as possible. > > (c) Thus to establish conditions suitable for the resumption of large scale offensive operations in 1942. > > My detailed orders are as follows: > > ``` A bit of a hijack, yes, but this is a convenient time to ask. What is up with the above quoted text? I see this sometimes on the SDMB but don’t understand what’s going on. Why do you have to scan to the left and right to read quotes like these? Why do people post quotes like this? Whasssssup? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/2884 "2026-10-23T21:28:02Z")
Four spaces before a line formats it as prerendered text or code. ``` Like this ``` You can see he has even more than 4 spaces when he pasted it in, as the rest of the spaces are visible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=143) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971.md?page=145)