# Rumsfield claims a trained ape could manage war better than Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547 "2014-03-25T19:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/121 "2014-03-26T23:45:28Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Wait. I know the rule, which is why I removed the posters name from the quote box. How is that a violation? I even bolded the portion that I altered. Oh, you removed the poster’s name! So nobody would have any idea who you were quoting! Unless they were reading the thread, or scrolled up 4 posts to figure it out. It’s hard to play dumb when dumb is what you’re known for. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/122 "2014-03-26T23:47:12Z")
On review, I find this: > [@FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faq-rules-for-posting-at-the-straight-dope-message-boards/369395/11): > > Falsely attributing a quote to another user, or modifying another’s post in order to cast him/her in a bad light, even if meant in jest, is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges. > > This does not apply to parodies to which no name is attached. > > Text inside “QUOTE” tags is sacrosanct. Normal editorial rules apply: that is, you may indicate omitted portions of a quote by the use of ellipses “…” and you may add text to clarify a word using square brackets (e.g., “her [the sister’s] friend”), but you may not add editorial comments or edit a quote so as to change the substantive meaning; nor may you substitute text such as “some blather” or “more nonsense” inside the “QUOTE” tags. I found the formatting didn’t lend itself to easy use of copy-paste quoting, hence some square brackets modified to actual quote symbols which despite being something I find a tad amusing, I trust does not qualify as a malicious modification. That sentence in the middle is kind of Second-Amendmenty in that it’s unclear if the post has to be a parody or if the specific lack of attaching a name is what matters. I acknowledge that this is likely not the best place for such an inquiry and won’t mention it again in this thread pending indication that is considered appropriate to do so. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/123 "2014-03-27T01:03:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If only there were some way DU and FR could be merged . . . There is, we call it Congress. It is the opposite of progress. Say, do you by any chance know what a gathering of baboons is called? A troop. Calling it a congress is unfair to baboons. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/124 "2014-03-27T01:13:42Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Say, do you by any chance know what a gathering of baboons is called? [substitute here your ethnic joke of choice, e.g., “The St. Patrick’s Day Parade!”] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/125 "2014-03-27T01:17:25Z")
And, apropos of nothing: There once was a sacred baboon Who lived by the river Rangoon And all of the women Who came to go swimmin’ He’d bang by the light of the Moon! ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/126 "2014-03-27T04:45:47Z")
> [@marley23](#): > > here’s how much your post sucked: I thought you were satirizing rumsfeld and doing a terrible job of it. Looking back at some of your other posts i guess you actually thought you were scoring points on obama, and you did a terrible job of that. That makes this one of the most incompetent threads i’ve ever seen here. \<3 \<3 \<3 ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/127 "2014-03-27T10:32:25Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > Recently, I tried to express my opinion of the current POTUS and his wife and I see that many people strongly disagreed with me. In addition, many people were also quite cruel in their response to me. > > Well, … fair enough. I supposed that I asked for it and sure as heck did get it. > > I certainly can understand why people reacted in the way they did and I am truly very sorry to have created such a firestorm. > > However I do wish to say that I did express my true opinion of this POTUS and his wife and his abilities to govern. > > I truly do think he is a poor and foolish President and I’m sorry but I just cannot help thinking that in several ways, he is also a fool. > > I’m just happy that we all have the ability to stand up and express our opinions in this society. That is the main point I now want to make. > > Regardless of how I feel about this POTUS, I truly do love America and I do love the fact that we all have freedom of speech. Our forefathers had to fight and die for that freedom and we may well have to do the same one day. However, it is certainly worth fighting and dying to preserve that freedom and I want to say is that freedom surely is worth fighting and dying to preserve if we have to do that again. > > So, regardless of how much we may disagree about this POTUS, I wish to say that like it or not, we are all in this together. > > I can understand that many of you do not like that and many of you wish I would just leave or die or something similar. Well, that is your right and I just hope that you do not find yourself needing to fight to preserve that right any time soon. > > I wish us all the best of luck. When I read this, I heard Patriotic Music in the background, and I must andmit: I cried. A little. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/128 "2014-03-27T11:55:48Z")
I think all of us leaked something from somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/129 "2014-03-27T12:26:24Z")
Charlie, I think you’d be better off to tell us specifically which actions Obama took or didn’t take regarding foreign policy that were unwise and tell us how he could have done better. First of all, leave Michelle out of it. If Putin’s beef with the Ukrainians concerned childhood obesity, perhaps you could bring her into it. But she is uninvolved with foreign policy. Again, please focus on the actions and not your personal feelings about Obama. Perhaps he looks different than you do, but please look beyond that. You might do well to ignore the commentaries of certain people. Both John McCain and Mitt Romney are quite upset that they lost elections to this guy, so they’re going to sprint to a microphone to crucify Obama every time anything happens in the world. It’s guaranteed. I believe you suffer from information toxicity, too much intake of right wing propaganda and a shortage of real information.Tell you what, give yourself a week and from 9-11 each night, watch Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell. You’ll be better for it. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/130 "2014-03-27T13:24:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Tell you what, give yourself a week and from 9-11 each night, watch Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell. You’ll be better for it. Nice try. Everyone knows 9-11 was an inside job. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/131 "2014-03-27T14:46:06Z")
