# Tell me the stupid stuff Obama has done lately. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 22, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246 "2012-08-22T03:15:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/61 "2012-08-24T10:14:21Z")
A thread solely for compiling and commenting on Barack Obama’s gaffes during the 2012 election. I don’t know of any since the “you didn’t build that” kerfuffle, but since I started a thread about Romney’s gaffes, I thought there should be one for Obama’s as well. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/62 "2012-08-24T16:11:14Z")
**Make that Admiral** Obama referred to the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command as General McRaven. That should be Admiral McRaven. McRaven is a former Navy SEAL and is credited with organizing [Operation Neptune Spear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Neptune%27s_Spear#Operation_Neptune_Spear) that resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden. **Who’s the Senator?** Obama was referring to Todd Akin and his controversial"legitimate rape"statements [saying](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57498701/obama-akin-somehow-missed-science-class/), “the interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology, but somehow missed science class.” The problem is Akin is a candidate for Senate. His opponent, Claire McCaskill, is the Senator who sits of that House Committee on Science and Technology. Oddly CBSNews didn’t notice that this was an error on Obama’s part. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/63 "2012-08-24T16:26:38Z")
Akin is currently a House Rep, and is on the House Committee for Science. McCaskill is the Senator he is running against and as such can’t be on the House committee. I think you are mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/64 "2012-08-24T16:39:01Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > **Who’s the Senator?** > Obama was referring to Todd Akin and his controversial"legitimate rape"statements [saying](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57498701/obama-akin-somehow-missed-science-class/), “the interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology, but somehow missed science class.” > > The problem is Akin is a candidate for Senate. His opponent, Claire McCaskill, is the Senator who sits of that House Committee on Science and Technology. Oddly CBSNews didn’t notice that this was an error on Obama’s part. Uh, you’re saying that McCaskill, currently in the Senate sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology? That’s some feat! Akin is in the House currently, and sits on that committee. He’s running for Senate. McCaskill is the incumbent senator. Maybe that’s why CBSNews didn’t call him out for that non-mistake – it’s all part of the liberal media conspiracy! On preview – ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/65 "2012-08-24T16:40:36Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > **Make that Admiral** > Obama referred to the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command as General McRaven. That should be Admiral McRaven. McRaven is a former Navy SEAL and is credited with organizing [Operation Neptune Spear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Neptune%27s_Spear#Operation_Neptune_Spear) that resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden. > > **Who’s the Senator?** > Obama was referring to Todd Akin and his controversial"legitimate rape"statements [saying](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57498701/obama-akin-somehow-missed-science-class/), “the interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology, but somehow missed science class.” > > The problem is Akin is a candidate for Senate. His opponent, Claire McCaskill, is the Senator who sits of that House Committee on Science and Technology. Oddly CBSNews didn’t notice that this was an error on Obama’s part. A Senator sitting on a House committee? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![JQPublic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@JQPublic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JQPublic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/66 "2012-08-24T16:54:17Z")
In a speech he kept saying “corpse men” instead of “core men” when reading corpsmen on his teleprompter. When awarding the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta he did not address him by rank and did not salute him. Granted these were a couple years ago. Just recently called Admiral McRaven General McRaven. I know many on this site don’t care but all of the above are very offensive to our military. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/67 "2012-08-24T17:19:29Z")
> [@JQPublic](#): > > In a speech he kept saying “corpse men” instead of “core men” when reading corpsmen on his teleprompter. > When awarding the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta he did not address him by rank and did not salute him. > Granted these were a couple years ago. > Just recently called Admiral McRaven General McRaven. > I know many on this site don’t care but all of the above are very offensive to our military. I’m surprised about the first, not that I doubt it. Gotta link? As to the second, [the president isn’t supposed to salute military personnel](http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/012545.html). I think he hugged him instead. Ignorance fought? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/68 "2012-08-24T20:05:07Z")
My bad. McCaskill sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and its subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation. Akin sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. There is no House Committee on Science and Technology. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/69 "2012-08-24T23:03:15Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > My bad. > > McCaskill sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and its subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation. > > Akin sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. > > There is no House Committee on Science and Technology. Your criteria for what constitutes a gaffe seems quite low. As a rule, if 99.9% of the American public don’t realize someone misspoke, it probably should not be considered a gaffe. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/70 "2012-08-24T23:34:25Z")
