# The situation-room photo **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742 "2011-05-04T20:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/61 "2011-05-06T01:54:44Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Yea, I was mainly struck by the fact that our half-trillion a year military industrial complex is apparently run out of an unremarkable conference room the size of a walk-in-closet. > > I mean, I didn’t expect it to be like the movies where theres a cavernous room with hundreds of computer stations and big 3D displays of the globe on the wall, but you think they could at least spring for some extra chairs. That’d be the Army operations Center in the Pentagon. It is fuckin’ huge, like the movies. (I’ve been in it, but that was 15 years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/62 "2011-05-06T02:20:51Z")
What’s Ray Romano doing there? Seriously, I saw this photo earlier and it was part of a series in which various well-known people had been “inserted.” It was pretty clever and I’ll see if I can find it again. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/63 "2011-05-06T02:49:29Z")
I just see the guy with all the chest decoration and think it’s kind of sad that he has to prove who he is with all the decoration, rather than just be known as being good at \. I know, I know, it’s military, blah blah blah. Why not just a suit and tie? Hell, why not just a polo shirt and khakis? It’s not as if they’re on parade. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/64 "2011-05-06T03:14:37Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I just see the guy with all the chest decoration and think it’s kind of sad that he has to prove who he is with all the decoration, rather than just be known as being good at \. I know, I know, it’s military, blah blah blah. Why not just a suit and tie? Hell, why not just a polo shirt and khakis? It’s not as if they’re on parade. Because thats the uniform. Under the jacket he may or may not have on those ribbons on his shirt. (He can , but its not required. On the shirt I believe all thats required is your nametag and rank insignia, however individual commands can have different requirements.) I wear my recruiter badge on my ACUs. I hated recruiting with a white hot hatred hotter than the sun. But I wear the badge and its not rquired. I also wear my c0ombat patch on my right shoulder. Its not required, but I put it on anyway. Why? Because I went through it, the hell of recruiting, the shittiness of combat. Ribbons are earned…and if you earn them, why not wear them? Unless Air Force regs are drastically different, they are a part of his uniform. (Believe me, its no fun putting 'em on, though. I’m going through that right now, as my uniforms…including my class a’s and dress blues…were destroyed in the tornado in Fayettevill 3 weeks ago…and I’ve got to get new ones and put 'em together again…[and theres a certain order they have to be in](http://www.armyawards.com/awards.shtml).) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/65 "2011-05-06T03:31:41Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Unless Air Force regs are drastically different, they are a part of his uniform. (Believe me, its no fun putting 'em on, though. I’m going through that right now, as my uniforms…including my class a’s and dress blues…were destroyed in the tornado in Fayettevill 3 weeks ago…and I’ve got to get new ones and put 'em together again…[and theres a certain order they have to be in](http://www.armyawards.com/awards.shtml).) Yup, with the Air Force you’re not allowed to leave your ribbons off. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/66 "2011-05-06T06:33:45Z")
in the other branches, can you leave the ribbons off? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/67 "2011-05-06T07:17:00Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > There are lots of more detailed Sit Room pictures on the White House Flickr photostream, and they look different, more like what you’d expect the room to look like. > > Like [this one](http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5680161629/in/photostream). > > Either the photo in question is everyone squeezed into a corner of the room or it is a different room, the Situation Closet. 🙂 > > The obscured photo near Clinton is a high-rez picture (and likely annotated) of Obama’s hideout, I’m almost certain, either from a drone or satellite. What the hell is Obama wearing in this shot? It looks like a cape or something. It reminds me of a hermit crab that chose a shell to big for its skinny little body. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/68 "2011-05-06T14:50:54Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > What the hell is Obama wearing in this shot? It looks like a cape or something. It reminds me of a hermit crab that chose a shell to big for its skinny little body. It’s a windbreaker over a golf shirt. Obama had gone golfing earlier in the day. Since he’s hunched over, its all kind of bunched up on him. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/69 "2011-05-06T22:13:11Z")
