# 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:** 45
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/888 "2020-07-13T18:10:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yeah, but remember: their “things are going wrong” concerns are “the field hands are getting uppity” and “they took oor statchoos”, not “people are dying of plague” and “the poors don’t have jobs” Kind of ironic when you realize that the social welfare programs were started by [Otto von Bismarck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Socialism_(Germany)) as a way of keeping the workers from shedding upper class blood as so often happened in France next door. > [@](#): > > [T]he actual complaint of the worker is the insecurity of his existence; he is unsure if he will always have work, he is unsure if he will always be healthy and he can predict that he will reach old age and be unable to work. If he falls into poverty, and be that only through prolonged illness, he will find himself totally helpless being on his own, and society currently does not accept any responsibility towards him beyond the usual provisions for the poor, even if he has been working all the time ever so diligently and faithfully. The ordinary provisions for the poor, however, leaves a lot to be desired […]. > > — Otto von Bismarck, 20 March 1884 Today’s Republicans can’t see even as far as a 19th century Prussian. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/889 "2020-07-13T18:58:09Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Couldn’t we trade Puerto Rico for Greenland and an island to be named later? Rhode? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/890 "2020-07-13T19:17:50Z")
Ice, Ice, baby… ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/891 "2020-07-13T19:31:30Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Rhode? Manhattan. Trump punishing the city for that mural in front of his Tower. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/892 "2020-07-13T19:33:38Z")
The White House is sending out information attacking Doctor Fauci, as if it were political opposition research. Individual 1’s spokesbeing denied it was opposition research, and is just the answer to a direct question. > **[White House denies Trump undermining Dr Fauci despite sending 'opposition...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-dr-fauci-coronavirus-white-house-research-covid-reporters-tweets-a9616936.html)** > > 'Dr Fauci and the president always had a good working relationship,' press secretary says, notably in the past tense In other news, Individual 1 has retweeted that expert medical advisor, Chuck Woolery, that the virus is a hoax. > **[Trump retweets game show host Chuck Woolery's baseless claim that 'everyone...](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/coronavirus-trump-cites-chuck-woolery-questioning-covid-19-on-twitter.html)** > > Trump retweeted a post by Chuck Woolery about purported lies about Covid-19 being told by "the CDC, Media, Democrats, our Doctors." ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/893 "2020-07-13T20:35:02Z")
What would be worse than the politicians ignoring the scientists? A: the politicians _attacking_ the scientists. Just when you think they can’t sink any lower…if Trump was charged with the mission of making COVID-19 as deadly effective as possible I don’t think he would be doing anything differently than what he has already. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/894 "2020-07-13T20:59:27Z")
Cue Nelson. > **[Report: Trump Campaign HQ in Rosslyn Shuts Down Due to Coronavirus Case |...](https://www.arlnow.com/2020/07/13/report-trump-campaign-hq-in-rosslyn-shuts-down-due-to-coronavirus-case/)** > > (Updated at 10:20 a.m.) President Donald Trump's campaign headquarters in Rosslyn temporarily shut down last week after a campaign official tested positive for coronavirus, Politico reported Friday afternoon. The campaign was chided by local... ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/895 "2020-07-13T23:23:19Z")
The full transcript of Geoffrey Berman’s interview has been released [here](https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/berman_transcript.pdf?utm_campaign=4124-519) (pdf). I encourage you to read it in it’s entirety. It’s a treat. The majority did a good job of exposition. They got all the pertinent facts out there and then just started asking him questions they knew he wouldn’t answer to get things like - “do you believe the Attorney General intended to rein you in?” - basically all the circumstantial stuff. The Matt Gaetz section is a hoot. He just drones on about, “why are you afraid of outsiders?” and Berman sets him straight and metaphorically tells him to sit down and shut up, junior. The Minority also did a good job of getting shit out there that will hurt their case. I don’t get this at all. The Majority (Dems) tried to get Berman to name cases that might be potentially disrupted and he refused to comment on any ongoing cases. Then when it was the Minority’s (Reps) turn, they just come right out and name them anyway: > Q: The Attorney General didn’t bring up Jeffrey Epstein case. He didn’t bring up any Rudy Giuliani-related case, whether it’s Lev Parnas or Igor Fruman. He didn’t bring up any case at all. Is that correct? > > A: I am not commenting on any specific cases. And later on the questioner brings up Prince Andrew out of nowhere as well. The Minority just could not get out of their own way. This was my favorite part - an attempt to handwave Barr’s outright lie when he put out that Berman had resigned: > Q: I mean, isn’t it the case that, all around the world, when a boss wants to make a change, the boss oftentimes offers platitudes to the incumbent and tries to facilitate a way to make the departure, the separation amicable? > > A: I’m not aware of that. I believe that, when you issue a press release, everything in the press release should be accurate. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/896 "2020-07-14T00:05:45Z")
