# 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:** 324
**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:** [November 15, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6480 "2020-11-15T04:39:42Z")
[![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Sjjq6-O_q4WArmRm0dN-3ZCeG0Ke3ccWQRo4I8b3RQzjPfm5nKvFvJ_upOt-IW0I8nNWuklpdgXrY5Xg8E_-3EBUM7n7hrdICJpTbo2PjNnKq2NuZs6tOctSLFEvzap3nDmpFgN3qw=w600-h315-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/aEzCHnxjzRcy6V9R9) Also… [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/AK5uMg8Y_KxAwBM-mft9-AesSWJCzeAACQ06qnazP9snFIqilmH3hz-Vwlan5VGerVN3r4wLUPF65VorItrBKR3c7PRuF6AZYuDoMpKHxS6LJ_uj7hfmGBsw2cgPB2XO5T5LScizZA=w399-h191-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/AeKVCufpMSDUBoui7) ---
**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:** [November 15, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6481 "2020-11-15T14:57:49Z")
> **[COVID-19 Vaccine Czar Awaiting Trump OK To Reach Out To Biden Team To Save Lives](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/moncef-slaoui-covid-vaccine-trump-biden_n_5fb085f0c5b6a37e7e32531f)** > > “I hope nothing interferes” with Operation Warp Speed, said Moncef Slaoui, referring to the vaccine push. “It's a matter of life and death for thousands." > The head of the Trump administration’s COVID-19 vaccine project is awaiting President [Donald Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump)’s crucial approval to interact with President-elect [Joe Biden](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/joe-biden)’s health team for a smooth transition that **could save “thousands” of lives.** > > Former pharmaceutical executive [Moncef Slaoui](https://www.huffpost.com/topic/moncef-slaoui), appointed by Trump to help boost the development of a vaccine and therapeutics in Operation Warp Speed, told The Financial Times that it’s crucial for the project to continue to operate smoothly or lives could be at risk. [Making contact with Biden’s team](https://www.ft.com/content/1ce353bd-45fb-47f4-861f-3deaa4965b61) is an important part of that, he said. > … My bold. “Saving lives? What lives? Those people have already voted. Who cares about a vaccine now? Pfizer and Biden can go to hell.” ---
**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:** [November 15, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6482 "2020-11-15T15:34:35Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Battleground electors - what the hell do we really know about them? > [@k9bfriender](#): > > What we know about them is that they are selected by the party. They are usually important people, big donors, definite party allies. They are selected specifically because they are trusted to vote for the party’s candidate. Here’s what the California Secretary of State has to say: > Each party determines its own method for selecting electors. > In the Democratic Party, each congressional nominee and each US Senate nominee (determined by the last two elections) designates one elector. Elections Code section 7100 > In the Republican Party, the nominees for Governor, Lt. Governor, Treasurer, Controller, Attorney General, Secretary of State, U.S. Senate at the last two elections, Assembly Republican leader, Senate Republican leader, all elected officers of the Republican State Central Committee, national committeemen/women, President of Republican County Central Committee Chairmen’s Association, and chair or President of each Republican volunteer organization officially recognized by the Republican State Central Committee (RSCC) shall be electors. U.S. Senators, Representatives in Congress and persons holding office of trust or profit of the U.S. may not be electors. Any additional vacancies shall be filled by appointment of the chair of Republican State Central Committee according to Republican State Central Committee bylaws. Republican State Central Committee Chair must file the list with the Secretary of State by October 1 of the presidential election year. Elections Code section 7300 > In the American Independent, Green and Libertarian party electors are nominated at their state convention and the state chair certifies their names and residence addresses to the Secretary of State. Elections Code section 7578 > In the Peace and Freedom Party electors are nominated at their state convention. Electors shall be 50% women and 50% shall be men. The party chair certifies the list to the Secretary of State. Elections Code section 7843 > No incumbent Senators, congressional representatives or persons holding an office of trust or profit of the United States can serve as electors. Other states, of course, will vary but regardless of the method, I cannot imagine anything short of a _“We’ve got your wife and kids buried in a vault. Vote for Trump or they’ll suffocate.”_ phone call persuading a Biden EC voter to be faithless. I remember some decades ago in Pennsylvania on EC-voting day there was a blizzard and not all of them had made it to Harrisburg. Functionaries roamed the halls asking, “You wanna vote for President?” Dunno if they asked party affiliation. In California the ballot is in the form of, A list of 55 individuals in tiny type Electors for **Candidate’s Name** At a Libertarian party’s state convention where I was a delegate, as a fund raiser if you paid $50 your name would be put in for Elector. I did and still have the sample ballot page as a framed souvenir. