# 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:** 2091
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41806 "2020-03-26T14:57:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Not news, but well-summarized. > [ **The President Is Trapped** > _Trump is utterly unsuited to deal with this crisis, either intellectually or temperamentally._](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/presidents-character-unequal-task/608743/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > > > [@](#): > > > > Because he doesn’t tolerate relationships that are characterized by disagreement or absence of obeisance, before long we’ll see key people removed or silenced when they try to counter a Trump-centered narrative. He’ll try to find shiny objects to divert our attention from his failures. Makes one wonder when Tony Fauci will be shown the door. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41807 "2020-03-26T15:01:08Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Makes one wonder when Tony Fauci will be shown the door. The one-way, exit-only revolving door, amirite? ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41808 "2020-03-26T15:15:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Not news, but well-summarized. > [ **The President Is Trapped** > _Trump is utterly unsuited to deal with this crisis, either intellectually or temperamentally._](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/presidents-character-unequal-task/608743/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29)Some of us were saying this-- _ **screaming it!** _– about trump from DAY ONE, but _“N-o-o-o… he’ll turn Presidential any minute now! Just wait!”_ > > He cannot change or stop himself, and NO ONE WILL STOP HIM. The only hope for this country is if he drops dead at the podium (or somewhere else) very soon. The pandemic would/will get worse even with good leadership, but with NO leadership, we are doomed. I will put a curse on the first person who tells me I’m exaggerating or overreacting. :mad: > > And fuck everyone who voted for him, ever defended him, or plans to vote for him again! I told my daughter the other day that he’s finally up against something he can’t bluster, browbeat or bullshit. It doesn’t care how much money he (says he) has, and doesn’t respect the bankruptcy laws. So he can only flail around like a headless chicken (case in point, his comment about churches being packed at Easter, which we’re now told was only a hope). I saw a quote from Fauci that we don’t set the timeline, the virus sets the timeline. Not quite true: incompetence can affect the timeline — by extending it — and make the impact measurably worse. And future generations will be able to look back at Trump’s response to the current pandemic as a textbook example of this principle. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41809 "2020-03-26T15:32:26Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Some of us were saying this-- _ **screaming it!** _– about trump from DAY ONE, but _“N-o-o-o… he’ll turn Presidential any minute now! Just wait!”_ You mean people with functioning brains were saying that? I mean, look at _your own thread title_. Were you even ever expecting that? (Given what I knew about his likely agenda at the time, I am honestly not sure I was ever even _hoping_ for that.) ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41810 "2020-03-26T15:46:29Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > I don’t even know which thread to put this in so I’ll put it here. > > _Objecting to a provision in the Senate coronavirus bill providing unemployment benefits for people in financial trouble, Sen. Lindsey Graham says nurses are “going to make $24 an hour on unemployment” which he claims would incentivize “taking people out of the workforce.”_ > > Just when I thought these motherfuckers couldn’t get any lower. I read today that three senators were going to oppose the bill because it “incentived people to be unemployed.” As if most people would rather be unemployed than work. But fucking nurses, in the miiddle of this crisis, who are risking their lives to help people? What the fuck is wrong with these people? Fuck you, Lindsey Graham, I don’t usually wish death on people, I hope you get the virus and die a long slow painful death waving around money trying to get a nurse to wipe your pathetic fucking ass and clean up your blood you have spitted upon your chest. But of course, you will not be able to get your fucking tongue out of Trump’s ass long enough to even beg them for it. > > [https://breakingnewsusa.com/2020/03/25/lindsey-graham-complains-nurses-getting-too-much-money-from-coronavirus-bill/?fbclid=IwAR2xmbBSz4g1z3V1t7ivnjJ0EdQisGG2CCdVD5wt-YsZhq3iiMMp3zQdNNc](https://breakingnewsusa.com/2020/03/25/lindsey-graham-complains-nurses-getting-too-much-money-from-coronavirus-bill/?fbclid=IwAR2xmbBSz4g1z3V1t7ivnjJ0EdQisGG2CCdVD5wt-YsZhq3iiMMp3zQdNNc) Gotta make sure the have-nots know their place and get back into the workforce ASAP! Gotta sacrifice the nurses and all the poors on the bonfire of capitalism! ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41811 "2020-03-26T15:56:52Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > I told my daughter the other day that he’s finally up against something he can’t bluster, browbeat or bullshit. It doesn’t care how much money he (says he) has, and doesn’t respect the bankruptcy laws. So he can only flail around like a headless chicken (case in point, his comment about churches being packed at Easter, which we’re now told was only a hope). > > I saw a quote from Fauci that we don’t set the timeline, the virus sets the timeline. Not quite true: incompetence can affect the timeline — by extending it — and make the impact measurably worse. And future generations will be able to look back at Trump’s response to the current pandemic as a textbook example of this principle. I don’t expect Trump and the GOP to ‘get it’ until enough of those who are inclined to support him - upper/middle class and working class whites in suburban and rural areas - start getting destroyed by this outbreak. I wish it weren’t that way, but that’s the cold, hard truth. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41812 "2020-03-26T16:07:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The one-way, exit-only revolving door, amirite? And Trump will say he knows more about infectious disease than anybody, so who needs Fauci? (Has Trump already said that yet?) ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41813 "2020-03-26T16:21:05Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > … > I saw a quote from Fauci that we don’t set the timeline, the virus sets the timeline. … I think that was Fauci’s coded message to trump (not that he’ll grasp it): **“YOU don’t set the timeline, you destructive, incompetent, ignorant, narcissistic MOTHERFUCKER! The virus sets the timeline!”** or words to that effect. IOW, I think the “we” meant “you.” > [@eschereal](#): > > You mean people with functioning brains were saying that? I mean, look at _your own thread title_. Were you even ever expecting that? > > (Given what I knew about his likely agenda at the time, I am honestly not sure I was ever even _hoping_ for that.) The trump presidency, even before all this happened, turned out to be much, much worse than I ever imagined. But putting this life-threatening pandemic on top of the chaos he was already creating… all the while remaining as self-absorbed and clueless as ever… Don’t give me a hard time because I didn’t predict how bad it was going to get. I never imagined a worldwide pandemic, easy to transmit, that needed to be taken seriously early in the game, and when it wasn’t, would expand exponentially… Many times he has bottomed out on our expectations, but this is a new black hole of damage. Right now a Garden Variety Clusterfuck looks pretty good. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41814 "2020-03-26T16:44:30Z")
They still won’t get it. They’ll go to their graves worshiping their orange hero, all the while blaming our last decent president. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41815 "2020-03-26T17:30:27Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > IMany times he has bottomed out on our expectations, but this is a new black hole of damage. Early on in Trump’s presidency, John Oliver had a running bit about hitting rock-bottom. Each week Oliver would say [paraphrased] “Remember last week when we thought we hit rock-bottom? That’s now way up there.” and he would point to the ceiling. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41816 "2020-03-26T17:44:53Z")
So now some clown in the Trump administration thinks that NOW is a great time to have armed troops at the Canada/US border. What are they afraid of? That we might smuggle some socialized medicine down south? Canada does have Covid cases, yes, but fewer per million population than the US does. And the US is increasing at a faster rate. So are they afraid that healthy Canadians are going to sneak down and steal your food while everyone is dying in the overcrowded hospitals? Or are the armed troops going to shoot the virus down as it flys across the border? My guess is that someone told Trump that the border does not have troops right now. The longest undefended border in the world. And he went “WHAT? Nobody knew about this! We must send troops there immediately! I am the only one that knows this!” And now they have to pretend to follow the insane Trumpkin orders. ---
**Author:** ![slumtrimpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@slumtrimpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slumtrimpet)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41817 "2020-03-26T17:49:11Z")
Maybe they’re there to keep the plebs in? Did you think of that? Can’t have all those workers abandoning ship, eh? Capitalism doesn’t work so well when there’s no masses to exploit. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41818 "2020-03-26T18:04:14Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So now some clown in the Trump administration thinks that NOW is a great time to have armed troops at the Canada/US border. What are they afraid of? That we might smuggle some socialized medicine down south? Canada does have Covid cases, yes, but fewer per million population than the US does. And the US is increasing at a faster rate. > > So are they afraid that healthy Canadians are going to sneak down and steal your food while everyone is dying in the overcrowded hospitals? Or are the armed troops going to shoot the virus down as it flys across the border? > > My guess is that someone told Trump that the border does not have troops right now. The longest undefended border in the world. And he went “WHAT? Nobody knew about this! We must send troops there immediately! I am the only one that knows this!” And now they have to pretend to follow the insane Trumpkin orders. > [@slumtrimpet](#): > > Maybe they’re there to keep the plebs in? Did you think of that? > Can’t have all those workers abandoning ship, eh? Capitalism doesn’t work so well when there’s no masses to exploit. I thought there were visionary thinkers on the Straight Dope. Bah! Pikers, the lot of ya. Look, it’s simple, Trump has being declaring peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and promising to bring the troops home. That was great when the economy was soaring; he was the peace and prosperity president. But now, not so much prosperity and his election is in danger. So, who’s always popular at re-election time? A war-time president. But this time, we’re not invading a shithole country, oh no. They don’t display gratitude effectively enough. No, this time we’re going to invade Canada. We’re going to save them from socialism and they will be so grateful they will greet us like liberators. Boom! That’s how you win re-election during a pandemic depression. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41819 "2020-03-26T18:10:32Z")
