PHOTO: President Obama and the Joint Chiefs of Staff

[Thrill]

[Beaverhausen]

1. I can't help but think how different the world would be if there were some females in that picture

[Hutzpa]

3. If the female has the brain power

I'm sure they would let her in....then again there are females who are a lot more aggressive than men.

[Jennicut]

36. Not much would change if there were women who believe in using the power of the miliary

to get what they want....Liz Cheney is a woman.

[Whisp]

5. thats the first thing my mind assimilated... no women?

then I had to think what year this was taken...
then Dr. Strangelove had a spin around there for a nano second or two...


yes. unsettling indeed.

but having the wrong woman there could be worse. one that thinks 'strength' is being twice the asshole a man can be.

[Engineer4Obama]

8. You know women still aren't allowed to be in the infantry right?

There's still a long way to go toward equality in the armed forces.

[Whisp]

11. yes, and I've not really thought about it but will say what I think now

I think that is very wrong to make that choice for a woman. She should be the one deciding that, ad I'm not condoning war or violence or anything, I just don't accept how half the populatio has different rights of choices than the other half in this and so many matters.

I suppose the argument would be something along the line of: O, women are so delicate and us hero chivalry minded men would endanger everyone because we would be watching over the women to protect their delicateness and be distracted. Or we would just be distracted by their bodies, you knw how we are, all red blooded and all that shit.

The other thing is just plain deep seated ugly sexism. The women who would be the equals to some men who think this is th eplace for them, a sacred territory that no woman can besmitch and turn afoul with their weakness, where they can prove to themselves over and over how macho and tough they are. Well, having a woman being as macho and tough (and most likely having to be twice as) would upset the little darlins quite considerably I would guess. Some of them. The ones who yell the loudest.

Women have been at war for centuries, we know how to fight

[Hippo_Tron]

10. Condi would've been there in the last administration

And if this were a meeting of the full National Security Council Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice would be in that room.

[noiretextatique]

16. me too eom

[PopSixSquish]

18. Like This?

A picture of the National Security Council meeting on 10/14...

[MadMaddie]

24. Condi Rice is a smart woman but she was way out of her

league. She was not a value-added participant, if she was we might not have ended up in two wars.

[jenmito]

30. That's not Condi Rice.

It's SUSAN Rice.

[PopSixSquish]

31. Susan Rice, Not Condi

Why would Condi be in the room during a NSC meeting with PRESIDENT OBAMA...

[MadMaddie]

35. Oh snap that is Susan....I just saw the glasses on her nose

Condi wore her glasses like that..

[RollWithIt]

20. Not really true....

The idea of having a "token" female kind of bothers me. If there is a female who would be the best for a particular spot you can bet Obama would make it happen if he could.

He already appointed a female Supreme Court Justice. A female Secretary of State. Hell, the guy is surrounded by a LOT of females.

Besides, Condi Rice was in the last cabinet. Proof that the premise of the argument is flawed.

[IndianaGreen]

25. Too many men, too many hawks.

Too much like what went on when LBJ, Dean Rusk, and Bob McNamara concocted the Tonkin Gulf "incident."

[elleng]

28. Ditto! Looking for Nancy >>> (from West Wing!)

[Fla Dem]

32. Exactly what I was thinking, Other than the Prez, all white old men. n/t

[Bucky]

38. Were you looking for young generals?

Or just ignoring Rahm Emanuel?

[Fla Dem]

39. No Rahm was a given as COS.

But I'll correct my observation to say all white men.

[Hutzpa]

2. No more troops

I believe in ISOLATION, it will work.

[Arkana]

4. Shit, that's the Situation Room, looks like.

[Hippo_Tron]

12. That's actually the newly renovated situation room

This is it before the renovations.



This is how it's depicted on The West Wing



They say that hollywood depictions inspired the new renovations (minus the dim lighting of course).

[elocs]

6. Well, this is DU where anything that has "joint" in the title is loved. n/t

[Clio the Leo]

7. I wish I knew the purpose of that little teeny screen in front of him. NT

[Zorro]

19. Probably used to set up the video teleconference

Would also have the mute button on it, too.

[Clio the Leo]

22. And why does HE get to be in charge of it?

what makes HIM so special?

Hrmph ........ typical male, hopping the remote. :)

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Clearly the White House Situation Room Remote Guy was chosen by affirmative action!!!

This is outrageous I tells ya!!!

[RollWithIt]

21. I believe its basically a controller....

Switch video screens, turn volume up and down. Mute. Turn mic off. Etc.

[Engineer4Obama]

9. The West Wing's version was better looking

Sorry that's what comes to my mind when I see inside the White House pics.

[Hippo_Tron]

13. See above, The West Wing's depiction inspired the new renovations

The major difference, IMO, is that the real one doesn't have the very dim lighting. That's mostly for dramatic effect.

[Engineer4Obama]

14. Westwings room was slightly bigger

Also the dim lighting was how I knew it was the situation room!

[Hippo_Tron]

15. Yea the dim lighting is really cool when you're watching it on TV

But I would imagine that if you were in the real life situation room the dim lighting would just make it hard to read the briefing memos you have in front of you.

Also, on The West Wing the President only goes into the situation room when there is genuinely a "situation". I think that in real life the room is used a lot more frequently for meetings in which sensitive information is involved. Leo, Nancy, and Fitz would occasionally have these sorts of discussions in the situation room but never with the President there.

And I don't know if you've watched the special features on the DVDs but the West Wing sets are better looking than the real thing in pretty much all cases. The Air Force One set, IMO, is the most accurate but it's a little better looking than the real thing.

[elleng]

29. And harder for Gates to read VP Biden's notes!!!!

[Cha]

17. Interesting! I wonder what they think of

this young whippersnapper?

[IndianaGreen]

26. They are probably drawing up target lists

like LBJ, Rusk, and McNamara used to.

[RagAss]

23. I don't see the joint. Who's got it?

[polichick]

27. :)

[Justitia]

34. wow - great pic! The renovated room is way, way better than the old one. -eom

[Bucky]

37. Oh dang, I thought you meant the funk band