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6483 "2020-11-16T04:39:31Z")
Scott Atlas, Individual 1’s covid export who knows nothing about epidemiology, says residents of Michigan should rise up against the governor’s restrictions. He also announced he’s now on Parler. > **[Trump coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas urges Michigan to 'rise up' against new...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/politics/scott-atlas-coronavirus-michigan/index.html)** > > White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas criticized Michigan's new Covid-19 restrictions in a tweet shortly after they were announced Sunday evening, urging people to "rise up" against the new public health measures. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6484 "2020-11-16T05:02:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > In California the ballot is in the form of, > A list of 55 individuals in tiny type > Electors for > **Candidate’s Name** Who sees this on their ballots? The delegates at the convention who vote to choose who the electors will be? It’s certainly not what the voting public sees on their ballots. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6485 "2020-11-16T05:06:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > “Saving lives? What lives? Those people have already voted. Who cares about a vaccine now? Pfizer and Biden can go to hell.” (Discussing, more generally, Trump’s refusal to give Biden’s team any transition access to anything…) I wonder how much behind-the-scenes access Biden’s people might actually be getting to various stuff in one department or another. Biden has been around the block a few times in DC and knows a few people. He’s got connections. I wonder if various not-quite-top officials around town are quietly talking to him. (ETA: If there are, I’m sure it behooves them to keep it all on the down-low.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6486 "2020-11-16T05:11:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Scott Atlas, Individual 1’s covid export who knows nothing about epidemiology, says residents of Michigan should rise up against the governor’s restrictions. He also announced he’s now on Parler. > > [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/politics/scott-atlas-coronavirus-michigan/index.html) “Rise up”? Isn’t that sedition? (Especially since people have already been arrested for plotting to kidnap the governor) ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6487 "2020-11-16T12:01:56Z")
But he promises he didn’t mean it in a violent way. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6488 "2020-11-16T12:32:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Biden has been around the block a few times in DC and knows a few people. Another reason why Biden is The Man of the Moment. This needs an experienced (dare I say it?) _insider_ to make stuff work. I’m sure Biden is doing what he can _unofficially_ and is getting plenty of help _unofficially_. The fact that it’s necessary to do it this way when the country is in a state of crisis is – \<_loss for words_…\> A question for the Peanut Gallery: **Is this prolonged, useless, embarrassing tantrum on DJT’s part a sign of dementia?** I can’t picture a 40-year-old or 50-year-old Donnie carrying on this way over a failed deal or any kind of failure, really. Certainly the loss of the presidency is probably the biggest personal (as opposed to business or strictly financial) loss he has ever experienced. And he will never again be in contention for or lose a prize this big, but his reaction is disproportionate. It’s narcissism on steroids combined with ZERO judgment. He is embarrassing himself minute-by-minute in the eyes of everyone except his sycophants. It’s like he can’t see past the moment to the inevitable humiliating End Game that he has set himself up for. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6489 "2020-11-16T13:28:36Z")
Why does this guy still have his medical license? He’s practicing in an area in which he has no expertise and he is giving advice that directly contradicts public health best practices. Dear California Board of Physicians, or whoever has control over his license, do your damn job - now. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6490 "2020-11-16T13:43:14Z")
> [@](#): > > President Donald Trump is facing a barrage of calls to permit potentially life-saving transition talks between his health officials and incoming President-elect Joe Biden’s aides on a [fast-worsening pandemic](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html) he is continuing to ignore in his obsessive effort to [discredit an election](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/13/politics/dominion-voting-false-claim-delete-trump-votes-fact-check/index.html) that he clearly lost. > > The increasingly urgent pleas are coming from inside his administration, the President-elect’s team and independent public health experts as Covid-19 cases rage out of control countrywide, "President Trump, we’ve traced the calls. _They’re coming from inside your administration!_ Get out of the House now! Run!" [https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/16/politics/election-2020-donald-trump-joe-biden-transition-coronavirus/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/16/politics/election-2020-donald-trump-joe-biden-transition-coronavirus/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6491 "2020-11-16T13:50:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He is embarrassing himself minute-by-minute in the eyes of everyone except his sycophants. But they are the only ones who matter. The only time he thinks of those who don’t worship him is to reassure himself that they are of no importance. So: no embarrassment. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6492 "2020-11-16T14:13:50Z")
