# 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:** 2105
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42086 "2020-04-01T20:00:12Z")
[Pence is blaming the CDC and China for poor US preparation.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/mike-pence-coronavirus/index.html) > [@from article](#): > > “I will be very candid with you and say that in mid-January the CDC was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the American people was low. The very first case, which was someone who had been in China – in late January around the 20th day of January,” Pence told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. > Pence continued: “The reality is that we could’ve been better off if China had been more forthcoming.” Let me correct the first sentence for Mr. VP: I will be very candid with you and say that in mid-January AFTER WE DID HUGE MEGA-CUTS TO THE CDC AND FIRED OUR PANDEMIC TEAM, the CDC was still assessing that the risk of the coronavirus to the American people was low… ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42087 "2020-04-01T20:33:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > He prides himself on doing everything in a Big Way! The biggest!! The best!! The most powerful and strongly murderer like the world has never seen before!! (Still with the hyperbole, though he’s working hard to catch up to Mao or Stalin. No doubt Putin is proud of his efforts.) ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42088 "2020-04-01T20:59:31Z")
**[The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check](https://theweek.com/speedreads/906209/trump-administration-adding-extra-barrier-social-security-recipients-stimulus-check)** > [@](#): > > This year, tax season is for everyone. > > President Trump approved a COVID-19 congressional spending package last week that would grant $1,200 individual checks to Americans making up to $75,000 each year; the benefits start to phase out after that threshold. But to access that check, **Americans will have to file some kind of tax return even if they usually don’t have to** , IRS guidelines say. > > Some social security recipients, senior citizens, low-income taxpayers, veterans, and people with disabilities are exempt from filing their taxes every year. Those exempt people most likely took in far less money than the coronavirus stimulus threshold and are counting on getting additional checks. But to do so, they’ll have to file at least a simple tax return, and the IRS is recommending they do so as soon as possible. > > But if those Americans are unfamiliar with filing taxes, the IRS’s requirement could create even more problems, Seth Hanlon, a fellow at the progressive Center for American Progress, noted on Twitter. **Filing programs for senior citizens such as Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly have been shut down during the coronavirus crisis, and instead of calling the IRS for help, the agency recommends people with questions simply keep checking its website for updates.** > > Overall, **it’s unclear why this tax filing requirement is even necessary** , seeing as the CARES Act spending package specifically allows the Treasury Department to use social security benefit information to figure out who’s eligible for the payment. Kathryn Krawczyk > … My Bold. Catch-22, anyone? Does anyone know the answer to the question “why this fax filing is even necessary”? Put on your Republican hat and explain it from their pov. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42089 "2020-04-01T21:30:28Z")
“Tax” filing, that is. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42090 "2020-04-01T21:33:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Much better KPI’s would be > Blame redirection: How successfully has the damage of the crashing economy and mass deaths under the administration be successfully laid at the feet of the Democrats and Obama? To be fair, it’s true that the first coronavirus tests were defective in part because the Obama administration did not develop an accurate coronavirus test. To be even more fair, that would have required a time machine. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42091 "2020-04-01T21:38:05Z")
He didn’t act on behalf of the country on 9/11, either. Just like he let Pearl Harbor get attacked. Fuck you, 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:** [April 1, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42092 "2020-04-01T21:43:50Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [ **Obamacare Markets Will Not Reopen, Trump Decides** > _The move would have made it easier for people who have recently lost jobs to obtain health insurance._](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/upshot/obamacare-markets-coronavirus-trump.html)My bold. > > “Federal officials”? I guess that means Dear Leader all by his lonesome? > > Gonna kill Obummercare one way or another, eh? Yeah that’s the smart thing to do and that’s the way to make a government-led health insurance scheme less popular: force people in a pandemic to stay at home and die or stay out of hospitals and go out and spread it to others. Looks like today’s presser is a circle jerk for Maduro. Let’s not talk about COVID-19; let’s talk about overthrowing regimes led by brown people. That’s something that’ll put 'Merikuh in a good mood again ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42093 "2020-04-01T21:45:29Z")
[My fucking god](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-usa/russian-plane-with-coronavirus-medical-gear-flies-to-u-s-after-trump-putin-call-idUSKBN21I37W). (Reuters) > [@](#): > > Russia is sending the United States medical equipment to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, a public relations coup for Russian President Vladimir Putin after he discussed the crisis with U.S. President Donald Trump. > > Trump, struggling to fill shortages of ventilators and personal protective equipment, accepted Putin’s offer in a phone call on Monday. A Russian military transport plane left an airfield outside Moscow and was expected to arrive in the United States on Wednesday night. > > Emergency aid to Washington was a striking development. Usually, the United States donates supplies to embattled countries rather than accepting them. The origin of the gift was bound to revive criticism from Democrats that Trump has been too cozy with the Russian leader. Seven. More. Months. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42094 "2020-04-01T21:45:54Z")
