# Why would Obama make such a preposterous claim? \[US one of the largest Muslim countries\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 3, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567 "2009-06-03T12:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Phatlewt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Phatlewt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phatlewt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/41 "2009-06-03T15:48:14Z")
I have written my representative and demanded that impeachment proceedings begin immediately. It is absolutely unacceptable for the President of the United States to get a fact wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/42 "2009-06-03T15:50:04Z")
His statement might just prevent some moderate Muslims worldwide developing into extremist Islamics with a hatred for the U.S. with all its consequences. This in turn might save American lives. In many Muslim countrys a significant part of the populace are unaware that America is anything but an infidel nation. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/43 "2009-06-03T15:53:00Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Get back to us when he starts blathering on about Venezuelan Balsa-Wood Drones of Death or some-such. A prototype flew the Atlantic back in 2003. This is technology well within reach of Hugo Chavez. [http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/membersonly/dec04/features/amodel/amodel.html](http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/membersonly/dec04/features/amodel/amodel.html) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/44 "2009-06-03T15:53:23Z")
It might be a stretch to define 39th (or 29th or 53rd) out of a group of 203 as “one of the largest” but it hardly rises to the level of being “a preposterous claim” or “bullshit”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/45 "2009-06-03T16:10:06Z")
Indeed. Why shouldn’t Obama get the same treatment for a hasty conclusion from a too-narrow set of statistical data that Bush got for not being able to remember the word order of common english aphorisms? ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/46 "2009-06-03T16:13:57Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Bullshit is NOT in fact bullshit. There’s different kinds of bullshit and it makes sense to recognize that you don’t throw Brand X Bullshit[sup]®[/sup] on a garden that requires Acme Bullshit[sup]®[/sup] and vice versa. If you want to cultivate an idea garden in 'Merka, you need to be using **Ben Franklin’s Homestyle Bullshit[sup]®[/sup]** with its high logic content and common sense appeal. On the other hand, The Obama-lama is exporting ideas to harsher, drier climates whose intellectual soil was long ago depleted of logic. Ideas which rely on cold, rock hard facts will wither in the Middle East, and so a generous mound of **Brothers In Arms’ Emotionally Charged, Wish-Focused Bullshit[sup]®[/sup]** is optimal. And I’m not really being faecetious (see what I did there?) either. A big part of why The ME is so problematic for the west is because we have consistently failed to recognize that what is of supreme importance to one culture is maybe a distant consideration in the other. > > I think it’s been established that he didn’t deliver this particular shovelful in Egypt, but it would still work. You can’t affect the mind of an Arab unless you’ve won (or lost) his heart. You’ll never have a more dedicated friend or enemy. Downplaying differences and building up the important common ground is vital to peace. What kind of bullshit is it to cast aspersions on an entire region of the globe on the basis of a sentence or two in the draft remarks of an American president’s speech. **Hysterical Xenophobic Right-Wing Blowhard Bullshit[sup]®[/sup]** perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/47 "2009-06-03T16:16:31Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > Maybe he meant geographically? The US is one of the largest countries, period. Only Russia and Canada are larger. And I’m pretty sure the US has large muslim populations than either of those. And John Lennon meant that the Beatles were all _taller_ than Jesus. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/48 "2009-06-03T16:22:46Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > It doesn’t upset me, it’s just bullshit. > > Yeah, he’s not as gaffe prone as Bush by any stretch of the imagination. Bush made more gaffes in a week than Obama has made in his tenure as of yet. But still, bullshit is bullshit. Very true. I believe that there are different qualities of bullshit however; some is certainly more stinky than others. If we compare the stinkyness of two piles of bullshit: **Obama Bullshit:** > [@](#): > > June 2, 2009: And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. My opinion of the reason for the Bullshit: Obama wanted to convey that there were a lot of Muslims in the United States, and therefore the country is in no way “anti-muslim” Stink Factor: “whew! Who let one off?” **Bush Bullshit:** > [@](#): > > May 29, 2003: We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories. You remember when Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said, Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons. They’re illegal. They’re against the United Nations resolutions, and we’ve so far discovered two. And we’ll find more weapons as time goes on. My opinion of the reason for Bullshit: Bush wanted to justify his decision to go to war in Iraq, a decision that cost a huge amount of money and lives. Stink Factor: One metric ton of weapons-grade stink ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/49 "2009-06-03T18:04:43Z")
