# The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774 "2024-11-06T09:17:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 107
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2122 "2025-08-24T07:18:52Z")
Seriously? It’s a city in a red state. Nothing is likely to happen. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2123 "2025-08-24T07:48:32Z")
It’s a blue city in a sea of red so who knows. The Republicans in Nashville hate us and would love nothing better than to see the city punished, and the rest of the state would cheer it on. Again, we _are_ the most violent city in the country. If Trump wants to pretend he’s serious about being tough on crime, it would be a good opportunity for him to show out here. Governor Lee would be all for it. But Tennessee doesn’t usually get a lot of attention, and Trump seems to prefer going after blue states so he can piss off their governors, so I’m not too concerned at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2124 "2025-08-24T15:53:59Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Trump 37% Harris 60% > #1 in violent crime > The MAGAs have been screaming for a police state for some time now. > Elon’s environment-damaging AI facility was foist upon us. > The city is kind of a mess. I have no idea what’s going to happen. Memphis is an interesting place. I don’t go there very often, but when I do I stop by the Cozy Corner for some ribs, and the neighborhoods are fascinating. I swear I can drive through a lovely neighborhood, blink, and suddenly I’m surrounded by grinding poverty. I’m sure Memphis isn’t the only city like that, but it fascinated me the first time I was there in the late 1990s. Who knows? Maybe the people of Tennessee will be just fine with Trump punishing the blue city of Memphis? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2125 "2025-08-25T00:45:53Z")
I’ll sometimes listen to a snippet of the Orange Buffoon just for the hilarious comedy value. He’s going to “re-grass” Washington parks. He knows more about grass than anyone human being in the world. Did you know that grass has life? He knows that. I doubt anyone else does. 🤣 [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VvcjzbPvEv8/maxresdefault.jpg "Trump goes on bizarre RANT claiming he knows ‘more about grass than any human being’ in the world") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvcjzbPvEv8) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2126 "2025-08-25T01:18:04Z")
Hmmm…but he _un-grassed_ the WH Rose Garden. What’s up with that? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2127 "2025-08-25T01:39:59Z")
Clearly, that grass had outlived its allotted span and needed to be buried. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2128 "2025-08-25T01:46:33Z")
Send Lawyers, guns and money. I really don’t know what to say about how bad this shit show has gotten. I’m from Chicago. Though in the 60’s. I doubt they will put up with this BS. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2129 "2025-08-25T03:33:33Z")
“The shit has hit the fan!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2130 "2025-08-25T03:42:36Z")
As my dad said, ‘The feces has hit the rotating oscillator.’ ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2131 "2025-08-25T19:15:06Z")
So far today there are three executive orders that fit the thread: > **[Executive Orders Archives](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-orders/)** Trump ordered that flag burning is again a crime despite SCOTUS having ruled otherwise. He also ordered states to require cash bail for a range of crimes including vandalism. This is a classic [unfunded mandate](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfunded_mandate), since it will require more jail cells. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2132 "2025-08-25T20:07:10Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > He also ordered states Trump doesn’t control the states. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2133 "2025-08-25T20:28:48Z")
Yet. Yet, I say. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2134 "2025-08-25T20:41:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > He also ordered states > > Trump doesn’t control the states. This is an often overlooked point – “executive order” doesn’t mean “new law”. Haven’t many of his executive orders generally been ignored, and doubly so in blue states? No cite, though. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2135 "2025-08-25T20:45:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > He also ordered states > > Trump doesn’t control the states. [For indigent defendants, there is rarely a cash component to a federal bail](https://www.federaldefendersny.org/bail-pretrial-detention). For whatever reason, Trump didn’t monkey with that. The executive order just applies to states and localities. The way the executive order reads, Trump will enforce the order with threats of withholding federal funds. I suppose we will find out if TACO here. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2136 "2025-08-25T20:47:00Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This is an often overlooked point – “executive order” doesn’t mean “new law”. Haven’t many of his executive orders generally been ignored, and doubly so in blue states? No cite, though. I posted this link in a P&E thread: > **[I researched every Democratic attempt to stop fascism in history. The success...](https://przxqgl.hybridelephant.com/2025/08/15/i-researched-every-democratic-attempt-to-stop-fascism-in-history-the-success-rate-after-fascists-were-elected-was-0/)** To fight the fascist government (and yes, we are officially fascist country now), the author gives four options. The first one is to create a Blue state coalition that renders the federal government irrelevant. The third one is secession. (The author says a serious threat might be enough.) The fourth option is international intervention The second option is this: > **Option 2: Selective Compliance and Irish Democracy** > The Irish called it “Irish Democracy” when they were under British rule, the silent, dogged resistance of millions who simply ignored laws they found illegitimate. Don’t protest. Don’t riot. Just don’t comply. > > Red states need blue state money. Blue state taxes fund red state governments. What if millions of people in blue states simultaneously decided to claim exempt on their W-4s and simply… stopped paying federal taxes? Not as protest but as a coordinated “forgetting.” Overwhelm the IRS. Make enforcement impossible. > > Doctors in blue states could ignore abortion restrictions. Teachers could ignore curriculum mandates. State police could refuse to enforce federal laws. Not dramatically, just… incompetently. “Sorry, we couldn’t find them.” “The paperwork got lost.” “Our systems are down.” > > Make every single act of authoritarian control require physical enforcement, then make that enforcement impossibly expensive and difficult. So, yeah. Just ignore laws that are illegitimate. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2137 "2025-08-25T20:50:58Z")
It’s been posted elsewhere, but when Trump doesn’t have the legal/extralegal authority to get his way, he just resorts to straight-up threats: > **[Trump threatens 'harsh measures' if Tina Peters is not released from jail](https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2025/08/25/trump-threatens-harsh-measures-if-tina-peters-is-not-released-from-jail/)** > > President Donald Trump is calling for the release of Colorado’s Tina Peters, a former county election official convicted for her role in a security breach of her office’s voting equipment, and threatening “harsh measures” if she doesn’t get out... She’s pretty much every bit as bad as the J6 marauders, and was prosecuted and found guilty by the constituents of her deep red County. ---
**Author:** ![Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slight_Off_Hand)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2138 "2025-08-25T20:53:39Z")
The start of saying the quiet part out loud. > **[Trump says he is not a dictator but insists many people think the US could...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-dictator-crime-cities-b2813664.html)** > > President criticized Democratic-led cities of being ungrateful for his administration deploying federal law enforcement to help curtail crime > Some people are saying, “Maybe we would like a dictator” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2139 "2025-08-25T21:13:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Just ignore laws that are illegitimate. To pick a nit: _Executive orders_ that are illegitimate. Otherwise, point very much taken. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2140 "2025-08-25T21:24:15Z")
To be clear, an EO cannot criminalize an act or behavior, right? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2141 "2025-08-25T22:06:53Z")
Whadda ya gonna do about it, if he does? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=106) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=108)