What the ever-loving fuck is this press conference about? “Drugs kill 70,000 people a year” --\> See, COVID ain’t so bad, sheeple!:rolleyes: Jesus! Where’s the middle finger emoticon? ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42095 "2020-04-01T23:02:40Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > As of April Fools Day, the Jester in Chief is doing very well in approval polls – high 40s. American society needs to get over itself and start trying to keep up with the first world rather than continue to seep downhill. In particular, the Make America Great Again populists need to take a good hard look at both themselves and the rest of the first world, but since they are no more capable of doing this than their leader is able to turn himself into a human, the rest of the U.S. of A. had damn well better get its act together. If Trump’s base keeps insisting on gathering by the 100’s every Sunday this might be a self-limiting problem to at least some degree. Likewise all the MAGA-hatted people who go through my store loudly declaring it all a hoax and refusing to follow the new rules might well reap their own rewards. Unfortunately, they are likely to take a few others with them. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42096 "2020-04-01T23:13:19Z")
I wonder how many congregations are still offering in-person services? I’ve heard about the criminally stupid so-called pastors that are trying to still hold in-person services even in areas where there are emergency orders not to gather in large groups but not sure how to know how widespread it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42097 "2020-04-01T23:14:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have not looked at their work, but it seems likely it would be some sort of jujitsu-jesus, with a Chuck Norris beard, two bandoliers and a Dodge Ram packed with automatic weapons. The text is probably revised to say that he died in the cross-fire. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are we really supposed to believe that an American God would give his only son a Mexican name? Neither of these comments would raise a single eyebrow (or any doubt that they are sincere) with most fundamentalist readers. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2020, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42098 "2020-04-01T23:17:57Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > If Trump’s base keeps insisting on gathering by the 100’s every Sunday this might be a self-limiting problem to at least some degree. Likewise all the MAGA-hatted people who go through my store loudly declaring it all a hoax and refusing to follow the new rules might well reap their own rewards. > > Unfortunately, they are likely to take a few others with them. > [@Skypist](#): > > I wonder how many congregations are still offering in-person services? I’ve heard about the criminally stupid so-called pastors that are trying to still hold in-person services even in areas where there are emergency orders not to gather in large groups but not sure how to know how widespread it actually is. And in the “of course, Florida” department: > [@](#): > > Florida’s statewide stay-at-home order still allows churches to gather followers during coronavirus outbreak > Posted By Colin Wolf on Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 4:32 pm > … now an executive order issued today from Gov. Ron DeSantis says attending church services in-person is perfectly fine. … [https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/04/01/floridas-statewide-stay-at-home-order-still-allows-churches-to-gather-followers-during-coronavirus-outbreak](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/04/01/floridas-statewide-stay-at-home-order-still-allows-churches-to-gather-followers-during-coronavirus-outbreak) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42099 "2020-04-02T00:34:30Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > As of April Fools Day, the Jester in Chief is doing very well in approval polls – high 40s. American society needs to get over itself and start trying to keep up with the first world rather than continue to seep downhill. In particular, the Make America Great Again populists need to take a good hard look at both themselves and the rest of the first world, but since they are no more capable of doing this than their leader is able to turn himself into a human, the rest of the U.S. of A. had damn well better get its act together. > [undefined Polls | FiveThirtyEight](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/trump-approval/) > [@RickJay](#): > > They have had a perfectly good look. They are getting what they wanted. You are, like so many, proceeding on the assumption that Trumpists don’t know what it is the’re supporting. They know perfectly well what they’re supporting, and they approve. More deaths for their family, friends, and colleagues? “Well, half of everybody that I know died, but hey we fucked over Obamacare! Yay!” That would suggest that they _really_ **don’t** know what they are actually supporting. At all. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42100 "2020-04-02T00:38:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > He can now add “murderer” to his extensive resume, along with racist, misogynist, liar, groper, cheater, and heartless motherfucker. Remember [Jenny McCarthy Body Count](https://jennymccarthybodycount.com/)? When the damn dirty lying sack of dung in the White House (DDLSODITWH) started preeing in regards to this current crisis, I thought, "Hey, someone should make a similar site for the DDLSODITWH. Then I remembered [someone already did](https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/). > [@Locrian](#): > > [Pence is blaming the CDC and China for poor US preparation.