# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1624
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32465 "2019-05-15T01:05:26Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I’m with him on this one. Given the quote in Post #32533, why? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32466 "2019-05-15T01:19:37Z")
Holy fuck, the depths to which this “administration” will go to fuck over the less fortunate out of a few bucks, while enabling those at the top to rake it in are astounding. They must never stop looking for minutiae in order to come up with this. Are you with them on this? Fuck you, give yourself a pat on the back. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32467 "2019-05-15T01:23:56Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Are you with them on this? Fuck you, give yourself a pat on the back. Do you think the inability to communicate in English should be factored into disability? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32468 "2019-05-15T01:30:26Z")
I would prefer it to be changed to “inability to communicate,” leaving out the “in English.” Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32469 "2019-05-15T01:30:44Z")
Is it perhaps directed at folks who cannot actually COMMUNICATE in English, or any other language? For example, someone who has a **severe** stutter or is mute may well have been eligible for a disability allowance?? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32470 "2019-05-15T01:35:47Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Is it perhaps directed at folks who cannot actually COMMUNICATE in English, or any other language? For example, someone who has a **severe** stutter or is mute may well have been eligible for a disability allowance?? I thought that too, which would be ok. But post #32533 show, it says this: Therefore, under our current rules, we consider an individual’s ability to communicate in English when we evaluate what work, if any, he or she can do. We do not consider fluency in other languages. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32471 "2019-05-15T01:57:45Z")
Man, I am LOVIN’ the concrete poetry at posts 32533 and 32544. It’s like the Sixties all over again! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32472 "2019-05-15T02:15:07Z")
“…in mute nostril agony…” _Hoarse Platitudes_ Morrison, man. Fuckin’ _deep_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32473 "2019-05-15T02:26:11Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Why would “inability to communicate in English” be a disability in the first place? It doesn’t even necessarily come from “not having learned English”: it can come as a consequence of a stroke which has not affected other parts of the brain too badly or because the person has become too deaf to comunicate in spoken English (for most jobs and most people’s level of patience, having to communicate in writing is a bitch; note that “learning ASL”… heeey, ASL is not English). It’s the kind of thing I would expect to see more often in combination with other things (from having had strokes, to deafness, to arthritis which makes continuing working in heavily-physical jobs difficult) than by itself: the level of English one needs to work as a receptionist is much higher than that needed to work as a cleaning lady or gardener. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32474 "2019-05-15T03:50:29Z")
I’m not sure I trust the OMB spokesperson’s take on [Trump moving Pell grant money to fund NASA](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-hes-adding-1-6-billion-nasas-222750607--politics.html). My initial, secondary, and tertiary reactions are all: “Yep, this should prove how anti-education Trump is”. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32475 "2019-05-15T03:58:16Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > My initial, secondary, and tertiary reactions are all: “Yep, this should prove how anti-education Trump is”. He’s reassuring the rest of the Republican party that he’s not just looking out for himself. By attacking education and promoting ignorance, he’s doing something to help ensure a supply of Republican voters for the future. It’s a legacy issue. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32476 "2019-05-15T09:54:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > By attacking education and promoting ignorance… Sigh. It really is taking longer than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32477 "2019-05-15T12:16:34Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It doesn’t even necessarily come from “not having learned English”: it can come as a consequence of a stroke which has not affected other parts of the brain too badly or because the person has become too deaf to comunicate in spoken English (for most jobs and most people’s level of patience, having to communicate in writing is a bitch; note that “learning ASL”… heeey, ASL is not English). It’s the kind of thing I would expect to see more often in combination with other things (from having had strokes, to deafness, to arthritis which makes continuing working in heavily-physical jobs difficult) than by itself: the level of English one needs to work as a receptionist is much higher than that needed to work as a cleaning lady or gardener. Sure, but that’s not what the rule says. It clearly doesn’t matter how fluent you are in another language, if for some reason you can’t communicate in English, it is taken into account. I don’t have a problem with removing that part. