# 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:** 59
**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 20, 2020, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1169 "2020-07-20T02:15:26Z")
As corrupt as the universe is wide… [https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/508050-whistleblower-alleges-repeated-attempts-were-made-to-report-pompeos](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/508050-whistleblower-alleges-repeated-attempts-were-made-to-report-pompeos) > [@](#): > > A State Department whistleblower attempted to warn the agency’s Office of Legal Affairs about “questionable” activities involving Secretary [Mike Pompeo](https://thehill.com/people/mike-pompeo) but was “blocked” from doing so, according to the complaint. > > [McClatchy reported](https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article244328882.html) Sunday that the complaint, made public through a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group American Oversight, alleged the unnamed employee and other “eyewitnesses” were prevented from sharing concerns about Pompeo’s activities in the U.S. and abroad with superiors and legal authorities at the agency despite repeated attempts. > > The State Department declined McClatchy’s request for comment on the whistleblower complaint. However, in explaining redactions made to the whistleblower complaint, the agency’s lawyers revealed that Pompeo still remains the target of at least one active investigation despite arranging the firing of the agency’s Inspector General in May. > > Among the locations named by the whistleblower as sites of the secretary’s alleged “questionable” dealings were Florida, New York, Washington D.C., and other locations overseas, according to McClatchy. More information on the nature of the alleged activities wasn’t available. ---
**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 20, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1170 "2020-07-20T02:18:07Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > was “blocked” > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > other “eyewitnesses” were prevented There’s that vague, useless PASSIVE VOICE. Sentences like these are impotent without a subject! 😡 ---
**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 20, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1171 "2020-07-20T02:42:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > There’s that vague, useless PASSIVE VOICE. Sentences like these are impotent without a subject! Midway through life’s journey I found myself in a deep wood, where the right way was lost. ---
**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 20, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1172 "2020-07-20T02:53:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > the right way was lost. - That’s not the passive voice, just the past perfect tense. The subject is “right way.” BTW, I know how Dante felt. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1173 "2020-07-20T03:41:19Z")
The sad thing here is not that he doesn’t want constant reminders of recent presidents more competent than him looking down from the wall (that’s to be expected), it’s that everyone knows W is on that list. How did Bush the Elder escape the purge? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1174 "2020-07-20T06:20:19Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@Senegoid](#): > > > > the right way was lost. - > > That’s not the passive voice, just the past perfect tense. The subject is “right way.” No, it’s the passive voice, with the actor omitted. “The right way was lost by me” would also be the passive voice, but with the actor included. The equivalent in the active voice would be, “I lost the right way.” The passive voice usually uses a past participle (e.g. “It was forgotten”). That doesn’t mean it’s in a perfect tense. ---
**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 20, 2020, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1175 "2020-07-20T09:23:20Z")
Uh oh, The grammarians are going at it. Hit 'em with your Chicago Rules of Style! ---
**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 20, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1176 "2020-07-20T12:19:22Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > No, it’s the passive voice, with the actor omitted. “The right way was lost by me” would also be the passive voice, but with the actor included. The equivalent in the active voice would be, “I lost the right way.” > > The passive voice usually uses a past participle (e.g. “It was forgotten”). That doesn’t mean it’s in a perfect tense. You are absolutely right, and I stand corrected. My gripe with the passive voice is exactly what you said: the actor omitted. As in the quotation in a previous post (my bold): > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > A State Department whistleblower attempted to warn the agency’s Office of Legal Affairs about “questionable” activities involving Secretary [Mike Pompeo](https://thehill.com/people/mike-pompeo) but **was “blocked”** from doing so, according to the complaint. > > [McClatchy reported](https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article244328882.html) Sunday that the complaint, made public through a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group American Oversight, alleged the unnamed employee and other “eyewitnesses” **were prevented** from sharing concerns about Pompeo’s activities in the U.S. and abroad with superiors and legal authorities at the agency despite repeated attempts. I want to know who did a thing, i.e., who is responsible, who is the offender. I want to know who _blocked_ and who _prevented_. The actor should not be omitted in stories like this, but often is, which amounts to leaving out an important fact from the story. Reminds me of this book: [https://smile.amazon.com/Mistakes-Were-Made-But-Not-ebook/dp/B003K15IOE/ref=sr\_1\_2?dchild=1&keywords=Mistakes+were+made&qid=1595246751&sr=8-2](https://smile.amazon.com/Mistakes-Were-Made-But-Not-ebook/dp/B003K15IOE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Mistakes+were+made&qid=1595246751&sr=8-2) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1177 "2020-07-20T12:59:06Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > It’s the Face Velvet Church Daisy Red that would fuck me up. I had double check myself to make sure I had the right words in this post. Yeah, the “gotcha” of having to recall those 5 words a couple minutes later when you thought you were