# 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:** 169
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3378 "2020-09-09T19:32:30Z")
But before we thought Donald was downplaying it because he was too dumb to understand. Now we know that he understood but just didn’t give a shit. Hearing a tape of him saying how deadly it was would have shortened the denial phase. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3379 "2020-09-09T19:32:49Z")
I called John Cornyn about 10 minutes ago and noted: 'The same team which has spent two months fostering race war panics is now telling us they didn’t want to panic Americans? Is that your argument, John?" ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3380 "2020-09-09T19:54:28Z")
Good luck JohnT, sounds like quite the Sisyphean task trying to convince John Cornyn of anything negative about trump. In other news, it seems like the “negative news about trump” dam is really breaking lately: > “Over the course of 24 pages, Murphy describes an environment in which senior officials – including former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, current acting Secretary Chad Wolf, and current Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli – scrambled to gather and prepare intelligence reports that aligned with President Donald Trump’s political message and public remarks,” ABC News reports. > **[Whistleblower details alleged politicization of intelligence at DHS](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whistleblower-details-alleged-politicization-intelligence-dhs/story?id=72904622)** > > Complaint filed with Department of Homeland Security watchdog includes claims of interference in intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3381 "2020-09-09T20:00:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ The takeaway isn’t simply that he knew, it’s that THEY ALL KNEW. If il Doofus can get his empty pumpkin head around those facts, what possible excuse could any of them have to claim ignorance? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3382 "2020-09-09T20:07:56Z")
Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority tells a hangar operator that their planned Individual 1 rally violates the state’s quarantine rules, and cannot proceed. > **[Reno airport authority: Planned Trump rally ‘may not proceed,’ violates...](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/reno-airport-authority-planned-trump-rally-may-not-proceed-violates-states-50-person-limit-on-public-gatherings)** > > The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority has advised the company that leases the hangar where President Donald Trump plans to hold a campaign rally on Saturday that the event is in violation of a state directive limiting gatherings to 50 people and that they... ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3383 "2020-09-09T20:21:42Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But before we thought Donald was downplaying it because he was too dumb to understand. Now we know that he understood but just didn’t give a shit. Hearing a tape of him saying how deadly it was would have shortened the denial phase. Nothing that Trump says, neither his press conferences in February and March nor his interview with Bob Woodward, tell us what he’s thinking. He speaks not to convey information, but to cultivate an impression within the mind of the listener. In a press conference, he’s “I must appear calm and reassuring so the voters will credit me with their safety.” When he’s talking with Woodward, he’s “I must appear serious and informed so this interviewer will respect me.” So was Trump too dumb to understand, or he understood and didn’t care? That question misses the whole point of Donald Trump. He’s not thinking of the future and enacting policies to save lives, he’s trying to know enough about current events that he can insert himself into the story at any given moment and claim credit if something good happens. He does not wish to steer events, merely to capitalize on them. That is all. ---
**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 9, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3384 "2020-09-09T20:27:34Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority tells a hangar operator that their planned Individual 1 rally violates the state’s quarantine rules, and cannot proceed. > [Reno airport authority: Planned Trump rally ‘may not proceed,’ violates state’s 50-person limit on public gatherings - The Nevada Independent](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/reno-airport-authority-planned-trump-rally-may-not-proceed-violates-states-50-person-limit-on-public-gatherings) From the link. > Claude Cognian, one of the managers of Hangar 9, in an email to Iftiger Wednesday morning, confirmed that the company had offered the hangar to Trump and his campaign for a rally and **in return that the campaign had offered to pay to move aircrafts and prepare the space.** However, Cognian said the company was withdrawing its offer for the campaign to use the hangar in response to the airport authority’s letter. JFC, people never fucking learn. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3385 "2020-09-09T20:30:46Z")
> **[Trump expands oil drilling moratorium for Florida](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/08/trump-oil-drilling-florida-410042)** > > The move, announced at a campaign appearance in Jupiter, Fla., represents an election-year victory for drilling opponents in the crucial presidential swing state. “President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday a decade-long ban on oil drilling off the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina — a decision that surprised energy industry executives by reversing the administration’s earlier pledges to open those waters to exploration.” By “surprised”, he meant threw under the bus. "A congressional aide who works on the issue said their office had gotten no advance heads-up from the White House. “As of yesterday they said there would be no announcement,” one congressional aide said on Tuesday morning." PANDERING. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3386 "2020-09-09T21:03:19Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But before we thought Donald was downplaying it because he was too dumb to understand. No, we thought he was a sociopathic grifter. ---
