# 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:** 480
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9606 "2021-02-05T18:37:45Z")
Which is why the lawyers don’t want him there, to prevent him to objecting to him being referred to as “former”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9607 "2021-02-05T20:01:32Z")
Trump should be happy he’s not getting the Ceaușescu treatment. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9608 "2021-02-05T20:14:01Z")
If the MAGAts ever figure out how badly they’ve been played, he might. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9609 "2021-02-05T20:29:24Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > it was pointed out that the paper from the lawyers regarding the impeachment refer to him as “the 45th president” even when it makes it very difficult grammatically. not one does it say “former” or “ex” president. > > his letter to the union has the seal of the presidency but doesn’t have the words “former president” just his name. > > looks like someone believes he is not former or ex, or will let anyone around him say or use those words. This made me think of Stephen Jay Gould’s book **Bully for Brontosaurus** , in which he tells of received a fan phone call from Jimmy Carter: > [@](#): > > But I was delighted and surprised (to the point of shock) when I received a call, late one afternoon, from a woman who said, in a strong southern accent: “Please hold the line; President Carter would like to speak with you.” My first reaction, undoubtedly impolitic, was to blurt out: “President Carter who?” (I did think of Jimmy, but his tenure had ended nearly ten years ago, and I didn’t realize that certain titles, like diamonds and sainthood, are forever.) She replied with more than a hint of indignation: “Former President Jimmy Carter of the United States.” I allowed that I would hold. So there is precedent for a former president to call himself President. But I notice that virtually every recent reference to Carter calls him “Former President Carter,” not “President Carter”. even then I think “former president” was the standard method of referring to him, the “President Carter” without the “former” being used only in personal interactions. and, I suspect, the usage has changed. Some things aren’t forever – ask St. Christopher. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9610 "2021-02-05T20:34:53Z")
This is relevant: > **[The two words Trump cannot bear to hear: 'Former president'](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/two-words-trump-cannot-bear-hear-former-president-n1256895)** > > For Trump, it seems the two most terrifying words in the English language are: "Former president." ---
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9611 "2021-02-05T20:56:57Z")
Don’t forget “loser.” That’s gotta be up there, too. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9612 "2021-02-05T23:03:27Z")
The image thumbnail on that link looks like bars. I wish they would not be teasing us that way. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9613 "2021-02-05T23:14:04Z")
With minor modifications, Stormy Daniels can also use that. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9614 "2021-02-05T23:31:26Z")
Read this, and check out the length and measures that Trumpists went to, in order to try steal power [https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/](https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/) ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9615 "2021-02-06T02:10:45Z")
> **[House Puts $1.9 Trillion Stimulus on Fast Track, With No G.O.P. Votes...](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/05/us/joe-biden-trump-impeachment/biden-trump-intelligence-briefings)** > > “I see enormous pain in this country,” said President Biden, who is pushing forward with his plan over Republican objections. Democrats advanced with plans to begin drafting the aid package next week and speed it through the House by the end of the... “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings,’’ Mr. Biden said. “What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?” ‘Slip and say something’! Love it. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9616 "2021-02-06T03:36:30Z")
The following may not be the newest news (as I first saw something like this several days ago), but it’s up today on AlterNet: The one-time president plots his revenge! > **[Here's the 'comeback' Trump is already planning: report](https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/trump-the-art-of-the-comeback)** > > Former President Donald Trump's time in the White House is over but he may be far from done with politics. Despite his looming Senate trial, Trump is said to be planning a "comeback revenge tour" taking aim at all of the Republican Party leaders and... _Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Ctrumphu Mar’Lago wgah’nagl fhtagn!_ ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9617 "2021-02-07T01:36:33Z")