done with that part is the trickiest part of the test. But otherwise it’s ridiculous that trump would brag about “acing” it. I stomached the first 40 minutes or so of the Chris Wallace interview, and I liked how Wallace said, “sir, I took that test, and it wasn’t that hard.” Then trump pipes up with “the last 5 questions were VERY hard! I bet you couldn’t have answered those questions!” Uh, one, Wallace just said he DID take the whole test and it wasn’t hard. Two, no the last 5 questions were NOT difficult. AT ALL. ---
**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 20, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1178 "2020-07-20T13:54:43Z")
I took the test over zoom with my doctor’s office. When she got to the five words, hell, I was sitting at home, and I wrote them down! I told this to a friend who works with the elderly and often administers this test. She said writing the words down is fine. She said if she were giving the test in person and the client asked for a pencil and paper to write the words down, she’d give them extra points for knowing the best way to get the words right. It’s NOT a memory test. It’s a test of **executive function.** > Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. ---
**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 20, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1179 "2020-07-20T14:02:30Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Then trump pipes up with **“the last 5 questions were VERY hard!** I bet you couldn’t have answered those questions!” Uh, one, Wallace just said he DID take the whole test and it wasn’t hard. Two, no the last 5 questions were NOT difficult. AT ALL. You do have to account for Trump’s attention span. I’m actually surprised he got to the end without flinging poo. ---
**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 20, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1180 "2020-07-20T14:03:20Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Uh oh, The grammarians are going at it. Hit 'em with your Chicago Rules of Style! (Stretches galluses) Well… as for me, I am and always be an AP man. ---
**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:** [July 20, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1181 "2020-07-20T14:44:36Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > The sad thing here is not that he doesn’t want constant reminders of recent presidents more competent than him looking down from the wall (that’s to be expected), it’s that everyone knows W is on that list. > > How did Bush the Elder escape the purge? By being dead. The other three are still alive, so Trump knows there are three guys out there who can call bullshit on him from experience. (I know Carter is still alive, too, but Trump probably can’t remember that far back.) ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1182 "2020-07-20T15:20:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Then trump pipes up with **“the last 5 questions were VERY hard!** I bet you couldn’t have answered those questions!” Uh, one, Wallace just said he DID take the whole test and it wasn’t hard. Two, no the last 5 questions were NOT difficult. AT ALL. > > You do have to account for Trump’s attention span. I’m actually surprised he got to the end without flinging poo. Let’s not jump to conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1183 "2020-07-20T15:23:23Z")
Yeah, it was not a live interview-- the poo-flinging may have been edited out! ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1184 "2020-07-20T15:24:20Z")
Well, one of the executive functions that it tests is the ability to multi-task, and we know he can tweet and poop at the same time, so there’s that. ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1185 "2020-07-20T15:25:58Z")
Tweeting takes both hands. Maybe he’s the second human known to have a prehensile rectum. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1186 "2020-07-20T15:26:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, one of the executive functions that it tests is the ability to multi-task, and we know he can tweet and poop at the same time, so there’s that. …simultaneously producing two different kinds of shit-- quite a talent, actually. ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1187 "2020-07-20T15:35:06Z")
> [@solost](#): > > …simultaneously producing two different kinds of shit-- quite a talent, actually.- And both of which, in his case, are produced by the same bodily system. ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1188 "2020-07-20T15:50:22Z")
They’re coming for us. > **[Trump Prepping To Dispatch Federal Squads To More Democratic Cities, Warns...](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mark-meadows-trump-democratic-cities_n_5f14c04fc5b6d14c3368cdda)** > > The president claimed violence is up in "Democrat-run" cities. "They are liberally run, they are stupidly run," he said. > The Trump administration is preparing to roll out a plan this week to send [military-style federal assault squads](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-wyden-oregon-portland-homeland-chad-wolf_n_5f12184ac5b6d14c336731f2) already in Portland, Oregon, into other cities, warned White House chief of staff [Mark Meadows](https://www.huffpost.com/topic/mark-meadows), who only named locations with Democratic mayors. > > Attorney General [William Barr](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/william-barr) is “weighing in on that” with acting [Homeland Security](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/homeland-security) Secretary [Chad Wolf](https://www.huffpost.com/topic/chad-wolf), Meadows said Sunday on Fox News. > > “You’ll see something rolled out this week, as we start to go in and make sure that the communities — whether it’s Chicago or Portland or Milwaukee or someplace across the heartland — we need to make sure their communities are safe,” he added. > > All three cities named are run by Democrats. > > President [Donald Trump](https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump) also indicated that federal squads would likely target cities run by the party that opposes him. He said on “Fox News Sunday” that “violence” was on the increase in “[Democrat-run cities](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-protests-portland/trump-digs-in-on-federal-crackdown-against-portland-protesters-idUSKCN24K0PC).” > > “They are liberally run, they are stupidly run,” the president added. > … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=60)