# 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:** 81
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1609 "2020-07-30T21:44:50Z")
I was watching that and thinking “This doesn’t seem real.” ---
**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:** [July 30, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1610 "2020-07-30T22:26:37Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > The video is stamped Project Veritas, which is … a nice touch ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1611 "2020-07-30T23:15:41Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Seems too good to be true. Yep. Way, WAY too articulate to be authentic Trump Gibberish. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1612 "2020-07-31T00:18:31Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > It’s what he was looking at. There were people, Keileghghgh McInane-y was probably there, and interviewer, a camera for the interview, and likely a monitor. That’s what I thought too, particularly because he paused briefly the third time he recited them which made me think that he momentarily forgot the words he used and had to use visual cues to complete the list. But @Ann_Hedonia [posited here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montreal-cognitive-assessment-i-guess-i-am-just-not-as-smart-as-the-president/916273/40) that he was probably actually using words from a different word association section of the test and couldn’t actually remember any memory words. I think she might be right. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1613 "2020-07-31T00:26:49Z")
# Jared Kushner Scrapped a National Covid-19 Response Because it Was Hitting Democratic States > **[Jared Kushner Scrapped a National Covid-19 Response Because it Was Hitting...](https://www.jezebel.com/jared-kushner-scrapped-a-national-covid-19-response-bec-1844562887)** > > Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth. "“The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert. That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said." ---
**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:** [July 31, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1614 "2020-07-31T00:53:02Z")
If he does not actually want to be President of people like me, am I justified in saying “he’s not my 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:** [July 31, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1615 "2020-07-31T00:57:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > If he does not actually want to be President of people like me, am I justified in saying “he’s not my president”?- If that’s a serious question (and I’m not sure it is), **you** get to decide if he’s your president, not him. Where does “justified” come into it? Am I missing something? ---
**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:** [July 31, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1616 "2020-07-31T01:16:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > If that’s a serious question (and I’m not sure it is), **you** get to decide if he’s your president, not him. Where does “justified” come into it? Am I missing something? What I am saying is that there are people who trot out the old “he (whosoever) is the president of everyone.” Sometimes as a way to tell you to stop your grousing. Obama did really seem to try to be that, I thought. The current asshole is not making a whisper of an effort at that, so the old canard is clearly out of bounds. AFAICT. ---
**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 31, 2020, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1617 "2020-07-31T06:05:07Z")
Re: Post Office Head Honcho orders post offices to slow down mail delivery. (Ostensible reason was save money by reducing overtime pay.) Twitter thread: TL;DR: Everyone needs to get their mail-in ballots done and mailed VERY EARLY. Many responders agree their mail carriers have told them the same. Most states also allow mail-in ballots to delivered to polling place in person or to secure drop-boxes in various locations. So do that to bypass USPS. But some questioned if the contents of those drop-boxes are then just sent in via USPS. In some states, mail-in ballots MUST be, y’know, MAILED in. > ---
**Author:** ![mattgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mattgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattgg)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1618 "2020-07-31T10:39:27Z")
MA sent out applications for mail-in ballots. You mail the application back, they mail you a ballot, and you mail in the ballot. No way. We’re voting in person and I’m encouraging everyone I know to do so. I have no faith that the mail-in ballots will be delivered to the town in time. Even if they are delivered, I have no faith that they’ll be counted or withstand a challenge by the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1619 "2020-07-31T12:21:35Z")
On top of the fact that hiring a political hack to run the post office may interfere with the elections process, the other more immediate consequence is that shitty mail service is economically disruptive as well. This will make our economy less competitive. And ironically, it might end up hurting his base of bible thumping yokels the most. What’s the worst thing about authoritarianism? The colossal incompetence and the fact that it’s much harder to make changes once you slide into an authoritarian government. The Hitleresque myth of the competent, organized leader who takes away freedom but, in exchange, makes trains run on time is extremely rare - and in Hitler’s case, Germany ended up getting incinerated by all the enemies who surrounded her anyway. Democracy is flawed. It’s inefficient. It requires work and effort which a lot of us don’t have time for. But it’s still the best system we have, and we’re throwing it away. We have been for decades, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1620 "2020-07-31T15:11:57Z")
The Lincoln Project outdoes themselves everyday. And they’ve done it again. (Unfortunately, the people that need to hear their message likely aren’t listening.) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4TogbPPyQQM/maxresdefault.jpg "Wake Up") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TogbPPyQQM) It’s longer than their usual offering, but they did have 3.5 years to cover. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1621 "2020-07-31T15:26:45Z")
Good stuff. I want to laugh - yet it’s only Act IV of this tragedy. Just over 173 days till [Time until Wednesday, 20 January 2021](https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20210120T09&p0=900&msg=Inauguration+2021&font=sanserif) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1622 "2020-07-31T15:49:48Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > The Lincoln Project outdoes themselves everyday… Was that Stephen Root? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1623 "2020-07-31T15:52:50Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Was that Stephen Root? Not sure, but I had the same thought. ---
**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 31, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1624 "2020-07-31T16:10:24Z")
SNL-type parody is not the Lincoln Project’s strength. Poking fun at people who voted for Trump and imagining their reluctant disillusionment just repels the R base and tells the rest of us nothing new. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1625 "2020-07-31T16:18:56Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Poking fun at people who voted for Trump and imagining their reluctant disillusionment just repels the R base and tells the rest of us nothing new. You may be right, but I’m not sure about it. The Trumpist base considers mocking to be a valid form of discourse. And appeals to emotion seem to be better suited to changing their opinions than rational arguments. ---
**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 31, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1626 "2020-07-31T16:49:29Z")
But only when applied to other people. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1627 "2020-07-31T16:53:15Z")
That was indeed Stephen Root. A national treasure if ever there was one. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/1628 "2020-07-31T16:53:48Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > Poking fun at people who voted for Trump and imagining their reluctant disillusionment just repels the R base and tells the rest of us nothing new. > > You may be right, but I’m not sure about it. The Trumpist base considers mocking to be a valid form of discourse. And appeals to emotion seem to be better suited to changing their opinions than rational arguments. Mocking is okay as long as it’s applied to other people. When it’s applied to Trumpists, it’s horribly cruel and unfair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=80) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=82)