**Charlie/Lazlo** has only made one post since his last one in this thread. I wonder where he went? ---
**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:** [March 27, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/132 "2014-03-27T14:50:15Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Nice try. Everyone knows 9-11 was an inside job. The CIA brought them down with micro-nano-thermite placed there by . . . trained apes‽ :eek: 😛 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/133 "2014-03-27T14:56:09Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > I’m just happy that we all have the ability to stand up and express our opinions in this society. That is the main point I now want to make. > > Regardless of how I feel about this POTUS, I truly do love America and I do love the fact that we all have freedom of speech. Our forefathers had to fight and die for that freedom and we may well have to do the same one day. However, it is certainly worth fighting and dying to preserve that freedom and I want to say is that freedom surely is worth fighting and dying to preserve if we have to do that again. > > So, regardless of how much we may disagree about this POTUS, I wish to say that like it or not, we are all in this together. > > I can understand that many of you do not like that and many of you wish I would just leave or die or something similar. Well, that is your right and I just hope that you do not find yourself needing to fight to preserve that right any time soon. > > I wish us all the best of luck. Made me think of: [QUOTE=Eric Stratton] I put it to you, Greg - isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen! [Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner] [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/134 "2014-03-27T15:20:26Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > \<3 \<3 \<3 Did you re-type Marley’s entire post in order to quote it, but with different formatting? Is that something you do all the time (when you’re not banging underage retarded girls, of course)? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/135 "2014-03-27T16:01:08Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Did you re-type Marley’s entire post in order to quote it, but with different formatting? Is that something you do all the time (when you’re not banging underage retarded girls, of course)? 😕 To me, the formatting in post #126 looks the same as in post #35. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/136 "2014-03-27T16:02:26Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > 😕 To me, the formatting in post #126 looks the same as in post #35. Could be a reason for that… Are you incapable of telling the difference between capital and lower case letters in the English alphabet? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/137 "2014-03-27T16:06:26Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Could be a reason for that… Are you incapable of telling the difference between capital and lower case letters in the English alphabet? wHAt ArE ThOsE? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/138 "2014-03-27T16:10:39Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > **Charlie/Lazlo** has only made one post since his last one in this thread. I wonder where he went? He’s now working as a tour guide, Universal Studios, Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/139 "2014-03-27T16:23:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The environment is too acidic. A number of conservative posters over the years have been driven away, and the mix has always been liberal in any event – undoubtedly a result of the newspaper column’s publication by alternative city papers, which themselves attract a strongly left crowd. This board tilted slightly left when I found this place nearly 15 years ago. The main reason it’s gotten a lot more so is simply that what constitutes conservatism has kept moving further to the right - but that has only meant that those positions have more of a following than they used to. It hasn’t made extreme positions any more intellectually defensible. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547/140 "2014-03-27T16:36:25Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > This board tilted slightly left when I found this place nearly 15 years ago. The main reason it’s gotten a lot more so is simply that what constitutes conservatism has kept moving further to the right - but that has only meant that those positions have more of a following than they used to. It hasn’t made extreme positions any more intellectually defensible. Possibly. I think GWB increased the tilt. And when it got to a certain point, conservatives could be easily shouted down. The slightest perceived transgression from what the majority thinks as a reasonable right-leaning position gets shouted down by the mob. Where as all manner of nonsense from the left gets a pass unless a conservative feels like wasting his time and calling them on it. The current reality is that there exists a general hostility to conservative points of view. When they sense it, the jackals attack. What I don’t get is why so many posters seem to really want a circle jerk. If you question an assumption that exists in their thinking, the attitude is “How dare you question that? What’s wrong with you?!” This board is okay, but could be so much better if the majority didn’t feel oh-so-put-upon when their orthodoxy is questioned. To exacerbate the problem, it’s usually the same jackals. AKA, jackasses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfield-claims-a-trained-ape-could-manage-war-better-than-obama/684547.md?page=8)