Is it just me, or \*do \*parts of that photo have kind of a 'Shopped look to them? Particularly the folks standing behind the guy in the blue tie. They don’t quite look like they fit in with the rest of the photo–it’s like they’re different degrees of sharp and blurry, even when they’re roughly the same distance from the camera. No conspiracy theory here–I’m sure it’s not. But it still kind of looks like it is. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/70 "2011-05-06T23:38:16Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Is it just me, or \*do \*parts of that photo have kind of a 'Shopped look to them? Particularly the folks standing behind the guy in the blue tie. They don’t quite look like they fit in with the rest of the photo–it’s like they’re different degrees of sharp and blurry, even when they’re roughly the same distance from the camera. > > No conspiracy theory here–I’m sure it’s not. But it still kind of looks like it is. I can sort of see what you’re trying to convey here, but the full-rez shot on Flickr looks exactly like what you’d expect. Pete Souza’s plane of focus in on Hillary Clinton, and everything else gets gradually blurrier as you go farther and farther back (or even moreso closer to the camera). Obama’s not even tack sharp. Nothing looks Photoshopped with the full resolution photo, except for the pixillation about whatever is in front of Hillary Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/71 "2011-05-06T23:42:55Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > What the hell is Obama wearing in this shot? It looks like a cape or something. It reminds me of a hermit crab that chose a shell to big for its skinny little body. It’s a superhero cape. Obama always insist on wearing it when he is in the situation room. He says it’s good for morale. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/72 "2011-05-07T00:23:17Z")
Isn’t the perspective in that photo off? Isn’t the depth compressed? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/73 "2011-05-07T00:41:21Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > =Arrendajo] > > What the hell is Obama wearing in this shot? It looks like a cape or something. It reminds me of a hermit crab that chose a shell to big for its skinny little body. > > It’s a superhero cape. Obama always insist on wearing it when he is in the situation room. He says it’s good for morale. Here’s a better perspective on it: [Obama’s cape](http://www.baynews9.com/static/news2011/obama-situation-room-0501_rdax_676x451.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/74 "2011-05-07T21:18:17Z")
I know one thing. If I become Prez, I get to sit in the nice chair at the table and the general with the fruit salad can damned well sit on the fold-out chair. I’m not the CiC so I can sit at the kids table. ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/75 "2011-05-07T22:31:19Z")
The first thing I thought when I saw this pic was: “Man, Obama looks PISSED about something!” The next thing was that Biden looks mildly uninterested. Like he’s thinking about an unfinished sudoku puzzle that is waiting back on his desk. Clinton looks shocked and mortified. John Lithgow looks good - as usual. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/76 "2011-05-08T00:35:23Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Is it just me, or \*do \*parts of that photo have kind of a 'Shopped look to them? Particularly the folks standing behind the guy in the blue tie. They don’t quite look like they fit in with the rest of the photo–it’s like they’re different degrees of sharp and blurry, even when they’re roughly the same distance from the camera. > > No conspiracy theory here–I’m sure it’s not. But it still kind of looks like it is. I’m not really seeing any inconsistencies in the focus, but perhaps these factors are contributing to the odd sense you’re picking up: 1. The drastic/uneven light change from the table to the door. There’s a harsh overhead light right above the dude in blue peeking around the guy in from of him, which makes him seem like he was composited in from another shot. 2. The wide camera lens intensifying the parallax. 3. some other third thing. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Eyed_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/77 "2011-05-08T01:58:52Z")
This picture has fascinated me since I first saw it (clearly I’m not the only one). One thing about it is that the full size original on the flickr stream contains the EXIF data. If the photographer has the clock set right ([this](http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5680161629/sizes/o/in/photostream/) seems to indicate that he has - 20:03 Washington time is 2:03 Tripoli time), and I’m converting the time right, then 16:05 Washington is just after 1:00 am Abbottabad time, when the twitter guy started tweeting. So, the looks on the faces could be in response to the start of the raid, or quite possibly being informed that they’re going to lose (or have lost) one of the helicopters. Another thing I noticed with the full sized picture is that the papers on Biden’s computer looks like a picture of the compound, with a red line coming from the south east. I thought that might have warranted redaction too. Like I said, fascinating stuff. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/78 "2011-05-08T02:35:42Z")
Frankly, I’m impressed that Pete Souza was allowed to be in the room, given how Top Secret the whole thing was. I suspect that he wasn’t told what the stakes were on this mission until he was in the room, with the door shut, and possibly not even until after the whole shebang was over. Souza just might have taken the picture without knowing who the target of the strike was. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/79 "2011-05-08T02:38:12Z")
> [@Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](#): > > Another thing I noticed with the full sized picture is that the papers on Biden’s computer looks like a picture of the compound, with a red line coming from the south east. I thought that might have warranted redaction too. Or Hilary’s binder: TOP SECRET CODE WORD NORFO (looks like ‘Norfolk’ with the last 2 letters fuzzed out a bit). Maybe there’s a shot of the wireless router with the password written on a piece of tape somewhere 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742/80 "2011-05-08T03:05:45Z")
I don’t know anything about this website [The Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2878/1/) but this series of pictures was very interesting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-situation-room-photo/580742.md?page=5)