I’ll go ahead and get the next outrage started. Evidently, when Hopey McChange was talking with King Abdullah this morning, the King congratulated him on his election victory. Now here is where I become “concerned”, Nobama then said “Shukran” Which is Muslim for Thank You. I weep for our future as a country when our President has to lower himself to speak another countries language. How did I do? did I get the tone right? I’m new at this, so any suggestions will be appreciated. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/50 "2009-06-03T18:08:09Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > How did I do? did I get the tone right? I’m new at this, so any suggestions will be appreciated. Very good - you only forgot to add the slippery slope finale. “Before long, we’ll all be forced to speak some kind of Mussie language” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/51 "2009-06-03T18:09:00Z")
I especially like how you got a country named “Muslim” stuck in there. A small, but fairly creative point. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/52 "2009-06-03T18:11:22Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Very good - you only forgot to add the slippery slope finale. > > “Before long, we’ll all be forced to speak some kind of Mussie language” Damn, I always forget the slippery slope. Faux outrage is hard. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/53 "2009-06-03T18:11:25Z")
> [@](#): > > How did I do? did I get the tone right? I’m new at this, so any suggestions will be appreciated. You missed the big outrage (we’ll let it slide because you’re new at this). King Abdullah congratulated Obama on his victory and Obama thanked him? Obviously this means that Obama acknowledges he owes his victory to Abdullah and the rest of the Muslim world. More proof, if any was needed, that Obama is a secret Muslim trying to take over America and destory Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/54 "2009-06-03T18:22:05Z")
Every day I am more and more surprised at how low Fox can sink to ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/55 "2009-06-03T18:22:50Z")
Why make such a big deal out of such an obviously trivial error? Is the whole Obama presidency going to be like this: people scouring every speech he makes for little inconsistencies and flaws? Obligatory Emerson quote: “\*A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds … \*” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/56 "2009-06-03T18:30:44Z")
I wouldn’t even say this was an error. More a figure of speech. If he’d said, “Why we have exactly 16 million Muslims in the USA,” that would have been an error… ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/57 "2009-06-03T18:36:57Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Is the whole Obama presidency going to be like this: people scouring every speech he makes for little inconsistencies and flaws? You betcha. The right wing noise machine has firmly established that if one has not declared oneself a conservative, it is simply impossible to be correct on any issue, and that any verbal gaffe one may make is glaring evidence of moral bankruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![DagNation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@DagNation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DagNation)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/58 "2009-06-03T18:48:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > … Obviously this means that Obama acknowledges he owes his victory to Abdullah and the rest of the Muslim world. More proof, if any was needed, that Obama is a secret Muslim trying to take over America and destory Christianity. Dude, how are you going to feel when your phrase ends up on Faux n fiends? You will be blamed for the next rediculous Obama outrage :smack: . Please don’t give them any more help!!! 😃 BTW, **yanceylebeef** good job on the faux outrage, you learn will young padawan. I’m gonna put a TV tuned to F&F out in my garden, to see if it makes my flowers grow better. Dag ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/59 "2009-06-03T18:54:33Z")
More RO from the RW. On the other hand, one supposes that as a group they have nothing better to do at the moment… ---
**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:** [June 3, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567/60 "2009-06-03T19:04:34Z")
He fucked up in a harmless way, get over it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-obama-make-such-a-preposterous-claim-us-one-of-the-largest-muslim-countries/498567.md?page=4)