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32478 "2019-05-15T13:42:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He’s reassuring the rest of the Republican party that he’s not just looking out for himself. By attacking education and promoting ignorance, he’s doing something to help ensure a supply of Republican voters for the future. It’s a legacy issue. The continued increase in the number of college graduates as a percentage of the electorate is indeed worrisome to the current GOP. It’s one more demographic moving against them (and one which they used to win). Making college more affordable, much like efforts to make it easier to vote, must feel like political suicide to Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32479 "2019-05-15T16:47:47Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I thought that too, which would be ok. But post #32533 show, it says this: > > Therefore, under our current > rules, we consider an individual’s > ability to communicate in English when > we evaluate what work, if any, he or she > can do. We do not consider fluency in > other languages. And this: > [@](#): > > Our rules explain that we consider > inability to communicate in English an > education category because _the ability to > speak, read, and understand English is > generally learned or increased in > school_. Our current rules further > explain that because English is the > dominant language of this country, it > may be difficult for someone who _does > not speak and understand English_ to do > a job, regardless of the amount of > education he or she may have in another > language. Sure seems to be saying that someone is disabled because they _did not learn_ English. They do not seem to be talking about a speech impediment, learning disability or brain injury. (I imagine that these are addressed in other sections) ---
**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:** [May 15, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32480 "2019-05-15T17:46:09Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Sigh. It really is taking longer than we thought. Cecil Adams retired and Donald Trump was elected President. I think ignorance is winning this fight. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32481 "2019-05-15T17:52:01Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > And this: > > Sure seems to be saying that someone is disabled because they _did not learn_ English. > > They do not seem to be talking about a speech impediment, learning disability or brain injury. (I imagine that these are addressed in other sections) The way I read it is that they currently look at the ability to understand English when someone is disabled from their own job and SSDI is evaluating whether the person can do some other kind of work. In other words, the worker can’t go out on a fishing boat any more because of a busted knee or something, so they have to consider whether he could find another job he’s suited for by age, experience, and education. Under the current rule, not speaking English would be considered and they wouldn’t try to say he could work as a cashier at Walmart. (or some other job where English was required) Under the proposed change, they would ignore the fact he couldn’t speak English and assume he could find a job somewhere and thus he would not be considered totally disabled. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32482 "2019-05-15T18:21:52Z")
Individual 1 claims that windmills are killing bald eagles. > **[Trump claims he's seen piles of dead bald eagles underneath windmills: 'You...](https://www.rawstory.com/amp/trump-claims-hes-seen-piles-of-dead-bald-eagles-underneath-windmills-you-see-them-all-over-the-place-2649273056)** > > President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that he had seen dead bald eagles "all over the place" because of energy-producing windmills."You are under assault," Trump told a group of natural gas workers in Louisana. "And now they talk about the Green... Judge in Individual 1’s lawsuit to prevent Congress from investigating his finances finds his lawyers’ arguments lacking. > **[Trump's bid to block disclosure of financial records leaves judge astonished](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-bid-block-disclosure-financial-112414318.html?.tsrc=fauxdal)** > > A federal judge in Washington expressed astonishment Tuesday at arguments raised by President Donald Trump's lawyers seeking to block his accounting firm from turning over years of financial records to the Democratic-controlled House Oversight and... ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32483 "2019-05-15T18:22:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think ignorance is winning this fight. I _hate_ it when that happens. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32484 "2019-05-15T18:33:57Z")
More on the Kudlow-Trump affair: > **[How dissent is addressed in the Trump White House](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/how-dissent-addressed-the-trump-white-house-msna1229961)** > > Donald Trump peddled nonsense about his trade policy, while Larry Kudlow told the truth. By one account, the two soon after "had it out." > [@](#): > > Trump was irritated on Sunday after National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow acknowledged on “Fox News Sunday” that American consumers end up paying for the administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports, contradicting Trump’s claim that the Chinese foot the bill, officials said. > > “Trump called Larry, and they had it out,” according to one White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly. > > In fairness, it’s worth emphasizing that there’s no official account of the conversation, and the Post spoke to others who claimed the post-interview conversation between Trump and Kudlow was far less contentious. > > But if the White House official who said the two “had it out” was correct, it’s emblematic of a larger problem. > > In this case, we know Kudlow was right and Trump was wrong. Kudlow was certainly diplomatic when acknowledging reality on “Fox News Sunday” – the alternative likely would’ve ended his White House tenure – but he left little doubt that the president’s arguments on trade are demonstrably untrue. > > And that, according to one source, left Trump unhappy – not because Kudlow was wrong, but because he told the truth in a way that cast the president in an unflattering light. > > The model Trump seems to prefer is a dynamic in which his team not only accepts his falsehoods as facts but is also willing to peddle his fictions to the public without regard for their accuracy. > > It’s too important an issue for deliberations driven entirely by the president’s ego, confusion, and delicate sensibilities, but by some accounts, this is nevertheless where we find ourselves. This is what happens when you correct the president’s misconceptions/blatant lies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1623) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1625)