**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 9, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3387 "2020-09-09T21:04:26Z")
One article I read, the gist was that Strzok didn’t actually have the goods but wanted to investigate his financial records and begged others still in the DoJ/FBI to do so after he left (to no avail). He felt that if he had gotten financial records, it probably would have produced a smoking gun but it also would have been an enormous effort that would have been politicized - nothing new to see here really. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3388 "2020-09-09T21:26:36Z")
The latest ad from the Lincoln Project: > ---
**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 9, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3389 "2020-09-09T21:28:40Z")
They should borrow from _Turk 182_! COVID worse than flu; Trump knew. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3390 "2020-09-09T22:34:34Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority tells a hangar operator that their planned Individual 1 rally violates the state’s quarantine rules, and cannot proceed. > [Reno airport authority: Planned Trump rally ‘may not proceed,’ violates state’s 50-person limit on public gatherings - The Nevada Independent](https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/reno-airport-authority-planned-trump-rally-may-not-proceed-violates-states-50-person-limit-on-public-gatherings) I think that item goes in the GOOD news thread. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3391 "2020-09-09T22:38:02Z")
Hey, he was busy, dealing with the grave threats posed by antifa and the violent anarchist left. Not to mention caravans full of Central American thugs and gangsters. Sometimes with their wives and children. Sometimes, just the wives and children. Sometimes just the children. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3392 "2020-09-09T22:46:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Hearing a tape of him saying how deadly it was would have shortened the denial phase. In fact, had he not dismissed and discouraged the idea of wearing masks, there might have been an even greater effect to reduce morbidity and mortality than what could have been anticipated. I say this because of the persuasive case made in yesterday’s New England Journal of Medicine ([free full text](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2026913?query=TOC)) that wearing masks doesn’t just prevent cases of Covid-19, but makes it significantly more likely that those who still contract the disease will have milder, or even asymptomatic, infections. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3393 "2020-09-09T22:58:37Z")
Religion requires a lot of faith. Democracy demands twice as much. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3394 "2020-09-09T23:48:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Sarah the Huckster is trying to defend her ex boss on his criticisms of the military. She says she has been in the room when he, yes, he, the President (allegedly), called military families to notify them that their loved ones had been killed in battle. And does anyone have slightest doubt that Trump fumbled to find any sincere words of sympathy, and that as soon as he hung up, he would start whining, “so why do I have to do this anyway?” ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3395 "2020-09-09T23:55:11Z")
So I wrote this Amazon review for a Trump flag, but I can’t get it past their reviewers. So I thought I’d post it here: **I’m a freaking moron** [Title of review] I gave this product 5 stars because I’m an incredibly stupid person. The fabric is as substantial as the fabric of Donald Trumps character - it’s incredibly thin (unlike Trumps ass, which is very fat) and flimsy. If this fabric was a person it would sell its press secretary to Kim Jong Un for a bag of stale Big Mac’s. The pole is as rigid as the ones that hold up the Wall in Pence’s homoerotic fever dreams. The big word on the flag rhymes with Chump, Hump, Dump and Rump and the text is white, as is the subtext. You don’t wave this flag, it waves you. At night it flutters softly in the breeze and whispers Sean Hannity’s name. Sometimes it speaks Russian, go figure. But it doesn’t collude! No Collusion! Ironically, it was made in China. It fell completely apart after the first use and it’s now as tattered and droopy as the Trump family jewels but I’m sure that was the fault of a big radical left socialist liberal conspiracy. It couldn’t be that it was weak and incapable of doing its job. And it’s not waterproof. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3396 "2020-09-10T00:46:29Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > So I wrote this Amazon review for a Trump flag, but I can’t get it past their reviewers. > So I thought I’d post it here: > > **I’m a freaking moron** [Title of review] > > I gave this product 5 stars because I’m an incredibly stupid person. The fabric is as substantial as the fabric of Donald Trumps character - it’s incredibly thin… Epic! And the irony of Amazon refusing to post it, is that it probably would have sold hundreds of flags! ---
**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:** [September 10, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3397 "2020-09-10T03:02:00Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > “So this president does what leaders do — good leaders — it’s stay calm and resolute at a time when you face an insurmountable challenge.” > > Hey, Mc-Inane-y, good leaders actually, y’know, _lead!_ So did anyone follow this up with how calling it a hoax served that purpose? Yeah, I didn’t think so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=168) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=170)