# 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:** 70
**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 25, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1389 "2020-07-25T16:33:15Z")
Mitch McConnell now says that any new pandemic relief might take “a few weeks” to put together. What the fuck have he and the rest of his party been doing for the past 3 months??? 🤬 > **[McConnell says stimulus deal could take ‘a few weeks,’ putting millions with...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/24/unemployment-benefits-congress-coronavirus/)** > [@](#): > > The White House and Democrats have said they want a deal by the end of the month, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggested Friday that reaching an agreement could take several weeks, a timeline that could leave many unemployed Americans severely exposed. > > “Hopefully we can come together behind some package we can agree on in the next few weeks,” McConnell said at an event in Ashland, Ky. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1390 "2020-07-25T16:41:24Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Mitch McConnell now says that any new pandemic relief might take “a few weeks” to put together. What the fuck have he and the rest of his party been doing for the past 3 months??? I’m only speculumatin’ here, but I suspect they are biding their time on purpose. It’s about voter disenfranchisement. Republicans drag their heels, many evictions/foreclosures occur, voters are displaced (mostly those who will vote for Democratic candidates), few will remember to re-register to vote once they’ve managed to land elsewhere. The cruelty is secondary in this instance, whereas it’s usually the point. ---
**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 25, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1391 "2020-07-25T16:44:24Z")
I don’t think that strategy will work out the way they think it will. ---
**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 25, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1392 "2020-07-25T16:55:30Z")
I certainly hope so. A few hundred disenfranchised, tens of thousands enraged. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1393 "2020-07-25T16:59:38Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Republicans drag their heels, many evictions/foreclosures occur, voters are displaced (mostly those who will vote for Democratic candidates), few will remember to re-register to vote once they’ve managed to land elsewhere. In many places most voter registration and ID changes are through the Department/Bureau of Motor Vehicles… many of which are closed or are on sharply reduced hours. So if you’re evicted or have to move good luck getting that done in a timely manner! ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1394 "2020-07-25T17:02:22Z")
I believe in most places, a person can go directly into their Board of Elections and re-register with a new address. But while they are dealing with such flux in their lives, few will think to do it. I heard statistics that said as many as 20 million persons may be affected by the evictions. Obviously not all those will be eligible to vote… but if even a quarter of them are, that’s a lot of people. ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1395 "2020-07-25T17:19:36Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I believe in most places, a person can go directly into their Board of Elections and re-register with a new address. But while they are dealing with such flux in their lives, few will think to do it. Timely op-ed in WaPo today on this topic: > **[Opinion | Stop fretting about Trump and do something about it. Right now.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/24/stop-fretting-about-trump-do-something-about-it-right-now/)** > > Register to vote and sign up for an absentee ballot. > [@](#): > > Do this now. > > Take a pause from President Trump’s latest outrage (sending federal police to foment violence in U.S. cities in hopes that it will help his flagging campaign) or inanity (“Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.”) — and do the only thing guaranteed to end the nightmare. > > Go to [Vote.org](http://Vote.org), or, if you are reading this in the dead-tree edition, type [Check Your Voter Registration Status - Vote.org](http://vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote) into your browser, spend 30 seconds entering your name, address and date of birth, and you’ll find out instantly if your voter registration is current. If not, follow the instructions to register. > > Next, click this link or type [Get Your Absentee Ballot - Vote.org](http://vote.org/absentee-ballot) into your browser, and sign yourself up to receive an absentee ballot for the November election. That takes about two minutes. > > Finally, make sure your friends and family do the same. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1396 "2020-07-25T17:22:26Z")
I think we’re ascribing malice where incompetence is a better bet. They have been and are hoping that “and then, a miracle occurs”. They’ve been preaching a rapid and sudden economic recovery for months. And a sudden, miraculous recovery, in line with the predictions of nearly all (non-shill) economists and despite an overwhelming amount of prayer and wishful thinking, keeps not happening. Their Plan A of hoping things would improve despite their non-efforts had no chance of success but they relied on it. There is no Plan B. There are signs McConnell realizes the hole they’ve dug themselves, but he’s never been a Senator to develop or implement a real agenda. He’s always been the guy to get judicial appointments and stand in the way of Obama’s agenda. Now that he’s got to pull something together, he’s not revealing anything new - he’s simply acting exactly the way he’s always acted. This should come as no surprise. ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1397 "2020-07-25T17:29:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Timely op-ed in WaPo today on this topic: Thread in the Elections forum: > [@Make sure you are registered to vote](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-sure-you-are-registered-to-vote/916314): > > Go to [Vote.org](https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/), or, if you are reading this in the dead-tree edition, type [vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote](https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/) into your browser, spend 30 seconds entering your name, address and date of birth, and you’ll find out instantly if your voter registration is current. If not, follow the instructions to register. Next, click this link or type [vote.org/absentee-ballot](http://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/) into your browser, and sign yourself up to receive an absentee ballot for the November election. That takes about two minutes. Finally,… > **[Opinion | Stop fretting about Trump and do something about it. Right now.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/24/stop-fretting-about-trump-do-something-about-it-right-now/)** > > Register to vote and sign up for an absentee ballot. ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1398 "2020-07-25T17:30:23Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I think we’re ascribing malice where incompetence is a better bet. Why not both? ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1399 "2020-07-25T17:34:11Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Thread in the Elections forum: GMTA! ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1400 "2020-07-25T17:43:18Z")
