# If the US President dumped ice water on his head for ALS awareness..... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 20, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005 "2014-08-20T15:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/1 "2014-08-20T15:30:13Z")
If the US President dumped ice water on his head for ALS awareness - that is, a current president, not a retired one - would you think it was a great gesture, or too undignified and unpresidential? Of course, he could donate $100, but let’s say it was the ice water bucket or no participation at all. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/2 "2014-08-20T15:54:23Z")
I’d say it was a great gesture and my dad would say it’s undignified. Since he didn’t do it I thought it was a good PR move and my dad says he’s a pussy. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/3 "2014-08-20T15:58:32Z")
Undignified? Who gives a \*\*\*\*. Even Nixon appeared on Laugh-In (I think) and didn’t Ford record something for SNL? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/4 "2014-08-20T16:18:13Z")
[This is one of my favorite Obama moments.](http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/ht_barack_obama_mckayla_maroney_flickr_jt_121117_wblog.jpg) (It the one with the Olympic gymnast) So yeah, go for it. Nothing wrong with bringing a little bit of levity (or humanity) to the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Random\_noob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Random\_noob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_noob)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/5 "2014-08-20T16:22:02Z")
If he did that the Jesus loving republicans about be more apt to let him burn down the White House so they can rebuild on the ashes. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/6 "2014-08-20T16:22:17Z")
The Secret Service would gun the bucket down as a threat to the POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/7 "2014-08-20T16:29:26Z")
[A sweet prez moment](https://image-cdn.zap2it.com/images/barack-obama-caught-by-spider-man-president-potus.jpg). [Obama slow jams the news](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAFQIciWsF4). I’m in favor of all of it. But then, I’ve got a man-crush on Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/8 "2014-08-20T16:31:51Z")
I’m glad the ALS campaign has been so successful (although I’m more of a MS guy myself), but I’m way, way over the ice bucket thing. Just donate the money and shut up about it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/9 "2014-08-20T16:34:44Z")
He would be demonstrating favoritism to one cause over others that have equal legitimacy. Not to mention acceding to what is essentially blackmail. This is quite different from disclosing that he is rooting for the White Sox in the World Series, or even placing a friendly wager on the game, as elected office-holders often do. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/10 "2014-08-20T16:35:18Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > The Secret Service would gun the bucket down as a threat to the POTUS. Well, there might be a germ of truth there – I’ve been wondering what the cardiac implications are of this challenge. I bet that throwing a bucket of ice water on a person who’s under the kind of stress the President is would be frowned upon by his physicians just because it’s the kind of 0.001% chance that they don’t want to see him taking. I’ve only found one case of a gentleman in New Zealand dying after taking the challenge, but he also apparently drank a bottle of bourbon afterwards, so the issue is murky. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/11 "2014-08-20T16:55:07Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I’ve only found one case of a gentleman in New Zealand dying after taking the challenge, but he also apparently drank a bottle of bourbon afterwards, so the issue is murky. I prefer mine straight up, but tastes vary. As for the OP, there is no option for “If He Wants To, It’s Fine” and there needs to be. ALS is a terrible disease, and at least it is a change from pink ribbons and “Saving Second Base” and all that. If Obama really wants to get the country behind him, he needs to make Steak and BJ Day a national holiday. I’d dump ice water on my head for that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/12 "2014-08-20T17:07:20Z")
I’m guessing that it doesn’t matter what he does. If he refuses, then his critics lambast him for hating people with ALS. If he does it, the same critics would lambast him for being undignified. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/13 "2014-08-20T17:21:43Z")
Of course he should do it. Preferably right over some priceless historical object, such as a portrait of George Washington or the original Declaration of Independence. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/14 "2014-08-20T17:33:18Z")
that would be Vlad of him. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/15 "2014-08-20T17:56:51Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Well, there might be a germ of truth there – I’ve been wondering what the cardiac implications are of this challenge. I bet that throwing a bucket of ice water on a person who’s under the kind of stress the President is would be frowned upon by his physicians just because it’s the kind of 0.001% chance that they don’t want to see him taking. Probably less risky than his long history of smoking cigarettes (which IIRC he managed to kick relatively recently), I would guess. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/16 "2014-08-20T17:59:05Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I’m guessing that it doesn’t matter what he does. If he refuses, then his critics lambast him for hating people with ALS. If he does it, the same critics would lambast him for being undignified. Yep. My favorite pair of articles on an ultra-conservative site - “The president isn’t responding to the crisis in Afghanistan!” Next one, “No one cares about the presidents foreign policy and world leaders won’t listen!” They just hate him, damned no matter what he does. If it came out that he ate Cheerios for breakfast, they’d call for a boycott of General Mills. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/17 "2014-08-20T18:04:20Z")
Since this has turned into a discussion of President Obama and not some generic president, he as already decide to [donate](http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/icebucket.asp) rather than do the ice bucket thing. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/18 "2014-08-20T18:11:20Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Yep. My favorite pair of articles on an ultra-conservative site - “The president isn’t responding to the crisis in Afghanistan!” Next one, “No one cares about the presidents foreign policy and world leaders won’t listen!” > > They just hate him, damned no matter what he does. If it came out that he ate Cheerios for breakfast, they’d call for a boycott of General Mills. People on both sides say that about presidents of the opposing party. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/19 "2014-08-20T18:25:04Z")
He shouldn’t do it, because silly stunts to “raise awareness” don’t accomplish anything aside from making people feel like they’ve done their part. The President is in a position where he really can “do his part” and accomplish a heck of a lot more, and I’d rather he spend his time doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005/20 "2014-08-20T19:23:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He shouldn’t do it, because silly stunts to “raise awareness” don’t accomplish anything aside from making people feel like they’ve done their part. Other than the fact that donations to the [ALS Association](http://www.alsa.org/news/media/press-releases/ice-bucket-challenge-082014.html) are at an all-time high, yeah, you’re right. It’s not really doing jackshit. :rolleyes: And I say go for it. Even if it wasn’t for a charitable cause, it would still be really amusing, and would probably relieve a LOT of stress. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-us-president-dumped-ice-water-on-his-head-for-als-awareness/696005.md?page=2)