# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/302 "2024-12-23T18:27:39Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > We have a winner. And how this isn’t completely obvious to anyone I cannot explain. Because most people - including most crypto enthusiasts - don’t know anything more about crypto past “line go up”. If the U.S. decides to create a “bitcoin strategic reserve” of 1 million coins at the current per-coin valuation of $93.6K, that’s 93.6 billion dollars of taxpayer money being converted into bitcoin. Which means a like amount of bitcoin being converted into actual dollars. Whaddaya wanna bet it’ll be friends of certain highly-connected executive branch individuals who get to put their wallets’ bitcoins in for that exchange? @Ann_Hedonia said it right - “biggest rug pull in history.” This will go straight to the top of the leaderboard on Molly White’s [web3isgoinggreat.com](http://web3isgoinggreat.com) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/303 "2024-12-23T23:19:59Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now the fucker wants to change the name of Mt. Denali back to McKinley. Because of course any acknowledgement of Native American culture must be quashed and of course there are no more important things to worry about… What a huge fucking waste of time and money. As a GIS professional, I can say that changing the name of something is quite a large undertaking. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/304 "2024-12-24T02:30:30Z")
Is this even something POTUS can do on his own or doesn’t it require a vote in Congress? ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/305 "2024-12-24T03:14:30Z")
Re last post, proponents are claiming the government can do it under something called the [Gold Reserve Act.](https://www.cato.org/blog/digital-gold-fallacy-or-why-bitcoin-cant-save-us-dollar-1) I have no idea if that is reasonable, but I doubt courts like interfering with technical Treasury operations. My link above says the government already has some bitcoin. I say — Sell! ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/306 "2024-12-26T21:28:42Z")
Chris Hayes on Patel > **[Opinion | Why Kash Patel is a cross between J. Edgar Hoover and Alex Jones](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kash-patel-fbi-director-trump-enemies-rcna182691)** > > The president-elect's choice to be the FBI director is a dangerous pick, one whose willingness to persecute left-wing Americans goes beyond even Hoover's. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/307 "2024-12-27T03:33:49Z")
Remember William Webster — appointed FBI director by Carter and CIA director by Reagan? The centenarian has an opinion: [Former FBI and CIA head **prods Senate** to reject Patel, Gabbard](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/12/26/congress/tulsi-gabbard-kash-patel-fbi-cia-trump-00196055) For what it is worth, Wikipedia says Webster is a Republican. These nominees are so obviously defective, by all prior standards, that I can hardly believe they will be confirmed. But I guess they may. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2024, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/308 "2024-12-27T04:25:08Z")
Even if the Senate rejects Patel and Gabbard the replacements DJT will come up with will be just as bad and possibly even worse. It is highly unlikely either of them will run into trouble getting approved. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/309 "2024-12-28T14:40:14Z")
The oligarchs who believe in getting rich off of immigrant labor, and the MAGA base which believes in getting rid of foreigners, are not getting along. [Elon Musk pledges “war” over H-1B visa program, calls opponents racists](https://www.axios.com/2024/12/28/musk-war-h1b-racists-maga-doge) > [@](#): > > “Take a big step back and F–K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” Musk wrote. . . . > > Steve Bannon . . . had multiple guests on his show this week to [talk about](https://x.com/Bannons_WarRoom/status/1872728165577306527) his hardline anti-H-1B views. > > Bannon tells Axios he helped kick off the debate with a now-viral [Gettr post](https://gettr.com/post/p3fd8vl5360) earlier this month calling out a lack of support for the Black and Hispanic communities in Big Tech. Here is the horror if the MAGA base side of the war for Trump’s soul wins: [Trump’s mass deportation effort estimated to cost $86 billion](https://thehill.com/homenews/5056883-no-price-tag-for-mass-deportations-says-incoming-border-czar/) > [@](#): > > . . . the administration is looking into using halfway houses to hold U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. I guess I’m, relatively speaking, pro-oligarch. But the Putin precedent suggests that oligarchs who do not know their place lose. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/310 "2024-12-29T13:37:33Z")
Musk with his attention deficit has invented Calvin Ball Politics. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/311 "2024-12-30T16:52:48Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > Chris Hayes on Patel > > [https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kash-patel-fbi-director-trump-enemies-rcna182691](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/kash-patel-fbi-director-trump-enemies-rcna182691) Note that this column was actually written by [Hayes Brown](https://www.msnbc.com/author/hayes-brown-ncpn1243020). ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/312 "2025-01-04T01:10:17Z")
Trump 45 threatened to leave the World Health Organization. Reports say he will actually do it this time — probably this month: [Trump transition team plans immediate WHO withdrawal, expert says](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-transition-team-plans-immediate-175311831.html) This will be an early test of whether Trump 47 is going to be far worse than Trump 45. ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/313 "2025-01-04T13:23:40Z")
_The Independent_ [reported](https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/robert-f-kennedy-jr-vaccines-b2441705.html) that in November of 2023 RFK said, “I’m gonna say to NIH scientists, God bless you all,” Mr Kennedy said, NBC News reported. “Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” Tuberculosis and fungal infections are each responsible for over a million deaths worldwide each year. Viruses such as SARS-CoV2 will not stop mutating. “‘We’re gonna say we’re fixing to file some racketeering lawsuits if you don’t start telling the truth in your journals,’ he told the crowd." Why would journals lie? Who else is in on the fix in his mind? We respond. We put together a team. Collect all of RFKs ramblings. Then reject it by peer review: Your article contains no varifiable facts. Please revise. We will wait. Four years enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/314 "2025-01-04T14:04:13Z")
Bloody hell. He’s actually insane, isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/315 "2025-01-04T19:21:26Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > “‘We’re gonna say we’re fixing to file some racketeering lawsuits if you don’t start telling the truth in your journals,’ he told the crowd." And I’m gonna say I feel like I’m fixin’ to die. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/316 "2025-01-05T06:12:08Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > Why would journals lie? Who else is in on the fix in his mind? Because they are being bribed by Big Pharma presumably. As to how this is accomplished is left in some unpublished methods supplement. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/317 "2025-01-05T11:22:34Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > “Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” Wait a minute. Wut? Stop all study of disease for eight years? Does he think that disease will just go sit in a corner for all that time? ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/318 "2025-01-05T13:23:36Z")
Yes, he is allowing the infectious agents some freedom. Our herd immunity should kick in soon. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/319 "2025-01-05T14:24:57Z")
Honestly, with as long as we’ve been trying to thwart terrorists, and with as much money as we’ve spent attempting to intercede in their dark plots, perhaps _they, too_ could use a respite to rearrange, resupply, reconsolidate, reformulate, and regroup. Fair’s fair. I’ll mention it to Homeland Security Secretary nominee, Kristi Noem, the next time we chat. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2025, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/320 "2025-01-05T14:52:17Z")
“Bring back smallpox!” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/321 "2025-01-05T16:31:21Z")
Seriously, this was why I made sure to get the M-pox vaccine: smallpox still exists, and some powerful people are crazy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774.md?page=17)