I hadn’t seen the WaPo article, so thanks. Timely indeed. I think people will need to stay right on top of their voter registration/vote this year. I haven’t moved in 16 years and have voted in every election in that time. I still check my voter registration status about 4 times a year. When I receive my ballot, I intend to complete it and personally deliver it to a ballot drop box by the following day. I’ll check each subsequent day to ensure it was received by our Board of Elections. We have paper ballots, so I’m not worried about an internal manipulation of votes once the ballot is received. > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Their Plan A of hoping things would improve despite their non-efforts had no chance of success but they relied on it. There is no Plan B. Sorry, but I disagree. Plan B has always been to steal the election. McConnell refused to bring legislation to the floor that would have punished Russia for 2016 interference. McConnell refused to bring to the floor legislation that would have provided funding to harden our election infrastructure from foreign interference. McConnell has refused to allow additional funding for the US Postal Service in any legislation that has so far come before the Senate in advance of the election. So we already know about/can expect: Russian (and Chinese, North Korean etc.) interference. Misconduct resulting in weighting voter turnout in favor of Republicans in states where Trump ball lickers such as DeSantis, Abbott and Kemp are in positions to mess with elections. Slow mail service that will disenfranchise no small number of vote-by-mail voters. 40,000 Republican “poll watchers” assigned to polling stations ostensibly to keep an eye on things. Want to bet how many of those will be openly carrying guns? Chaos in major cities right around election time as Herr Barr dispatches his private troops to various Democratic cities to “maintain law and order” Portland style. 20 million dollars already set aside in Republican coffers to litigate close election outcomes after the election. Moscow Mitch has done his part. Taken altogether, will the above be enough to divert an honest outcome in 2020? We’d best assume it will and take any and all steps to avoid that outcome. ---
**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 25, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1401 "2020-07-25T17:54:07Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > GMTA! True. 👍🏼 I figure the more exposure this gets, the better. ---
**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 25, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1402 "2020-07-25T18:38:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Mitch McConnell now says that any new pandemic relief might take “a few weeks” to put together. What the fuck have he and the rest of his party been doing for the past 3 months??? Doesn’t Congress go on break after next week for a couple of months? ---
**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 25, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1403 "2020-07-25T19:49:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > You know, we’re almost 4 years into this presidency and I still barely recognize or have any idea of what names like Stone, Ailes, Manafort, Epstein, Flynn mean or represent at all, nor am I interested in finding out. All I know is that they are linked to scandal of some sort. Oh, don’t worry yourself over things like that. As long as you just follow orders, everything will be fine. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1404 "2020-07-25T19:56:52Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What the fuck have he and the rest of his party been doing for the past 3 months??? 🤬 Destroying America ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1405 "2020-07-25T20:08:06Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I believe in most places, a person can go directly into their Board of Elections and re-register with a new address. But while they are dealing with such flux in their lives, few will think to do it. And unless you visit the BMV anyway, your address won’t match. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1406 "2020-07-25T20:39:35Z")
Good point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1407 "2020-07-25T22:12:54Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Sorry, but I disagree. Plan B has always been to steal the election. I see that as Plan Zero rather than Plan B. They were always going to try a number of, if not illegal, then unethical and immoral tactics to do so, but their absolutely wretched performance this year only intensifies the necessity to pull out all the stops. It’s not exactly like 2000 or 2016 were free and fair elections in the sense most people mean. And it’s not like there hasn’t been an election in several cycles where some kind of suppression of votes hasn’t occurred. I’m not sure it’s happened in living memory. In another example of American ‘exceptionalism’, our elections are notorious among developed nations for practices that no other would-be democracy would allow. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1408 "2020-07-25T23:48:55Z")
Thing is, most of the Forces of Darkness’ plans were cobbled together in a different time, before Trump lurched onto the scene. It was a time when many of the most important elections were very close, a time when trimming a percentage point or two from the voting population could have a major impact. Like when Florida fought so hard against re-enfranchising ex-felons, because a couple hundred thousand votes was a big hairy-ass deal. Now? To oversimplify, Trump has his base and that’s it. They love him and everybody else hates his guts. That is a whole different kettle of piranha. There is no subtle way to overwhelm that. And Trump would fuck up a free meal, and his minions are no better. The old playbook won’t work, and innovation is not their strong suit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=69) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=71)