# 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:** 259
**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:** [October 19, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5178 "2020-10-19T23:18:19Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I thought you were talking about the servants for a second. In this case, it would have been better had he used a dumbwaiter. Any waiter who agrees to work for Donald Trump is a dumb waiter. _Any_ job would be better. Even installing tiny elevators for food and such, in people’s houses. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5179 "2020-10-19T23:24:17Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > (If you are reluctant to click the link, the title in the chyron under CFSG’s image is "The Life of Adolph Hitler – I concede that this could have been faked.) I would think that it was likely faked if they had indeed spelled it that way, but the chyron spelled Hitler’s first name correctly (_Adolf_ Hitler), so no reason to suspect fakery on that account. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5180 "2020-10-19T23:42:55Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > We first have to get over tan suits, dijon mustard, Benghazi, and butteremails. Only then can we look at this weak-ass list. And the arugula, dude, the arugula! O Og, what have we unleashed upon ourselves?! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5181 "2020-10-19T23:51:25Z")
I came here six hours ago to post the following, and just getting to it now after catching up on all the Trumpy threads here: I think this is worth noting here: Peter Greenberger, former director of political advertising at Google and Twitter, now thinks Trump should be muzzled on Twitter and Facebook, because he is being just too destructive. > **[Perspective | I ran political advertising for Twitter. It’s time for...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/19/twitter-mute-donald-trump/)** > > Social media platforms should silence the president until the winner of the election is clear. > [@](#): > > In just the past week, President Trump has retweeted a QAnon conspiracy theory alleging that Joe Biden and Barack Obama had SEAL Team 6 killed, called on supporters to form an army of poll watchers, asserted repeatedly that mailing in your ballot will result in a rigged election and tweeted four times in 11 minutes falsely tying unrest in Portland, Ore., to Biden. > > Trump’s place as the first Twitter president is secure. He has used the platform to govern via tweeted policy announcements, to berate adversaries both domestic and abroad, to communicate with (and occasionally disparage) his own administration officials and to exhort his supporters to action. Trump has also effectively used Twitter to distract, deflect and drive the news narrative nearly every day since he descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower to launch his campaign in 2015. > > ( . . . ) > > In the past few weeks, between his jaw-dropping, raving debate performance and his frenetic late-night tweeting while in treatment for his coronavirus infection, the president has been entering a dangerously desperate moment. Losing an election is a personal rejection by the people and isn’t easy for any politician to swallow. Losing an election while facing bankruptcy and countless criminal investigations is much harder. The president, if the New York Times’s tax research is to be believed, is too broke to lose. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5182 "2020-10-19T23:55:02Z")
On behalf of Joe Biden, I approve this message. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5183 "2020-10-20T00:13:01Z")
> “If Crazy Joe becomes president, it’s not even conceivable,” he told a rally crowd in Janesville, Wis., over the weekend. “Running against him, it puts such pressure because I’m running against the worst in the history,” he said. > “If I lose, I will have lost to the worst candidate, the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics. If I lose, what do I do? I’d rather run against somebody who’s extraordinarily talented, at least, this way I can go and lead my life.” I chortled when I read this, a genuine chortle. Look, I know he’s trying to keep on the narrative of being cheated out of the election, but if you take just one moment to consider this quote on its own merits, it’s doing such a wonderful job of setting up an election loss to “the worst candidate”. It’s so wonderfully selling himself short. It’s so good. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5184 "2020-10-20T00:49:20Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > but it is a sad commentary that you have to “plan your vote As a Canadian I am absolutely boggled at those sorts of lines. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than 15 or 20 minutes to vote. What you folks have to put up with is so bloody sad. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5185 "2020-10-20T02:11:22Z")
America would really benefit from Elections Canada. It is bizarre to me that the parties are trusted to be honest in minding the election. Can we send Elections Canada folks down to the states to run things, sorta like UN Peacekeepers? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5186 "2020-10-20T02:29:43Z")
Here too Saturday was our last day of voting (polls were open for something like 3 weeks?) Voted at a school about 400 meters from our house, no queue, took about 2 minutes for me to be checked and have the ballot paper explained (we had elections and two referenda to vote on) Went behind the screen, marked my ballot and out again. I don’t get how voting can take 9 hours for some - that just seems like an epic fail ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5187 "2020-10-20T02:40:32Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > As a Canadian I am absolutely boggled at those sorts of lines. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than 15 or 20 minutes to vote. > > What you folks have to put up with is so bloody sad. Yep. Same when I lived in Australia, a country where voting is compulsory and where you can therefore expect pretty close to 100 percent turnout. I think that maybe 10 minutes was the longest I ever waited. The US is lucky to break 60 percent turnout, and people wait for hours on end. I’ve lived for extended periods in four English-speaking democracies (US, UK, Canada, and Australia). I’ve lived in all of those places except the UK under liberal governments and conservative governments, and I’ve known people in all of those countries with liberal politics and conservative politics. The United States is the only place I’ve lived where voting is often difficult, and it’s the only place with a significant constituency actively trying to make voting more difficult. It’s pretty fucking sad. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5188 "2020-10-20T02:45:44Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > {…} I don’t get how voting can take 9 hours for some - that just seems like an epic fail You’ve missed that one of our parties does not want people - well, to be fair, certain people - to vote? The long wait is a feature not a bug for them. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5189 "2020-10-20T03:39:34Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > I don’t get how voting can take 9 hours for some - that just seems like an epic fail It’s intentional. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5190 "2020-10-20T04:06:22Z")
And it’s a fairly recent development. I’ve never had to wait in line to vote (and I’ve been voting since McGovern), but I live in a state where the state government is not engaged in suppression. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5191 "2020-10-20T04:14:44Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’ve never had to wait in line to vote (and I’ve been voting since McGovern), but I live in a state where the state government is not engaged in suppression. I’ve had to wait in line to vote once – the first time I ever voted. It was the 1984 general election, and I was living in a dorm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Our polling place was in the basement of one of the dorm cafeterias; my roommate and I got into line to vote after dinner (so, sometime around 6pm). The polls closed at 8, but as 8pm approached, we weren’t even inside the building yet. A poll worker came through the line, and let us know that, as long as we were in line before 8, we had the right to vote. We finally voted around 8:30, so that was 2 1/2 hours in line, but I think it was a matter of them not expecting as many students to vote as actually did. Other than that experience, I have never had to wait for more than 5 minutes to vote; but, like you, I’ve never lived in a state or an area where there were attempts being made at voter suppression. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5192 "2020-10-20T08:41:35Z")
Same here - I think the absolute longest I’ve ever waited was 15 minutes, if that much. But, again, not in an area of heavy voter suppression. My state has gradually imposed greater ID requirements, which is a burden to some but not in my particular case. If you can cross that hurdle you’re good. Except for early voting there have been some multi-hour lines this time around, especially at first, but that’s because they set up sites based on prior election use, which was sparse. They have since opened and expanded the hours for these sites so waiting times have dropped significantly over the last week. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5193 "2020-10-20T12:42:53Z")
Trump’s people have apparently been burning through his campaign war chest way too fast and stupidly. > [@](#): > > [President Donald Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump)’s sprawling political operation has raised well over $1 billion since he took the White House in 2017 — and set a lot of it on fire. > > Trump bought a $10 million Super Bowl ad when he didn’t yet have a challenger. He tapped his political organization to cover exorbitant legal fees related to his impeachment. Aides made flashy displays of their newfound wealth — including a fleet of luxury vehicles purchased by Brad Parscale, his former campaign manager. > > … > > “They spent their money on unnecessary overhead, lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous activity by the campaign staff and vanity ads way too early,” said Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican consultant who advised John McCain and Jeb Bush and is an outspoken Trump critic. “You could literally have 10 monkeys with flamethrowers go after the money, and they wouldn’t have burned through it as stupidly.” I’ll bet the monkeys would prefer the flamethrowers to those damned typewriters people keep trying to get them to use. > **[How Trump Plowed Through $1 Billion, Losing Cash Advantage](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-trump-plowed-through-1-billion-losing-cash-advantage_n_5f8eb496c5b62dbe71c61ee5)** > > Some Trump campaign aides privately acknowledge they are facing difficult spending decisions at a time when Joe Biden has flooded the airwaves. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5194 "2020-10-20T12:46:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Trump’s people have apparently been burning through his campaign war chest way too fast and stupidly. - I’ll bet Trump is most pissed about the fact there won’t be anything for _him_ to steal after the election. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5195 "2020-10-20T13:06:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Trump’s people have apparently been burning through his campaign war chest way too fast and stupidly. I commented a few weeks ago – when the founders of We Build the Wall were getting indicted for fraud – how frequently Republican donations seem to stick to the fingers of the organizers. Nothing new here. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5196 "2020-10-20T13:14:49Z")
In other words, the loot-and-pillage the country and government crowd have also looted and pillaged Trump’s war chest. This is surprising because…? Not. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/5197 "2020-10-20T13:32:08Z")
My favorite part of the campaign spending story was it buying $1.5 million worth of television advertising in the District of Columbia. Just so a certain individual would see the ads and be cheered up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=258) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=260)