# 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:** 361
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7221 "2020-12-03T03:31:46Z")
Sure, why not? Coerced promises aren’t legally binding, and they have already set the pace when it comes to keeping non-coerced promises, so win/win. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7222 "2020-12-03T03:35:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Lindsay Graham says the Republicans in the Senate will not vote to confirm Biden’s Attorney General nominee unless he or she promises not to bring any charges against Individual 1. > [https://hillreporter.com/lindsey-graham-says-senate-republicans-will-refuse-to-seat-joe-bidens-ag-pick-if-trump-will-face-criminal-investigation-86184](https://hillreporter.com/lindsey-graham-says-senate-republicans-will-refuse-to-seat-joe-bidens-ag-pick-if-trump-will-face-criminal-investigation-86184)? So promise not to investigate. It’s not like keeping promises is a norm that the Administration is bound to abide by. And if things work out in January, it won’t be up to the Republicans anyway. ETA: GMTA, eh, **Czarcasm**? ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7223 "2020-12-03T04:06:32Z")
Apparently this Individual 1 campaign witness was drunk? It’s Victoria Jackson, ex-Saturday Night Live. [https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1334318185772961796](https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1334318185772961796) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7224 "2020-12-03T04:11:23Z")
And, given Lindsey’s flip flop on Supreme Court openings, he’s not a man of his word, anyway ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7225 "2020-12-03T04:30:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Apparently this Individual 1 campaign witness was drunk? It’s Victoria Jackson, ex-Saturday Night Live. > [https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1334318185772961796](https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1334318185772961796) She’s clearly angling for a Sarah Palin career path. Go from an idiot nothing in nowhere to milker of the willingly ignorant Republican base. Maybe a reality show or two. No wonder the judge found her statements to be “not credible”. "Ms. Carone’s description of the events at the TCF Center does not square with any of the other affidavits,” Judge Timothy Kenny found. “There are no other reports of lost data, or tabulating machines that jammed repeatedly every hour during the count. Neither Republican nor Democratic challengers nor city officials substantiate her version of events. The allegations simply are not credible.” ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7226 "2020-12-03T04:36:50Z")
It’s the weirdest thing in the world, watching a mass psychosis unfold in front of you. Frightening and weird. Smart people can convince themselves of this lunacy and believe it with all their hearts. The dumb ones don’t stand a chance. And we all live with the consequences. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7227 "2020-12-03T05:32:30Z")
Dan Rather tweets: > [@Dan Rather tweet](#): > > Why is the Trump White House suddenly a very polite place to work? Everyone’s going around saying “pardon me.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7228 "2020-12-03T05:39:53Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s the weirdest thing in the world, watching a mass psychosis unfold in front of you. Frightening and weird. We’ve seen quite a large number of people participating in mass psychoses since before 11 September 2001. It’s long past weird. Sadly, it’s damn near usual now. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7229 "2020-12-03T05:50:05Z")
Isn’t Sept. 11 a bit different, though? The mass psychosis **Aspenglow** referred to involved 72,000,000 misguided-as-fuck folks, which I find to be a whole disconcerting (and distinctly different) level of shitty wierdness, altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7230 "2020-12-03T05:55:55Z")
It would be interesting (but unlikely) to see the response if the AG used language similar to Graham’s when he promised not to vote on a judge just before the election. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7231 "2020-12-03T06:17:03Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Isn’t Sept. 11 a bit different, though? The mass psychosis **Aspenglow** referred to involved 72,000,000 misguided-as-fuck folks, which I find to be a whole disconcerting (and distinctly different) level of shitty wierdness, altogether. That definitely gets at the point I was trying to make. Thank you. Like you, I’m gobsmacked. I do think the current craziness is deeply lodged in our overreaction to September 11th, though. It was awful, horrible, and it deserved a significant response. But we lost our minds instead. Things haven’t been the same since. If he could, Bin Laden would laugh from his watery grave at what we’ve become. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7232 "2020-12-03T10:39:22Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The current official GOP platform is apparently that requiring Americans to wear masks in public is an unacceptable impingement on their freedoms, but imposition of martial law to overturn the results of an election is necessary to ensure their freedom. Do I have that right? Yep. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > On the heels of Individual 1 saying he would veto the defense appropriations bill if it includes a requirement to rename military installations named for Confederates, he’s now saying he will veto it if it doesn’t include a provision to repeal Section 230. Let’s call his bluff. It’s way past time. Even if he did veto it, there should be enough bipartisan votes in Congress for this bill to un-veto it. C’mon Congress, I dare ya! > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Lindsay Graham says the Republicans in the Senate will not vote to confirm Biden’s Attorney General nominee unless he or she promises not to bring any charges against Individual 1. > [https://hillreporter.com/lindsey-graham-says-senate-republicans-will-refuse-to-seat-joe-bidens-ag-pick-if-trump-will-face-criminal-investigation-86184](https://hillreporter.com/lindsey-graham-says-senate-republicans-will-refuse-to-seat-joe-bidens-ag-pick-if-trump-will-face-criminal-investigation-86184)? Trump set the precedent of using “Acting” heads of agencies to get around that pesky need to have his choice confirmed. There’s an option. On the other hand if Trump keeps shooting the party’s own foot in Georgia the Senate may wind up in Democrat hands in which case Ludicrous Lindsay won’t matter. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7233 "2020-12-03T12:12:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Lindsay Graham says the Republicans in the Senate will not vote to confirm Biden’s Attorney General nominee unless he or she promises not to bring any charges against Individual 1. Oh, for a nominee who’s troll enough to respond, “I expect that my department will be too busy investigating your attempt to interfere in the Georgia presidential election certification.” ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7234 "2020-12-03T13:49:04Z")
Yes, but does Durham even take the investigation seriously? I’m guessing not. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7235 "2020-12-03T13:51:35Z")
September 11th absolutely led us down this rabbit hole, though. It was the perfect shock to our system. I have reflected many times over the years about how that event fundamentally changed our society and altered our trajectory. In many regards, as politically incorrect as it is to say it, Bin Laden beat us. He did what terrorists set out to do, which is to fundamentally change the behavior of the target. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7236 "2020-12-03T14:20:20Z")
I think it may be more complicated than just putting someone in there without Senate confirmation and calling them “acting” though. My recollection is that the new acting person has to have been Senate confirmed in some other position. I may be misremembering. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7237 "2020-12-03T14:55:22Z")
I’ve been reading **Where Law Ends** , Andrew Weissman’s inside account of the Mueller investigation — and that “Pardon Me” line was an ongoing inside joke among the investigators. ---
**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:** [December 3, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7238 "2020-12-03T16:17:53Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Ah, Flynn, Trump toady to the end, [wants Loser Donnie to declare martial law to overturn the election](https://twitter.com/GenFlynn/status/1333916403389370369). I will be absolutely delighted, if after being pardoned he immediately commits some acts he can be prosecuted for by the next administration. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7239 "2020-12-03T16:23:20Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > On the heels of Individual 1 saying he would veto the defense appropriations bill if it includes a requirement to rename military installations named for Confederates, he’s now saying he will veto it if it doesn’t include a provision to repeal Section 230. It would be a beautiful thing, if the last act of the Trump Administration is to suffer a veto override. It could happen, since a few Republicans seem to have found their cojones now that Trump can’t hurt them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/7240 "2020-12-03T16:27:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I think it may be more complicated than just putting someone in there without Senate confirmation and calling them “acting” though. My recollection is that the new acting person has to have been Senate confirmed in some other position. I may be misremembering. You’re not misremembering. An acting position requires Senate confirmation in some other capacity first. This will limit Biden’s ability considerably if confirmation requires Republican Senate approval. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=360) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=362)