[If Donald Trump is a danger to democracy, it is not because he will overthrow the Constitution. It is because his contempt for American values and institutions, and his ineptitude as a leader, may persuade Americans, by his example if nothing else, that democracy just does not work](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/opinion/trump-second-term.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage) A nice NYT opinion piece describing, without being too alarmist, what four more years of Trump would mean (probably paywalled or use up a free view) ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/897 "2020-07-14T00:07:58Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > What would be worse than the politicians ignoring the scientists? A: the politicians _attacking_ the scientists. And listening to a former game show host… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/898 "2020-07-14T00:32:39Z")
Dumb-Ass Jr.'s new book [has a punctuation error on the cover](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/13/donald-trump-jrs-new-anti-biden-book-misplaces-apostrophe-in-title). Can’t these douche bags do _anything_ right? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/899 "2020-07-14T00:52:34Z")
Maybe that Democrat _is_ just really possessive of his/her defense of the indefensible. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/900 "2020-07-14T01:01:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 wants Christopher Steele extradited, tried, and imprisoned. > ----- > He also said that the crumbling portion of the border wall that was built with private funds was only built to make him look bad. > [Trump on private border wall segment: ‘It was only done to make me look bad’ - POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/12/trump-border-wall-make-me-look-bad-357706)? More detail on this in the “Trump Is The Real Victim” thread, [in this post](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-the-real-victim/914942/34). TL;DR: Both the Politico article (cited above) and the Yahoo article (cited there) fail to mention, this piece of wall was built by the same company that controversially got the contract last May, amid reports of being too cozy with people close to Trump, and questions about their suitability to be building this wall and the legality of mixing the funding with private funding. [The Texas Tribune article](https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/12/texas-border-wall-private/), which I cite there, mentions all of that and more. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/901 "2020-07-14T01:06:53Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Well, yeah - isn’t that what Trump has always done with real estate he didn’t want anymore? Screw the people living there, they don’t matter, what does matter is not costing the slumlord any money. Exactly. Or like his partnerships where once he has his cash he bails and lets the other people go down trying to keep the property going without his name. The only reason he hasn’t quit is he has discovered he can’t just liquidate the country and walk away with the balance. Though it is also mentioned that this was never ever brought up again (though was this before, or after the Greenland trade thing?). Which would make it then a case of whatever that major malfunction of his is to just let out whatever combination of synaptic firing is going on at that moment, combined with his particular superdickish trait of getting enjoyment out of seeing those around him squirm in discomfort. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/902 "2020-07-14T01:12:03Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Dumb-Ass Jr.'s new book [has a punctuation error on the cover](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/13/donald-trump-jrs-new-anti-biden-book-misplaces-apostrophe-in-title). > > Can’t these douche bags do _anything_ right? **PERFECT!!** 👍🏼 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/903 "2020-07-14T01:26:13Z")
At least it lends credibility that he may have had some part in writing it. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/904 "2020-07-14T01:43:25Z")
Wanna bet he _only_ wrote the title? ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/905 "2020-07-14T02:01:19Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > What would be worse than the politicians ignoring the scientists? A: the politicians _attacking_ the scientists. > > Just when you think they can’t sink any lower…if Trump was charged with the mission of making COVID-19 as deadly effective as possible I don’t think he would be doing anything differently than what he has already. Well, maybe. He is such a fuck up if you had been instructed to make the pandemic more effective he probably would have failed. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/906 "2020-07-14T02:25:38Z")
Individual 1 claims that Obama stopped testing of coronavirus, a disease which was not in existence during Obama’s administration. > ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/907 "2020-07-14T13:24:29Z")
Why don’t reporters call him out on such bullshit??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=46)