🤦🏽‍♀️ This is from the “You’re Breakin’ My Heart” desk: > **[Trump Lawyer Asks to Pause Impeachment Trial if It Runs Into Sabbath...](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/us/politics/trump-impeachment-trial.html)** > > The request by David Schoen, one of former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers, could upend plans for a fast trial. > Democrats and Republicans eager to tidily conclude former President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment trial within a week may have a fresh obstacle in front of them: the biblical commandment to keep the Jewish Sabbath. > > One of the lead defense lawyers for Mr. Trump has informed Senate leaders that he is an observant Jew who strictly adheres to the commandment against working on the Sabbath, and thus would be unable to participate in any proceeding that stretched past sundown on Friday or met on Saturday. > > In a letter obtained by The New York Times, the lawyer, David Schoen, asked that the trial be suspended if it was not finished by the beginning of the Sabbath at 5:24 p.m. on Friday, and that it not reconvene until Sunday. > > “I apologize for the inconvenience my request that impeachment proceedings not be conducted during the Jewish Sabbath undoubtedly will cause other people involved in the proceedings,” Mr. Schoen said in the letter. “The practices and prohibitions are mandatory for me, however; so, respectfully, I have no choice but to make this request.” > … Okay, the Jewish Shabbat happens every Friday-Saturday. But consider that Ash Wednesday is Feb 17. Passover is the week of March 29. Good Friday is April 2, and Easter is April 4. Ramadan starts on April 12 and ends May 12. If Donnie plays his cards right, he can hire a religiously diverse legal team and put the whole thing off until summer. By then he can raise a whole boatload more of cash. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9618 "2021-02-07T01:45:06Z")
Do all those holidays have restrictions against doing work during them? ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9619 "2021-02-07T02:07:22Z")
I was going to ask if the Senate normally has sessions on weekends, but apparently according to rules they are supposed to sit for six days a week during impeachment trials including Saturday. Schoen is proposing they work on Sunday instead. The trial is going to be as short as possible anyway. The Democrats want to get on with Biden’s agenda, and know that any arguments they put forward aren’t going to get the Republicans to convict. They’ll just want to get Trump’s malfeasance on the record and then wind things up. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9620 "2021-02-07T03:26:58Z")
No, but does that matter? If trump can find lawyers who are extra scrupulous and claim they can’t work on religious holidays, who is going to tell them they have to? ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9621 "2021-02-07T03:29:29Z")
Maybe the Senate votes on it? Maybe it’s a tie vote everytime, and you-know-who gets to vote to break the tie? ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9622 "2021-02-07T09:50:33Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Okay, the Jewish Shabbat happens every Friday-Saturday. But consider that Ash Wednesday is Feb 17. Passover is the week of March 29. Good Friday is April 2, and Easter is April 4. Ramadan starts on April 12 and ends May 12. If Donnie plays his cards right, he can hire a religiously diverse legal team and put the whole thing off until summer. By then he can raise a whole boatload more of cash. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Do all those holidays have restrictions against doing work during them? First day or two and last two days of Passover plus wherever the Sabbath falls that week are supposed to be no-work for observant Jews. I don’t know if Ash Wednesday or Good Friday are supposed to be no-work for Catholics, but since Easter is always a Sunday and that’s there Sabbath that’s out. Muslims do not stop working for Ramadan. And if they do all that they’ll want Friday off for the Muslim lawyer(s),Saturday off for the Jewish ones, Sunday for the Christians, except for the Seventh Day Adventist guy, who will also take off Saturday. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9623 "2021-02-07T13:58:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t know if Ash Wednesday or Good Friday are supposed to be no-work for Catholics, I went to parochial school for 12 years, and I never heard of Ash Wednesday or Good Friday being considered non-work days. They were fast and abstinence days, but so was Lent in general. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9624 "2021-02-07T14:21:19Z")
@Broomstick , @Colibri Geez Louise, work with me here, people! It’s almost like you don’t want Donnie to hire ultra-religious lawyers who can be holier than the Pope/Iman/Archbishop of Canterbury and refuse to work on their respective holy days, thus delaying his impeachment trial until he can collect enough $$ to top off his 2024 war chest. Surely that’s not the case??? /joke ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/9625 "2021-02-07T14:25:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > First day or two and last two days of Passover plus wherever the Sabbath falls that week are supposed to be no-work for observant Jews. I’m hoping someone will produce numerous instances of Schoen working on those days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=479) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=481)