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/mike-pence-coronavirus/index.html) Yeah, right. [Like I just imagined what I put in Post #41782 in this thread.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22203156&postcount=41782) > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > \*\*[The Trump administration is adding an extra barrier for Social Security recipients to get their stimulus check](https://theweek.com/speedreads/906209/trump-administration-adding-extra-barrier-social-security-recipients-stimulus-check)\*\*My Bold. > > Catch-22, anyone? I got a kick out of Mork telling Mindy that something was a “Catch-44”. Mindy asked, “Don’t you mean ‘Catch-22’?” Mork responded, “No. Catch-44 is like Catch-22 but it’s twice as bad.” Well, with the DDLSODITWH what we have is 30.272727272727272727272727272727 as bad as a Catch-22. > [@Broomstick](#): > > If Trump’s base keeps insisting on gathering by the 100’s every Sunday this might be a self-limiting problem to at least some degree. Likewise all the MAGA-hatted people who go through my store loudly declaring it all a hoax and refusing to follow the new rules might well reap their own rewards. > > Unfortunately, they are likely to take a few others with them. In Dixie, there’s a saying “Some people need killing”. Looks to me like this virus has really poor aim. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > And in the “of course, Florida” department: > > [https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/04/01/floridas-statewide-stay-at-home-order-still-allows-churches-to-gather-followers-during-coronavirus-outbreak](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/04/01/floridas-statewide-stay-at-home-order-still-allows-churches-to-gather-followers-during-coronavirus-outbreak) Mind boggling. Guess he didn’t pay any attention to what happened in Daegu. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42101 "2020-04-02T01:02:13Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > I wonder how many congregations are still offering in-person services? File under “Darwin Grins”: [Pastor Rodney Howard Browne does not intend to](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1239267305730736130) discourage attendance or handshaking at his church, proving that the congregation is not a bunch of pansies. [His close friend Jonathan Shuttlesworth also plans a](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1245019150545760256) “Woodstock-like” christian gathering as an act of defiance. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42102 "2020-04-02T01:33:51Z")
I’m just a trifle worried about Jim Wright (Stonekettle Station). He had to go out in public today to a local grocery store and reports that no one there was taking any precautions at all. Except for the crazy buying and packed store, they were behaving the same as they always did. And he’s vulnerable thanks to 20 years of military service. We can’t lose his voice. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42103 "2020-04-02T02:09:53Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m just a trifle worried about Jim Wright (Stonekettle Station). He had to go out in public today to a local grocery store and reports that no one there was taking any precautions at all. Except for the crazy buying and packed store, they were behaving the same as they always did. And he’s vulnerable thanks to 20 years of military service. We can’t lose his voice. Yikes. I did my first shopping in 2 weeks. Store was not crowded. Everything was available, but I did notice lower quantities of some things like TP. Everyone was following social distancing. Nobody got within 6 feet of me. Plexiglass screens over the cashiers. Store workers wearing disposable gloves. Tape on the floor showing how far away to stand from each other. Good wishes were given to everyone in the store. But then, we’re in socialist Canada with a death rate 4 times less than the US, so what do we know. (death rate adjusted for population) ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42104 "2020-04-02T02:33:22Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Yikes. I did my first shopping in 2 weeks. Store was not crowded. Everything was available, but I did notice lower quantities of some things like TP. Everyone was following social distancing. Nobody got within 6 feet of me. Plexiglass screens over the cashiers. Store workers wearing disposable gloves. Tape on the floor showing how far away to stand from each other. Good wishes were given to everyone in the store. > > But then, we’re in socialist Canada with a death rate 4 times less than the US, so what do we know. (death rate adjusted for population) See, your problem is your Canadian Education System. Your school curricula are sadly deficient, lacking the 3 full credit-years of Assholery required for graduating from HS in the US. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/42105 "2020-04-02T02:53:10Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Yikes. I did my first shopping in 2 weeks. Store was not crowded. Everything was available, but I did notice lower quantities of some things like TP. Everyone was following social distancing. Nobody got within 6 feet of me. Plexiglass screens over the cashiers. Store workers wearing disposable gloves. Tape on the floor showing how far away to stand from each other. Good wishes were given to everyone in the store. Had the same experience. (Mostly…there was one woman who had accosted another woman, dragging her into a lunatic conversation…but mostly people respected distancing, not coming closer than 2m except to pass them.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2104) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2106)