G-7 countries unable to come up with language discussing how to deal with the current pandemic due to the US insistence on calling it “Wuhan virus”. > **[US push to include 'Wuhan virus' language in G7 joint statement fractures...](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/03/25/politics/g7-coronavirus-statement)** > > A push by the US State Department to include the phrase "Wuhan virus" in a joint statement with other Group of Seven members following a meeting of foreign ministers on coronavirus on Wednesday was rejected, resulting in separate statements and... ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41820 "2020-03-26T18:22:04Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > But this time, we’re not invading a shithole country, oh no. They don’t display gratitude effectively enough. No, this time we’re going to invade Canada. We’re going to save them from socialism and they will be so grateful they will greet us like liberators. Boom! That’s how you win re-election during a pandemic depression. And you know what they say, third time’s the charm! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pc4IFIXcDcs/hqdefault.jpg "Bullwinkle's Hat Trick 5") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc4IFIXcDcs) ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41821 "2020-03-26T18:33:01Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > G-7 countries unable to come up with language discussing how to deal with the current pandemic due to the US insistence on calling it “Wuhan virus”. > [US push to include 'Wuhan virus' language in G7 joint statement fractures alliance - CNNPolitics](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/03/25/politics/g7-coronavirus-statement) From the article: > [@](#): > > “There was a lot of discussion today amongst the G7 about the intentional disinformation campaign that China has been and continues to be engaged in,” he [Pompeo] said. > > China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause to the World Health Organization on December 31, while Chinese officials say they began regular contact with the US about the virus on January 3. The first US case was confirmed January 20. > > State Department officials have said that the use of the phrase “Wuhan virus” is meant to counter such disinformation. However, critics say the phrase is inflammatory, particularly as Asians and Asian Americans in the US report heightened incidents of racism and xenophobia. Ah, yes. The Trump administration–champions of fighting disinformation. Trump’s base has to know who to blame for this: not him. (Although China is not blameless in this) Interesting Wikipedia page: [Misinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_related_to_the_2019%E2%80%9320_coronavirus_pandemic) Jim Bakker and Alex Jones were hawking silver-based cures. I thought those were for lycanthropy. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41822 "2020-03-26T19:22:54Z")
One of Trumpelthinskin’s minions sent lawsuit-threat nastygrams to TV stations that ran [a particularly hard-hitting ad](https://youtu.be/bkMwvmJLnc0) highlighting il Doofus’ inept handing of the COVID-19 crisis. Apparently, sound bites of Gluttonous Leader dismissing the coronavirus crisis as “a hoax” and declaring that it will just “disappear” against a backdrop of an exponentially-rising curve of cases is somehow unfair and misleading. Apparently nobody at this White House has ever heard of the [Streisand Effect](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Streisand_effect). :smack: My favorite example of the phenomenon was provided by Joe Scarborough, who read a news item about the complaints, had the control room play the ad, made a great show of scratching his head trying to figure out what on what grounds Cheetolini was objecting, told the control room to play it again in case he’d missed something, acted even more puzzled, and then had it played a _third_ time. 😛😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41823 "2020-03-26T19:30:33Z")
Isn’t that very obviously protected speech? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41824 "2020-03-26T20:37:14Z")
No. Only bigotry is protected speech. Quoting the president’s own words at him is treason. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2020, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/41825 "2020-03-26T20:45:51Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So now some clown in the Trump administration thinks that NOW is a great time to have armed troops at the Canada/US border. What are they afraid of? That we might smuggle some socialized medicine down south? Canada does have Covid cases, yes, but fewer per million population than the US does. And the US is increasing at a faster rate. > > So are they afraid that healthy Canadians are going to sneak down and steal your food while everyone is dying in the overcrowded hospitals? Or are the armed troops going to shoot the virus down as it flys across the border? Perhaps our lack of panic is feared contagious. I’ve gone shopping a few times in recent weeks and aside from shortages of some very specific items (flour is the one that caught me by surprise - apparently baking becomes a big thing when people are stuck at home), Montreal stores seem very orderly and calm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2090) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2092)