# 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:** 2008
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40145 "2020-01-25T14:55:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > A brilliant point, wittily stated! Yes, you are. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40146 "2020-01-25T15:47:42Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > The most fascinating bit is right at the end, where Kelly, who remained unflappable throughout, relates how Pompeo, during his post-interview tirade, hauled out an unmarked world map and demanded that Kelly find and identify Ukraine. What the actual fuck? > [@TonySinclair](#): > > This is an extreme example of something that happens fairly often, if you look for it. Guys like Pompeo think that everybody else is stupid – that’s why they can lie so shamelessly… So they try to expose this by testing them… So the test was ‘Show me Ukraine on a map’? Um… Not much of a test. I mean, Ukraine basically takes up the north shore of the Black Sea, opposite Turkey. Kinda hard _not_ to find on a map. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40147 "2020-01-25T16:17:01Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So the test was ‘Show me Ukraine on a map’? Um… Not much of a test. I mean, Ukraine basically takes up the north shore of the Black Sea, opposite Turkey. Kinda hard _not_ to find on a map. Let Trump try to find it. He’d probably ask “What’s a map?”. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40148 "2020-01-25T16:23:49Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Let Trump try to find it. He’d probably ask “What’s a map?”. Nah. He’d just take a sharpie and draw it in… somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40149 "2020-01-25T16:29:21Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Interesting. When I watched _Handmaid’s Tale_ Season 1, I was strongly reminded of modern Republicanism, despite that the details of the GOP’s preferred dystopia may not resemble _Handmaid’s Tale_ at all. > > I’ve observed a general tendency for people to impute their characters to others. Liars think others are lying; ignorant people think others are ignorant; and so on. But here we have actual liars accusing honest people of being liars, and they have enablers who seize on that and declare both parties to be the same. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40150 "2020-01-25T17:16:19Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ve observed a general tendency for people to impute their characters to others. Liars think others are lying; ignorant people think others are ignorant; and so on. You are smart, handsome, funny, and wealthy **septimus** , with good hair and a shlong the size of Nebraska. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40151 "2020-01-25T17:17:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So the test was ‘Show me Ukraine on a map’? Um… Not much of a test. I mean, Ukraine basically takes up the north shore of the Black Sea, opposite Turkey. Kinda hard _not_ to find on a map. There are Americans who can’t find America on a map, so… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40152 "2020-01-25T17:23:30Z")
> [@margin](#): > > But here we have actual liars accusing honest people of being liars, and they have enablers who seize on that and declare both parties to be the same. Don’t fight the assertion: > [@septimus](#): > > Liars think others are lying; ignorant people think others are ignorant; and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40153 "2020-01-25T17:39:48Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > There are Americans who can’t find America on a map, so… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40154 "2020-01-25T18:45:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > :dubious: “About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map.” [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/geography-survey-illiteracy/](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/geography-survey-illiteracy/) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lj3iNxZ8Dww/hqdefault.jpg "Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww) ---
**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:** [January 25, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40155 "2020-01-25T19:38:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Pompeo doesn’t like interview direction with NPR, storms out, summons reporter a minute later, cusses her out, calls her stupid, tells her that the world will hear about this.](https://www.npr.org/2020/01/24/799244678/pompeo-wont-say-whether-he-owes-yovanovitch-an-apology-i-ve-done-what-s-right) > > He’s right on that last count: it’s a top story at NPR. [Which of the nine kinds of crazy is this?](https://apnews.com/968bb9a73fde1ce0c083df55fafe72c1) > [@](#): > > Pompeo, in his statement, did not deny shouting at Kelly and did not apologize. Instead, he accused her of lying to him when setting up the interview, which he apparently expected would be limited to questions about Iran, and for supposedly agreeing not to discuss the post-interview meeting. > > He ended his statement by saying, “It is worth nothing that Bangladesh is NOT Ukraine.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40156 "2020-01-25T19:47:49Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > “About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn’t even locate the U.S. on a map.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40157 "2020-01-25T19:47:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Which of the nine kinds of crazy is this?](https://apnews.com/968bb9a73fde1ce0c083df55fafe72c1)😕 Kelly is a veteran national security reporter who was born in Germany, has a Masters in European Studies from Cambridge University, and did an internship at the BBC. I’m going to go way out on a limb and guess that she can spot Ukraine on a map. So, either Pompeo is pulling something out of his ass, or Pompeo thinks that country on Russia’s southwest border is Bangladesh. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40158 "2020-01-25T20:00:28Z")
A former State Department employee under Hillary said that they never had blank world maps in their offices, and wonders why Pompeo does, unless it’s to pull this shit regularly. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40159 "2020-01-25T20:11:57Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Kelly is a veteran national security reporter who was born in Germany, has a Masters in European Studies from Cambridge University, and did an internship at the BBC. I’m going to go way out on a limb and guess that she can spot Ukraine on a map. So, either Pompeo is pulling something out of his ass, or Pompeo thinks that country on Russia’s southwest border is Bangladesh. I’m probably being whooshed, but it’s clear to me that he meant to imply that Ms. Kelly pointed to Bangladesh on a map instead of Ukraine. It’s consistent with his MO. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40160 "2020-01-25T20:55:58Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > I’m probably being whooshed, but it’s clear to me that he meant to imply that Ms. Kelly pointed to Bangladesh on a map instead of Ukraine. It’s consistent with his MO. Right. I meant that it’s highly unlikely that Kelly misidentified Bangladesh as Ukraine. Because she’s hella smart. It’s more likely that Pompeo thinks Bangladesh is Ukraine and tried to “correct” Kelly. (I mean, it’s most likely that he’s just lying, but I can’t rule out that, when Kelly pointed to Ukraine, Pompeo said, “Nuh-uh! That’s Bangladesh you stupid woman.”) ---
**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:** [January 25, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40161 "2020-01-25T21:10:51Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Rethuglicans are fucking animals. They are also fucking worms and puddings and cypresses and easter bunnies and anything else they can hold down long enough to get it against their fetid crotches. Was a time they would try to hide that they were doing that. Now it is all up in your face. (note to self: check up on those eye bleach futures) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40162 "2020-01-25T21:19:07Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Rodents. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > 🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀🐀 Happy Year of the Rat! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40163 "2020-01-25T21:34:20Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Rethuglicans are fucking animals. > > Rodents. Wow. ‘Rethuglican’ gets you docked (checks guide) 25 IQ points. Now you have to ride on the intellectual short bus with people who say ‘Demoncrats’ and ‘DemocRATS’. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40164 "2020-01-25T21:44:21Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Wow. ‘Rethuglican’ gets you docked (checks guide) 25 IQ points. Now you have to ride on the intellectual short bus with people who say ‘Demoncrats’ and ‘DemocRATS’. Except that Pompeo was indeed acting like a thug. Point to similar behavior that earns Demoncrat or DemocRAT. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2007) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2009)