He cares deeply about his supporters. Didn’t you see him alter his route to the golf course this weekend so he could wave to his suckers and losers proud boys. The sacrifices he makes are incredible. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6493 "2020-11-16T14:25:56Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > But they are the only ones who matter. The only time he thinks of those who don’t worship him is to reassure himself that they are of no importance. So: no embarrassment. True, but you’ve sidestepped my question. The fact that they are the only ones that matter shows a deterioration of judgment that I can’t imagine in a younger Donnie. He was never the brightest bulb in the box, but he had survival instincts that got him this far. Where are those survival instincts now? This is a decline in judgment that fails to support what was always his highest objective: self-aggrandizement. He is failing at self-promotion. He is letting down the most important person in the world to him: _himself_. That’s not the Donnie of old, it’s the Donnie who IS old and whose physical brain is not working in his own interest anymore. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6494 "2020-11-16T14:55:30Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > True, but you’ve sidestepped my question. I guess you mean this question: \*\*Is this prolonged, useless, embarrassing tantrum on DJT’s part a sign of dementia? I wasn’t trying to address it, merely opining why he doesn’t (and isn’t ever likely to) feel any embarrassment. IMHO, whether he has “dementia” or not is largely irrelevant given his constellation of other psychological infirmities and general antisocial persona. In my very red neighborhood in a very blue state, we are still seeing T\*\*\*\* rallies and T\*\*\*\* trains tying up the freeway, even as their idol has one foot on the White House banana peel. To me, this indicates that the physical T\*\*\*\* is no longer necessary: he’s the symbol around which the most depraved in our society can cluster. I’m getting a definite Hitler\* youth vibe and it scares the bejesus out of me. - ETA: I think Mr Godwin will give me a pass on this: [Godwin's law - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law#:~:text=Godwin's%20law%20(or%20Godwin's%20rule,Nazis%20or%20Hitler%20approaches%201%22). ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6495 "2020-11-16T14:59:38Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > The sacrifices he makes are incredible. Yeah, they should give him a Purple Heart for how wounded he’s been by the voters. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6496 "2020-11-16T15:39:30Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Who sees this on their ballots? The delegates at the convention who vote to choose who the electors will be? It’s certainly not what the voting public sees on their ballots. Maybe they’ve changed then, but forty years ago in Santa Clara county, that what the general election ballot looked like for President – it’s why they could have that little fund-raiser. At the party conventions, it was simply a matter of signing up on a list, no real 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:** [November 16, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6497 "2020-11-16T15:45:06Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > He cares deeply about his supporters. Didn’t you see him alter his route to the golf course this weekend so he could wave to his suckers and losers proud boys. The sacrifices he makes are incredible. Ask not what your President can do for you – ask what you can do for your President. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6498 "2020-11-16T15:54:21Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Yeah, they should give him a Purple Heart for how wounded he’s been by the voters. I love the idea. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/6499 "2020-11-16T15:57:54Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > IMHO, whether he has “dementia” or not is largely irrelevant given his constellation of other psychological infirmities and general antisocial persona. First, IMHO many of the questions that come up on this board can be and are labeled “largely irrelevant” by someone. Indeed, I consider many entire threads irrelevant to anything I care about. Second, the reason I raised the question is because this latest prolonged tantrum seems quantitatively and qualitatively different from and outside the boundaries of “his constellation of other psychological infirmities and general antisocial persona.” Should be “_personae_,” plural. That’s why I said I can’t picture a younger Donnie careening off the rails like this. He’s been who he is for decades. No surprises. But this mental shutdown strikes me as exponential deterioration. And if it is a _physical_ deterioration, then it’s going to get a whole fuckofa lot worse. That seems relevant to me. Maybe I’m the only one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=323) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=325)