# 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:** 406
**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:** [December 28, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8123 "2020-12-28T20:08:48Z")
How about an aircraft carrier? That’s a traditional honor for an ex-president. Would this one do? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Admiral_Kuznetsov_aircraft_carrier.jpg/600px-Admiral_Kuznetsov_aircraft_carrier.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Admiral_Kuznetsov_aircraft_carrier.jpg/600px-Admiral_Kuznetsov_aircraft_carrier.jpg) But change the name to Адмира́л фло́та Сове́тского Сою́за ТДональд Трамп ---
**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:** [December 28, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8124 "2020-12-28T20:21:24Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > How about an aircraft carrier? That’s a traditional honor for an ex-president. - Just tell him one is being built. It’ll be done in two weeks. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8125 "2020-12-28T20:30:54Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The vice-chair of Florida’s GOP has proposed Palm Beach International, which is the closest large airport to Mar-a-Lago. Thing is, that’s up to the county commissioners, who are majority Democrat. They could name it the Donald J. Dumpsterfire International Airport. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8126 "2020-12-28T21:33:51Z")
That is the first time I’ve seen an aircraft carrier with a ski jump lip at the end. Anyone have information on whether it actually helps aircraft take off better than the flat decks we use? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8127 "2020-12-28T21:51:49Z")
Actually, no. Those type of carriers aren’t able to accommodate heavier aircraft. The technology is less sophisticated than the flat-top U.S. carriers. They’re also cheaper to build, relatively speaking. [This is a good little article about the differences.](https://www.businessinsider.com/graphics-show-differences-between-the-worlds-3-types-of-aircraft-carriers-2016-3) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8128 "2020-12-28T23:02:21Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Can somebody explain in words that Individual 1 can explain, what’s this “the covid bill contains millions for gender research in Pakistan” crap? ? Gotta cite? Is that [this kerfuffle](https://www.opindia.com/2020/12/foreign-aid-pakistan-democracy-gender-programs-covid-relief-bill-usa-house-senate/)? > [@](#): > > The $2.3 trillion spending [bill](https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-senate-passes-giant-package-wrapping-relief-funding-tax-breaks/story-RBgt0xuRsiSQc6zFT52J2I.html) in the United States that combines a $900 billion in Covid relief measures with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill for the 2021 federal fiscal year has attracted severe criticism from certain quarters. The Covid relief bill has been passed by the US House and the Senate and awaits the president’s signature to be signed into law. […] > > […] the allocations made in regular government spending has caused major outrage. The 5,593 page [bill](https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR133SA-RCP-116-68.pdf) contains millions in dollars in funding to numerous countries as foreign aid. > > Pakistan is set to receive up to $15 million for “democracy programs” and $10 million for “gender programs” and Sri Lanka will receive up to $15 million “for the refurbishing of a high endurance cutter,” a type of patrol boat. […] > > Elected Representatives from the Republican Party have made staunch criticism of the Bill even though it received bipartisan support. […] In other words, it’s a combination of specific COVID relief measures with an omnibus spending bill, and contains much of the stuff that an omnibus spending bill typically has in it. Would like to see the overlap between people demanding that COVID restrictions should be abandoned because “life has to get back to normal” and people screeching in outrage because the omnibus spending bill contains normal amounts and types of spending. ---
**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 28, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8129 "2020-12-28T23:04:20Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Gotta cite? Every cite I find is from India, which I suspect not to be neutral. My sister, who hates Individual 1 but also hates Democrats, is spewing it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8130 "2020-12-28T23:11:24Z")
Well, [nobody seems totally happy about this bill](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/us/politics/whats-in-the-covid-relief-bill.html): > [@](#): > > Tucked away in the 5,593-page spending bill that Congress rushed through on Monday night is a provision that some tax experts call a $200 billion giveaway to the rich. […] > > “High-income business owners have had tax benefits and unprecedented government grants showered down upon them. And the scale is massive,” said Adam Looney, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former Treasury Department tax official in the Obama administration, who estimated that $120 billion of the $200 billion would flow to the top 1 percent of Americans. […] > > The measure includes serious policy changes beyond the much-needed $900 billion in coronavirus relief, like a [simplification of federal financial aid forms](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/us/politics/stimulus-law-education.html), [measures to address climate change](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/climate/climate-change-stimulus.html)and a provision to [stop “surprise billing”](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/upshot/ground-ambulances-left-off-surprise-medical-bill-law.html) from hospitals when patients unwittingly receive care from physicians out of their insurance networks. > > But there is also much grumbling over other provisions that lawmakers had not fully reviewed, and a process that left most of them and the public in the dark until after the bill was passed. The anger was bipartisan. > > “Members of Congress have not read this bill. It’s over 5000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in 2 hours,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, [tweeted on Monday](https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1341145260014100480?s=20). “This isn’t governance. It’s hostage-taking.” > > Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, agreed — the two do not agree on much. > > “It’s ABSURD to have a $2.5 trillion spending bill negotiated in secret and then—hours later—demand an up-or-down vote on a bill nobody has had time to read,” he [tweeted](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1341095275432173571?s=20) on Monday. > > The items jammed into the bill are varied and at times bewildering. […] > > “What you see at the end of every Congress is a clearing of the decks,” said Josh Huder, a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. “It’s all the stuff we wanted to pass but couldn’t. Everybody would love for legislation to be passed individually, but that is really a function of a bygone era that is not coming back.” > > “There’s a lot of good stuff,” he said, “but something definitely gets snuck in.” [Here](https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/house-democrats-file-omnibus-spending-bill) is the House Committee on Appropriations site where I think you can find links to all the 5593 pages if you want to know exactly what’s in them. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8131 "2020-12-29T00:35:26Z")
