# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making Part Deux (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083 "2020-06-22T03:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 159
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3178 "2020-09-04T13:57:33Z")
Just, fuck John Kelly. And fuck all the others who willingly and gladly went to bat for his lying and authoritarianism because they had the fucking ego to believe for a nanosecond that they could somehow could manage him or because they believed that they could somehow do public service in spite of Trump’s gas lighting - no, fuck Kelly. Fuck people like “Dr” Robert Redfield and Sandra Birx,too Mattis, OTOH, was always legit in my view, as was McMaster. (and Tony Fauci,a _real_ doctor). ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3179 "2020-09-04T14:01:16Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I’m really starting to wonder if Trump supporters are brain damaged. Is it possible? Some heretofore unknown toxin lurking in an item that’s more popular in certain demographic areas, like Twinkies or Coors Light? There can’t be this many just plain ol’ defective Americans. My theory is that America has developed its own myth, like the old pagans, that defies reason and science. Instead of Zeus, Hera, etc the American myth gods are the Trump family members. Sure, the gods can be crazy and start throwing thunderbolts around, but they’re magic and live lives beyond the mundane, and play by their own rules. Trump supporters want to be favored by the gods, just like pagans did when they made sacrifices. If they suffer because of a decision made by the Trumps, it’s because they didn’t please the gods enough, not because they were _wrong_. Humans have a primal instinct to worship higher powers that doesn’t entirely go away despite thousands of generations of evolutionary progress. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3180 "2020-09-04T14:02:48Z")
I like Lincoln Project. I think what makes them different, and why they can be effective in reaching _some_ of Trump’s voters, is that unlike Democrats, they can attack Trump’s strengths, which is how you defeat an enemy. The Democrats focus on the weaknesses; the Lincoln Project can focus on making the bed that Trump voters really sleep on at night a very uncomfortable place to rest. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3181 "2020-09-04T14:08:36Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I like Lincoln Project. I think what makes them different, and why they can be effective in reaching _some_ of Trump’s voters, is that unlike Democrats, they can attack Trump’s strengths, which is how you defeat an enemy. I would also include **Republicans for the Rule of Law** and **VoteVets**. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3182 "2020-09-04T14:08:46Z")
I like your analogy at lot, KO. I agree: I think that there is an element of Americanish paganism involved. There’s also an element of creation myth and creation story involved. White Americans think of their ancestors as conquerors of nature, conquerors of this untamed land and its elements -hell, conquerors of its first inhabitants, if we’re doing some soul searching and being honest. The way they see it, their ancestors were badass people who overcame hardship and forged a nation, so whining about hardship today just makes us a bunch of pussies. I think that’s why they “support the troops” whenever they go abroad to fight in some non-white country: it’s just conquering other savages, as far as they’re concerned. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3183 "2020-09-04T14:11:56Z")
But every one that they can discourage, ever one that they can get to make the choice of going back to work or to their homes or just to get out of the weather, to a bathroom or for food and drink, is one more win for them. Like I said, the point of this is that it will slow down lines, and discourage voters. Not all, but every little bit “helps”. It will also be an interesting election since there will be a whole lot of new poll workers, and many experienced ones will be staying home to avoid Covid. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3184 "2020-09-04T14:25:55Z")
That makes me think of [Sideshow Bob](https://youtu.be/fXU2vZTTeMU?t=14). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3185 "2020-09-04T14:32:08Z")
> [@robby](#): > > John Kelly can go fuck himself, along with everyone else in this administration and Congress who knew better and enabled Trump. The same John Kelly who refused to sign the iJDiT’s loyalty oath and said telling him that things he wanted to do were illegal was like “French kissing a chainsaw”? (posts 2971 & 2972) ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3186 "2020-09-04T14:56:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > No, I’m saying that the body of people who believed Trump when he said Covid would disappear are now a body of people who believe Trump when he says he never claimed Covid would disappear. Truth never triumphs here. When reality invalidates a lie, it’s seamlessly replaced by a new lie. [And then reality reasserts itself.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uLJkpH__os) ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3187 "2020-09-04T15:11:30Z")
The new system makes it difficult to do a Find on the page, so I don’t know who posted the quote. But anyway, I’ve made a meme. [![](https://i.imgur.com/1HEjhFl.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/1HEjhFl.png) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3188 "2020-09-04T15:38:14Z")
Golly, Trump was a great baseball player, yet he doesn’t think people can throw a brick. I bet he threw plenty of ‘bricks’ back in the day… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3189 "2020-09-04T16:39:07Z")
And it means fuck-all to Trump’s base. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3190 "2020-09-04T16:42:03Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Golly, Trump was a great baseball player, yet he doesn’t think people can throw a brick. I bet he threw plenty of ‘bricks’ back in the day… - Now he can only manage poo. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3191 "2020-09-04T16:53:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > And it means fuck-all to Trump’s base. So what? Write them off. As I’ve said, Trump’s base isn’t big enough to win him the election. And by telling his base what they want to hear, he alienates the majority of people who are outside of his base. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3192 "2020-09-04T17:04:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I like Lincoln Project. I think what makes them different, and why they can be effective in reaching _some_ of Trump’s voters, is that unlike Democrats, they can attack Trump’s strengths, which is how you defeat an enemy. The Democrats focus on the weaknesses; the Lincoln Project can focus on making the bed that Trump voters really sleep on at night a very uncomfortable place to rest. Some of my family members post a lot of anti-Trump stuff on Facebook, and sometimes (against my better judgement) I get sucked into replying to Trumpniks that respond. There’s no point in pointing out Trump’s racism, bigotry, and misogyny, because to them those are his strong points. So I always attack him on the grounds of patriotism and being a sell-out to Putin. Quoting Bible verses can also cause a lot of spluttering by Trumpniks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3193 "2020-09-04T17:09:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Quoting Bible verses can also cause a lot of spluttering by Trumpniks. I like quotes from the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Just a naked quote, no source, no commentary of mine own. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3194 "2020-09-04T17:14:22Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > Quoting Bible verses can also cause a lot of spluttering by Trumpniks. > > I like quotes from the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Just a naked quote, no source, no commentary of mine own The problem is, most of them won’t recognize them without attribution. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3195 "2020-09-04T17:17:13Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The problem is, most of them won’t recognize them without attribution.  True. They aren’t my audience. It’s trolling them to argue against Christian or American ideals. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3196 "2020-09-04T17:17:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Quoting Bible verses can also cause a lot of spluttering by Trumpniks. 🙂 I saw a meme the other day: 'When someone says they are a Christian, I ask ‘Classic Jesus, or Republican Jesus?"’ ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3197 "2020-09-04T17:19:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I saw a meme the other day: 'When someone says they are a Christian, I ask ‘Classic Jesus, or Republican Jesus?"’  I saw a “White Jesus or Brown Jesus?”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=158) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=160)