# Obama does his best to degrade a couple of Marines. Next episode: Wipers! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 16, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538 "2013-05-16T18:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/181 "2013-05-17T15:11:38Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Do you and the OP know how crazysauce you sound? You’re the angry weirdos in line behind me at the post office who pop a forehead vein and start ranting to strangers when you spot an Obama bumper sticker in the parking lot. I wondered what ever became of Ed Anger when the _Weekly World News_ folded. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/182 "2013-05-17T15:35:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If you want to get outraged, get outraged over Marines who got sent to die in a war that never should have been started. Starting a war based on lies that you planned even before becoming president, THAT’S abusing the Marines. Asking someone who’s otherwise just standing there to hold an umbrella, not so much. You forgot screwing those same Marines again by withholding funding to Veterans Hospitals for political posturing. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/183 "2013-05-17T15:47:01Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > If you want to get outraged, get outraged over Marines who got sent to die in a war that never should have been started. Starting a war based on lies that you planned even before becoming president, THAT’S abusing the Marines. Asking someone who’s otherwise just standing there to hold an umbrella, not so much. Outraged at that, too. > [@Troppus](#): > > Do you and the OP know how crazysauce you sound? You’re the angry weirdos in line behind me at the post office who pop a forehead vein and start ranting to strangers when you spot an Obama bumper sticker in the parking lot. Also, this rant is evidence that no matter how paranoid, irrational, and tempest-in-a-teapot those nutter shit stirrers at Fox News are, somebody is still watching unironically and eating it up with a spoon. Long live The Nuge, you two! I don’t recall every getting angry about a bumper sticker… > [@septimus](#): > > You say you’re not a racist, but I sense a lot of “doth protest too much.” > > I hope for your sake you’re just a secret racist moron. To spout the gibberish we see in this thread and _not_ oppose Obama primarily because he’s black, you’d have to be a bonafide imbecile – very unlikely since you can spell words and place commas correctly. That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me in this entire thread! 😉 I’ve noticed a correllation…I only get myself into these ill-advised threads when I post from my phone. Why the hell is that? I’ve only done it about twice, and ended up getting hammered both times. New rule: No phone 'Doping. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/184 "2013-05-17T15:47:07Z")
Yeah kind of a lame petty pitting to be sure. However, when you have a pit thread wherein truck mudflaps are chapping asses , I think the Pit is wearing its leather jacket when water skiing anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/185 "2013-05-17T16:19:19Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Some of you may remember a now-banned poster named **reeder** , who, during the G. W. Bush administration, would post every few days about some imagined outrage or other committed by the office of the President. The one most reminiscent of the OP demanded that we get all frothy because a temporary walkway had been built for some outdoor Presidential ceremony, to prevent Bush from getting his shoes muddied. To the board’s credit, it got about the same reception as the OP is getting here. > > Sorry, I’ll stop prattling on about the olden days and go back in the house to watch _Matlock_ reruns now. As I recall, reeder passed the point of no return when he started a thread to complain about one of Bush’s DAUGHTERS. She’d stuck her tongue out at reporters, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/186 "2013-05-17T16:22:07Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Outraged at that, too. Would you say that’s half as bad as the umbrella thing, or a fourth as bad, or… give me a ballpark figure. I think that’d be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/187 "2013-05-17T16:25:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Would you say that’s half as bad as the umbrella thing, or a fourth as bad, or… give me a ballpark figure. I think that’d be interesting. Wrong direction…you’re working with fractions when you should be working with positive multiples. ETA: To be clear…precipitating a war in the Middle East to put a hurry-up on the Biblical end-times is, like, lots worse. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/188 "2013-05-17T16:25:35Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Maybe “holding an umbrella for someone” is the social equivalent of “wiping someone’s ass” as we just haven’t been informed yet. One tends to go over better than the other on a first date. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/189 "2013-05-17T16:26:33Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As I recall, reeder passed the point of no return when he started a thread to complain about one of Bush’s DAUGHTERS. She’d stuck her tongue out at reporters, or something. It wasn’t only that, it was that he started _several threads a day_ on slamming all things W. Not that I disagreed with **reeder** a lot of the time, but really. **Sicks Ate** , time to buy a new phone. Maybe get one from a store on the other side of the street. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/190 "2013-05-17T16:32:07Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Wrong direction…you’re working with fractions when you should be working with positive multiples. I did that on purpose. > [@](#): > > ETA: To be clear…precipitating a war in the Middle East to put a hurry-up on the Biblical end-times is, like, lots worse. I guess that’s good. But the fact that you have to make that clear - because they’re both outrageous :rolleyes: - is the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/191 "2013-05-17T16:33:33Z")