I would say that omitting \*space \*isn’t a gaffe, it’s utterly trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/71 "2012-08-24T23:41:08Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > My bad. > > McCaskill sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and its subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Innovation. > > Akin sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. > > There is no House Committee on Science and Technology. So Obama said that Akin was on the House Committee on Science and Technology. However, Akin actually sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. This is the biggest Obama gaffe you can come up with? You actually had the big brass cahones to put this in a thread about “tell me the stupid stuff that Obama has done lately”? Really? Really? You’re pulling our legs right? You just CAN’T think that this rates any more than 0.0003 on the Gaffe Scale. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/72 "2012-08-24T23:49:19Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > You’re pulling our legs right? You just CAN’T think that this rates any more than 0.0003 on the Gaffe Scale. I believe (correct me if I’m wrong, **'luci** ) that is .3 millinewts. ---
**Author:** ![vd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b19c9b/32.png) [@vd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vd)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/73 "2012-08-25T00:27:38Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I would say that omitting \*space \*isn’t a gaffe, it’s utterly trivial. But space is big! Really big! You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/74 "2012-08-25T01:53:01Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So Obama said that Akin was on the House Committee on Science and Technology. However, Akin actually sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. > > This is the biggest Obama gaffe you can come up with? You actually had the big brass cahones to put this in a thread about “tell me the stupid stuff that Obama has done lately”? > > Really? > > Really? > > You’re pulling our legs right? You just CAN’T think that this rates any more than 0.0003 on the Gaffe Scale. Yeah. I mean compared with the shit that Mitt comes up with on a weekly basis, that’s nuthin. And to show I am not entirely partisan, I did say that our Veep, Biden, seems to only open his mouth to change feet. I have to admit I am not eniterly 100& happy with all of Obama’s decisions (such as his dec last year to bow under to the GOPs “gun-to-the-head” demands about raising the debt limit), but Obama just doesnt make too many of those kinds of gaffes. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/75 "2012-08-25T03:34:23Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So Obama said that Akin was on the House Committee on Science and Technology. However, Akin actually sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. > > This is the biggest Obama gaffe you can come up with? You actually had the big brass cahones to put this in a thread about “tell me the stupid stuff that Obama has done lately”? > > Really? > > Really? > > You’re pulling our legs right? You just CAN’T think that this rates any more than 0.0003 on the Gaffe Scale. I think we’re back to Obama leaking classified information. Obviously, the Space Program is going away and this was his way of secretly telegraphing that fact to North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/76 "2012-08-25T03:56:57Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So Obama said that Akin was on the House Committee on Science and Technology. However, Akin actually sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. > > This is the biggest Obama gaffe you can come up with? You actually had the big brass cahones to put this in a thread about “tell me the stupid stuff that Obama has done lately”? > > Really? > > Really? > > You’re pulling our legs right? You just CAN’T think that this rates any more than 0.0003 on the Gaffe Scale. Before **Iggy** blasts you, I just wanted to let you know, it’s “cojones” Wouldn’t want you to be accused of a mortifying gaffe. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/77 "2012-08-25T04:06:10Z")
> [@JQPublic](#): > > When awarding the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta he did not address him by rank and did not salute him. The president is a civilian; it is not appropriate for him to salute. Eisenhower knew that. He never returned a salute while he was president. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/78 "2012-08-25T10:08:42Z")
I thought it’d be more typical not to salute indoors anyway? Oh and Obama invited the UN to control Minnesota and disarm the citizenry. Or so I heard. That’s pretty major, right? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/79 "2012-08-25T19:05:27Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Oh and Obama invited the UN to control Minnesota and disarm the citizenry. Or so I heard. That’s pretty major, right? I’m not sure most people would notice so probably not “pretty major.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246/80 "2012-08-25T20:06:13Z")
Yesterday, Former Navy SEAL Don Mann was being interviewed on the Madeleine Brand show (concerning his reaction to the soon-to-be-published book about the ObL raid). He evidently HAD to take a shot at the President, and stated that President Obama goofed when he specified that the raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death had been carried out by SEAL Team Six, rather than just saying that it had been carried out by “Special Forces.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-the-stupid-stuff-obama-has-done-lately/632246.md?page=5)