# The tan suit **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 19, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133 "2021-08-19T02:02:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StraightTalk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straighttalk/32/9982_2.png) [@StraightTalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StraightTalk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/1 "2021-08-19T02:02:48Z")
Why does anyone care when the president wears a tan suit? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/2 "2021-08-19T02:05:52Z")
Fox News apparently cared. See the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_tan_suit_controversy) on the story of the century. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/3 "2021-08-19T02:06:29Z")
It looks ugly. But yes, it’s a total non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/4 "2021-08-19T02:08:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > **It looks ugly.** > > But yes, it’s a total non-issue. - No kidding. [![](https://preview.redd.it/5jzdm5huli651.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e6681ece0d6285ba36c81bb8f44eda0dd0ee3b61) ](https://preview.redd.it/5jzdm5huli651.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=e6681ece0d6285ba36c81bb8f44eda0dd0ee3b61) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/5 "2021-08-19T02:13:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > See the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_tan_suit_controversy) on the story of the century. I find it hilarious that Wikipedia specified that “the tan suit controversy took place at **4:09 PM** ” as if they were describing the precise moment that an airplane hit the North Tower. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/6 "2021-08-19T02:15:37Z")
It ain’t the color of the suit that really was at issue here. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/7 "2021-08-19T02:16:10Z")
To be fair, it’s really a Wikipedia _user_ named CmdrDan who thought it a good idea to add the exact time when Obama walked in front of the press cameras wearing that suit. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/8 "2021-08-19T02:59:41Z")
Many people are saying the tan suit emboldened the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/9 "2021-08-19T03:08:09Z")
I’d believe them [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7dtSIvD9uDA/maxresdefault.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7dtSIvD9uDA/maxresdefault.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/10 "2021-08-19T03:10:17Z")
It’s the same as with the national debt. Only matters when a Democrat is in the office. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/11 "2021-08-19T03:39:24Z")
That suit color was Afghanis Tan. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/12 "2021-08-19T13:03:09Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > It ain’t the color of the suit that really was at issue here. Yeah, and it was Obama’s fault. If he had just smoked weed in the oval office, had a car with bouncing hydraulics outside, or, I dunno, pimped his hoes, or whatever black people do, they wouldn’t have had to stretch so hard to find something that matched their rhetoric.. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/13 "2021-08-19T13:13:40Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Yeah, and it was Obama’s fault. > If he had just smoked weed in the oval office, had a car with bouncing hydraulics outside, or, I dunno, pimped his hoes, or whatever black people do, they wouldn’t have had to stretch so hard to find something that matched their rhetoric… I’ve wondered whether things would have turned out better if our first black president had looked and sounded like George Jefferson (or maybe even Fred Sanford) instead of an erudite Harvard lawyer. Less right-wing insecurity ----\> less need for faux outrage. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/14 "2021-08-19T13:32:49Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’ve wondered whether things would have turned out better if our first black president had looked and sounded like George Jefferson (or maybe even Fred Sanford) instead of an erudite Harvard lawyer. Less right-wing insecurity ----\> less need for faux outrage. Nah, the faux outrage would still be about the Democrat elites looking down on real Americans, but instead of pointing out Democrats from elite universities (and ignoring their own educations) it would be, at the same time, about Democrats not being edumacated, and about Democrat elites thinking so little about American voters that the try to trick them into thinking they are voting for someone like them. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/15 "2021-08-19T13:42:08Z")
I heard the light-colored suit made his skin look darker. Apparently managing the racism of onlookers is a crucial presidential skill, conveniently according to his critics. Not only was that not a real controversy, it’s better than being caught leading an insurrection or other serious presidential scandals. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/16 "2021-08-19T13:44:00Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I’ve wondered whether things would have turned out better if our first black president had looked and sounded like George Jefferson (or maybe even Fred Sanford) instead of an erudite Harvard lawyer. No, I don’t think so. The point was that the rhetoric wasn’t going to change, only intensify. But that’s the joke of all this; that he made things so hard for them as his character was…what’s the adjective here…_unimpeachable_. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/17 "2021-08-20T02:09:19Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > It ain’t the color of the suit that really was at issue here. Indeed…it was the lack of a US flag lapel pin: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4h1XvpPsrdo/maxresdefault.jpg "Obama's Flag Pin: The Worst Scandal in Presidential History | The Daily Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h1XvpPsrdo) (First rule of mudslinging; when you get caught with mud smeared on your candidate, change up and start throwing a different color of mud.) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/18 "2021-08-20T02:17:28Z")
Because white supremacists are filled with rage and terror about America becoming more and more multicultural, but its socially unacceptable to admit to being a white nationalist, so they have to find other things to be enraged about as an outlet for the rage they feel. As mentioned, notice the rage is only directed at people who are seen as supporting multiculturalism. They don’t feel rage against McConnell, Bush, Reagan, etc for wearing tan suits. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/19 "2021-08-20T03:39:14Z")
Someone once put it this way (paraphrased): When a normal president steps on a nail, it causes significant injury (nail = scandal.) When someone like Trump steps on a bed of tightly packed nails, it causes no harm, because each nail takes the distributed pressure (and that’s how the physics works in real life, when people use “nail beds” for the hand or feet.) So by committing 20,000 scandals, Trump effectively suffered for almost none of them. He could wear a tan suit and it wouldn’t even lead to batted eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133/20 "2021-08-20T04:22:07Z")
Yeah that’s pretty accurate. People got numb to the scandals after awhile. My personal analogy is that it’s like living with a horrid stench. After long enough you can’t smell it anymore. If, on the other hand, the smell came and went you’d always notice it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-tan-suit/949133.md?page=2)