…OP should have pitted the Distance the marines had to stand away and hold the umbrellas up!!! Thats gotta be hard on the shoulder!!! I notice the guy on the left side is starting to lose it… this reminds me of that contest they had holding a frozen turkey up in the air…little skinny guy won… ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/192 "2013-05-17T16:39:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I did that on purpose. > > I guess that’s good. But the fact that you have to make that clear - because they’re both outrageous :rolleyes: - is the problem. Bush was/is an evangelical Christian, as was much of his staff. A great number of military officers are also evangelicals. There _has_ to be a massive war in the Middle East involving Isreal in order to fulfill the prophecies. In other words, we ain’t all saved until we bring about the battle of Armageddon. QED. I think. Maybe not, my Latin isn’t all that hot. > [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](#): > > …OP should have pitted the Distance the marines had to stand away and hold the umbrellas up!!! Thats gotta be hard on the shoulder!!! I notice the guy on the left side is starting to lose it… this reminds me of that contest they had holding a frozen turkey up in the air…little skinny guy won… I’m sure it was the exact distance and arm angle as prescribed in the manual. Oh wait. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/193 "2013-05-17T16:47:50Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > QED. I think. I don’t think so, but that’s not what I was saying anyway. I was saying you’re putting “moron starts war for crazy reason and then bungles it” into the same category as “Commander in Chief of the military asks marines to hold umbrellas over him and visiting diplomat.” One is a cause for legitimate outrage, the other is not only not outrageous, it’s freaking common sense and was obviously a contingency the Marines planned for. But in this thread the war gets at ‘yeah, that’s bad too. But umbrellas!’ ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/194 "2013-05-17T16:53:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think so, but that’s not what I was saying anyway. I was saying you’re putting “moron starts war for crazy reason and then bungles it” into the same category as “Commander in Chief of the military asks marines to hold umbrellas over him and visiting diplomat.” One is a cause for legitimate outrage, the other is not only not outrageous, it’s freaking common sense and was obviously a contingency the Marines planned for. But in this thread the war gets at ‘yeah, that’s bad too. But umbrellas!’ Then allow me to clarify: War is much worse than umbrellas. I thought about starting a pit thread re: George W., and the War on Terror, but it looks like it’s already been done. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/195 "2013-05-17T17:00:45Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Then allow me to clarify: War is much worse than umbrellas. There’s still time to make a post that reads something like ‘Holy shit, did I really just say that? Wow, why did I even bother getting upset about this umbrella crap?’ ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/196 "2013-05-17T17:01:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > As I recall, reeder passed the point of no return when he started a thread to complain about one of Bush’s DAUGHTERS. She’d stuck her tongue out at reporters, or something. **Reeder** passed the point of no return when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/197 "2013-05-17T17:02:48Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Then allow me to clarify: War is much worse than umbrellas. Well, yes. In that starting a was is bad and the whole umbrella thing is not. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/198 "2013-05-17T17:03:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There’s still time to make a post that reads something like ‘Holy shit, did I really just say that? Wow, why did I even bother getting upset about this umbrella crap?’ Because I’m a racist. Duuuuuuuuh. ETA Just to clarify: I’m not, war is bad, and umbrellas are not, in hindsight, as bad as they were yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/199 "2013-05-17T17:03:52Z")
Now I’m imagining this thread getting passed over through the CT filter to Turkish Media. “There are some on the right wing in the USA who believe it scandalous that the President of the USA asked his Marines to hold an umbrella over the head of a Muslim!” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538/200 "2013-05-17T17:14:51Z")
I can only assume that **Sicks Ate** is helping to cover the administrations possibly legitimate scandals by starting one that’s so ridiculous it will make people ignore whatever the Republicans are saying. I am a little curious about why Obama couldn’t hold his own damn umbrella, though. Was he doing something with his hands? 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-does-his-best-to-degrade-a-couple-of-marines-next-episode-wipers/658538.md?page=11)