I heard on NPR that most of the things in the bill that he was complaining about were actually in the budget that his administration sent to congress, and in many cases the actual amount that ended up in the final version were less than what “he” requested. Of course Trump has no hand in actually forming the budget request other than a few fit pet projects and has no idea what he actually sent out. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8132 "2020-12-29T03:09:55Z")
> **[New York Post to Donald Trump: Stop the insanity | CNN Business](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/28/media/new-york-post-donald-trump-editorial/index.html)** > > President Donald Trump's favorite newspaper has turned against him. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8133 "2020-12-29T03:57:33Z")
His Twitter feed indicates he’s not listening. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8134 "2020-12-29T16:59:27Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > That is the first time I’ve seen an aircraft carrier with a ski jump lip at the end. HMS _Queen Elizabeth_ has [half](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth-class_aircraft_carrier#/media/File:HMS_Queen_Elizabeth.jpg) a [ski jump](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/HMS_QueenElizabeth_RO8-2.jpg/1920px-HMS_QueenElizabeth_RO8-2.jpg). > **[Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth-class_aircraft_carrier)** > > The Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy consists of two vessels. The lead ship of her class, HMS Queen Elizabeth, was named on 4 July 2014 in honour of Elizabeth I and was commissioned on 7 December 2017. Her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, was launched on 21 December 2017, and was commissioned on 10 December 2019. They form the central components of the UK Carrier Strike Group. > The contract for the vessels was announced in July 2007, ending several y... ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8135 "2020-12-29T17:19:30Z")
Whose idea was it to combine the Covid relief package with the omnibus spending bill? It seems like all of the controversy is coming from the latter: that covid relief is contingent on gender studies in Pakistan. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8136 "2020-12-29T17:23:40Z")
Did grumpy-trumpy forget about this part? I’m sure somebody must have mentioned it… [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/531951-michael-cohen-predicts-people-trump-pardoned-may-testify-against-him](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/531951-michael-cohen-predicts-people-trump-pardoned-may-testify-against-him) > [President Trump](https://thehill.com/people/donald-trump)’s former personal attorney [Michael Cohen](https://thehill.com/people/michael-cohen-0) suggested Monday that recent recipients of presidential pardons may turn on Trump and be forced to testify against him due to their lack of Fifth Amendment protection. > > “This produces a very significant problem for Donald Trump, in that once you get that pardon, you’re no longer able to invoke the Fifth Amendment … because you cannot be charged. All of these people may ultimately be his downfall simply because they’ll be testifying against him,” Cohen said while speaking with MSNBC’s Ari Melber. > > > “Once you get that pardon, you’re no longer able to invoke the Fifth Amendment … All of these people may ultimately be his downfall simply because they’ll be testifying against him,” Michael Cohen says about the implications Pres. Trump may face from pardoning political allies. [pic.twitter.com/3d1kW5IHIZ](https://t.co/3d1kW5IHIZ) > > > > — MSNBC (@MSNBC) [December 28, 2020](https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1343701665405399040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > … ---
**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:** [December 29, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8137 "2020-12-29T17:38:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Did grumpy-trumpy forget about this part? He simply doesn’t plan ahead. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8138 "2020-12-29T19:11:48Z")
This is priceless. Trump posted a campaign-style video on Twitter yesterday > It’s slickly produced, and filled with misleading and downright false impressions (including the implication that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords). See here – [In odd video, Trump falsely suggests he received a Nobel prize](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/odd-video-trump-falsely-suggests-he-received-nobel-prize-n1252476) But my favorite part is that the music is the lively “Hoe-Down” piece from Aaron Copland’s _Rodeo_. You know – one that was used for Beef Industry Council commercial “Beef – it’s what’s for dinner”. At the end of Trump’s video, the legend “Trump: He’s what’s for America” It’s so blatant and heavy-handed, you would swear this is some Saturday Night Live parody. But it’s not. This is Trump. This is how Trump thinks. It’s his idea of “slick”. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8139 "2020-12-29T19:13:57Z")
House , with 100 Republicans, overrides Trump veto of defense bill _Trump called the override vote a “disgraceful act of cowardice and total submission by weak people to Big Tech. Negotiate a better Bill, or get better leaders, NOW! Senate should not approve NDAA until fixed!!!_ Trump has seen too many episodes of 24. Jack Bauer used to shout NOW! all the time. But people listened to Jack. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8140 "2020-12-29T19:21:24Z")
Get better leaders, Donald? We’re on it, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2020, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8141 "2020-12-29T20:05:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This is priceless. > > Trump posted a campaign-style video on Twitter yesterday > > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1343673164270858241](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1343673164270858241) > > It’s slickly produced, and filled with misleading and downright false impressions (including the implication that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords). See here – [In odd video, Trump falsely suggests he received a Nobel prize](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/odd-video-trump-falsely-suggests-he-received-nobel-prize-n1252476) > > But my favorite part is that the music is the lively “Hoe-Down” piece from Aaron Copland’s _Rodeo_. You know – one that was used for Beef Industry Council commercial “Beef – it’s what’s for dinner”. > > At the end of Trump’s video, the legend “Trump: He’s what’s for America” > > It’s so blatant and heavy-handed, you would swear this is some Saturday Night Live parody. > > But it’s not. > > This is Trump. > > This is how Trump thinks. > > It’s his idea of “slick”. But, but … why? Who would spend money and time producing this now? Whom are they trying to influence? What’s the fucking point? ---
**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 29, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/8142 "2020-12-29T20:06:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > including the implication that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords Except that’s not a Peace Prize Nobel, it’s the one for the other disciplines. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=405) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=407)