# I pit DrDeth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1295

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**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-drdeth/933971/1295 "2022-10-24T02:52:00Z")

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Did I say claim? No. I said _insinuated_. You referenced the circumstances of your dad’s service to _insinuate_ that he (and therefore you) had special knowledge about a historical incident, and that your assertion should be given weight by virtue of your vicarious association with MacArthur through your father (which, as it eventually turned out, was at best a _very weak_ association).

The infamous post on the day of infamy would appear to be this one:

> [@Question about the Lead Up to WWII](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-lead-up-to-wwii/711903/17):
>
> My Dad served with MacArthur and Dad had a interesting theory; The USA thought the “surprise attack” would hit the Philippines, and FDR ordered Mac to “act surprised”. This\*\* could\*\* explain why he was caught with his pants down so badly, he still was following secret orders from FDR.
> 
> Mind you my Dad despised Mac, which Mac did not know. Dad also said that the “true story of how Dug-out Doug escaped from the Philippines would never be known”.

So, again, it’s not your dad’s service that I consider suspect, but rather your retelling of it. Sometimes the reason there is excessive chloride content downstream of the filter isn’t on account of some excess in the influent, but rather a defect in the filter itself. (Sorry, water treatment reference—one of my jobs in the Navy involved water chemistry for a propulsion plant).

You are the filter. Stop acting like you’re providing us with pure, unadulterated history through your stories and we’ll have far less cause to doubt the circumstances of your father’s service as you’re relaying them to us.

Just “my dad served on the periphery of MacArthur’s staff for portions of the Pacific Campaign, and there was a suspicion among many—but never any proof—that he might have had muddled orders to take the first hit if war broke out” would have been just fine.

Not that it would give much weight to the conspiracy theory it represents, but then that’s kind of the point. It’s that you try to give it undue weight by _implicitly_ overstating your father’s connection to MacArthur that causes problems.

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