# "Tanned ... darker than our president" - perfectly OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472 "2009-12-08T17:58:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/81 "2009-12-09T01:15:30Z")
I agree that it was probably better to bring it here and to not have brought it up. How obviously racist would it have to be before you could, though? If the poster had said, “Darker than a Negro/n-word,” would it be as bad to, in that thread, tell him to knock it off? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/82 "2009-12-09T01:38:59Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Shodan is a lying, ignorant troll. It’s perfectly reasonable for people to parse his comments based on his track record. So are you, but you don’t see us trying to trash your joy. ;p ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/83 "2009-12-09T01:50:13Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > So are you, but you don’t see us trying to trash your joy. ;p I don’t generally lie and in areas I choose to debate about I make an honest effort not to be ignorant. As to whether I’m a troll, well I guess I’ll leave that to the peanut gallery. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/84 "2009-12-09T01:51:18Z")
The line sounds like a reference to [Silvio Berlusconi](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/6237409/Silvio-Berlusconi-calls-Barack-Obama-tanned---again.html). ---
**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:** [December 9, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/85 "2009-12-09T02:03:38Z")
I understand you can barely see Shodan’s son in a darkened room. Until he smiles. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/86 "2009-12-09T02:14:38Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Hah! Now it’s my turn: :smack: > > Thinking you might be making a joke, I thought of [Aldous Huxley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley), author of _Brave New World_, and switched his name in my mind with [Alex Haley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley), author of _Roots_. Which would have been funny. > > Let’s pretend that’s what actually happened. Oh my god I went there with you too. So is this a “jinx buy me a coke” type of thing? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/87 "2009-12-09T02:29:10Z")
**Shodan’s** adopted Asian son did get very tan, but saying he is darker than Obama is stretching it a bit. He’s more of a high yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/88 "2009-12-09T02:40:29Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > As far as your dislike for Shodan, just out of curiosity, are their any conservative posters on this board who you do like? There are only 2 maybe 3 posters whom I dislike whom I am aware are conservatives. I don’t dislike them for their politics, but because I think they are jerks, dishonest, etc. If you know that there are, in fact, more than 2-3 conservative posters here, then there are obvaiously that nimber minus 2-3 that I am at least neutral towards - maybe 1 or 2 I even like. Shodan - IMO - is a dick, and he carries his dickishness with him in any thread, independent of the subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/89 "2009-12-09T03:03:29Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Shodan - IMO - is a dick, and he carries his dickishness with him in any thread, independent of the subject matter. Any thread? Let me get this straight. **Shodan** starts a thread about how happy he is that his son has come home from the war, you post nothing substantive, just a roll eyes smilie, and _he’s_ the one that brought dickishness to that thread? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/90 "2009-12-09T03:22:07Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Any thread? Let me get this straight. **Shodan** starts a thread about how happy he is that his son has come home from the war, you post nothing substantive, just a roll eyes smilie, and _he’s_ the one that brought dickishness to that thread? He did make with the _darker than Obama_ thing. And given that Shodan’s a one dimensional blindly ideological sack of dogshit, can’t you see why some might think he meant the worst? ---
**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:** [December 9, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/91 "2009-12-09T03:31:59Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Any thread? Well, Shodan is a dick quite frequently and some [del]crosses[/del] bridges can’t be unburnt. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/92 "2009-12-09T03:32:31Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > He did make with the _darker than Obama_ thing. And given that Shodan’s a one dimensional blindly ideological sack of dogshit, can’t you see why some might think he meant the worst? Yo can think it sure, you can even say something. Something akin to “are you sure you want to put it that way?” But that’s not what **dinsdale** did is it? He didn’t say a damn word, just rolled his eyes at an OP about a family member coming home from the war. There is a fucking _time_ and a fucking _place_ to pick fights, but that sure as hell wasn’t it. If **dinsdale** wants to show how much of a dick **shodan** is, fine. But he should know that being an even bigger dick ain’t gonna help his credibility. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/93 "2009-12-09T03:52:15Z")
If anyone else had used the phrase, I don’t think it would have even registered with me. The fact that it was uttered by the same guy who said Obama was going to turn the “White House beige”, a comment which he was asked to clarify multiple times to no avail, does strike me as a bit off. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/94 "2009-12-09T03:55:49Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > He did make with the _darker than Obama_ thing. And given that Shodan’s a one dimensional blindly ideological sack of dogshit, can’t you see why some might think he meant the worst? It’s irrelevant. What IS relevant is that you don’t bring that shit to a thread about someone’s family member coming home from a war zone. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/95 "2009-12-09T03:58:59Z")
Anyone else reminded of the human color wheel from _Community_? It goes from Seal on one end to Seal’s teeth on the other. They use it to order coffee at one point: I’d like a Desmond Tutu with just enough cream to make it a Lou Diamond Phillips. I think not being racist is the new racism. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/96 "2009-12-09T04:06:40Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > If anyone else had used the phrase, I don’t think it would have even registered with me. The fact that it was uttered by the same guy who said Obama was going to turn the “White House beige”, a comment which he was asked to clarify multiple times to no avail, does strike me as a bit off. Oh, yes. Why are people acting as those context has no meaning when it comes to these comments? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/97 "2009-12-09T04:29:41Z")
> [@torie](#): > > Oh, yes. Why are people acting as those context has no meaning when it comes to these comments? I’d forgotten about that beige comment. Ugh. Of course I think this was **Shodan** ’s intent. Get the rest of the dopers fired up and then act as though it was just a simple comparison. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/98 "2009-12-09T04:45:26Z")
I think Shodan is usually a troll who, for some reason unknown to me, the mods allow to troll where no-one else is allowed. I think the comment in his OP was a molehill and not worthy of 2 pages in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/99 "2009-12-09T04:49:24Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > If anyone else had used the phrase, I don’t think it would have even registered with me. The fact that it was uttered by the same guy who said Obama was going to turn the “White House beige”, a comment which he was asked to clarify multiple times to no avail, does strike me as a bit off. Yes, Shodan has a history of making racial, if not racist, comments. When Obama won the Nobel prize his first comment was “Affirmative action runs riot again.” ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472/100 "2009-12-09T05:02:51Z")
Yes. No. My sweetie’s family is Mexican/American, and I’ve been told repeatedly that I am a great Mexican for being a white girl! (likely because I’m not yet tired of champurrado, flan or tamales, like my sweetie is) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tanned-darker-than-our-president-perfectly-ok/520472.md?page=6)