# 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:** 2161
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43207 "2020-05-07T13:57:07Z")
> [@simster](#): > > the month could start on a tuesday… And that would be a problem, why? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43208 "2020-05-07T14:06:24Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > And that would be a problem, why? how the fuck should I know? maybe ask them for the reasoing? ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43209 "2020-05-07T14:12:58Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > And that would be a problem, why? It was originally meant to guarantee that the Electoral College always met within 34 days of a presidential election. The Electoral College originally met later in December than it does now. Now the “first Tuesday after the first Monday” is just because of tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43210 "2020-05-07T15:25:06Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > So, the damn dirty lying sack of dung says the reason he’s fighting with the press at his briefings is because he wants to make the briefings exciting. Good God Almighty! Why is this clown still president? > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Some folk on facebook are raving about how awesome the new press secretary is and how she destroys the Lefty reporters. I’ve not viewed this, but I’m sure I’ll get the straight dope here. Well by chance I’ve also come across a number of tweets praising her for sticking it to the press. So, Trump’s right. At least in terms of his own supporters. They want to see the class clown give the teachers hell, with their boring “facts” and “demands for accountability”. Boo press! Yay trump! ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43211 "2020-05-07T15:28:53Z")
[Trump’s personal valet tests positive for Covid-19.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/trump-valet-tests-positive-covid-19/index.html) **Heh.** ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43212 "2020-05-07T15:29:58Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Because they didn’t want Election Day to fall on All Saints Day. This is the reason. See [Why is America’s Election Day on a Tuesday in November?](https://www.thoughtco.com/why-is-election-day-on-a-tuesday-1773941). A couple points - November because the crops have been harvested and there’s no planting going on; a Tuesday because it’s not a market day and if anyone needed a travel day, they would not have to travel on a Sunday; and November 2nd is the earliest because All Saint’s Day (November 1) is a religious holiday for many (the day after Halloween!). Choosing the electors is done in November to allow them to meet in December to choose the President and VP. Researching this, a frequent frequent answer on Google for “election day” was “Is Trump going to cancel the 2020 election?” Sign. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43213 "2020-05-07T15:49:33Z")
> [@simster](#): > > how the fuck should I know? maybe ask them for the reasoing? Take a deep breath. I was asking the question in general, not of you specifically. > [@Pleonast](#): > > Because they didn’t want Election Day to fall on All Saints Day. > [@JohnGalt](#): > > and November 2nd is the earliest because All Saint’s Day (November 1) is a religious holiday for many (the day after Halloween!). That kind of makes sense but isn’t that sort of a violation of the separation of church and state? Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43214 "2020-05-07T15:59:09Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > That kind of makes sense but isn’t that sort of a violation of the separation of church and state? Maybe for the same reason that Christmas is a federal holiday. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43215 "2020-05-07T16:15:52Z")
[A White House valet tests positive.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-valet-tests-positive-coronavirus_n_5eb423c7c5b6526942a350cb) I wish the valet the best. I hope he passed it on to only one person, and that individual one self doses on hydroxychloroquine. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43216 "2020-05-07T16:16:46Z")
Federal holidays weren’t really a thing until after the Civil War. By that point, Christmas as partly a secular holiday was already established. Also, it was already a holiday in nearly all the states at that time, so it was bowing to reality more than anything else. Also, election day in November has jack-all to do with All Saints’ Day, which wouldn’t have meaning to most Protestant denominations in the US when it was established anyway. It was set to fall [roughly a month before](http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=015/llcg015.db&recNum=29) the first Wednesday in December but not exceed a certainly number of days. The All Saints reasoning isn’t in **John Galt** ’s cite, so I have no clue where it came from. I imagine he extracted it from his nether regions. From my cite: > [@Congressional Globe](#): > > As soon as it would be in order to do so, he should move an amendment of this section as to make the day the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, instead of the first Tuesday in November, as the section now stood. His object in making this change was to avoid the necessity of changing the laws in relation to the day on which the electoral colleges now meet; for the first Tuesday of November might, in some cases, be more than thirty days from the first Wednesday in December. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43217 "2020-05-07T16:33:39Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [A White House valet tests positive.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-valet-tests-positive-coronavirus_n_5eb423c7c5b6526942a350cb) I wish the valet the best. I hope he passed it on to only one person, and that individual one self doses on hydroxychloroquine. False negatives about 15% for the rapid Abbott Labs test according to what I found. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43218 "2020-05-07T16:36:14Z")
Also, Labor Day is the first Monday after the first Tuesday in September. For some indiscernible reason, it can’t fall on September 1. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43219 "2020-05-07T16:46:28Z")
I really don’t expect that COVID-19 will still be an issue by November, so it should not affect voting. (Perhaps I’m just _hoping_ we’re not still doing the shelter-in-place and social distancing by then.) Also, if no-excuses mail-in voting was available everywhere, that would also make the issue moot. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43220 "2020-05-07T16:48:14Z")
Watching TV these days is interesting. A lot of commercials are reflecting the current situation, and they are universally\* of the same quasi-patriotic tone: we can get through this, we’re in it together, hang in there. Which is 180 degrees different from what we’re hearing from the White House. Somebody is out of synch with the national mood. \*Except for a Progressive Insurance spot that basically dramatizes “conference call bingo”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43221 "2020-05-07T16:52:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I really don’t expect that COVID-19 will still be an issue by November, so it should not affect voting. (Perhaps I’m just _hoping_ we’re not still doing the shelter-in-place and social distancing by then.) Also, if no-excuses mail-in voting was available everywhere, that would also make the issue moot. It would, but Republicans won’t let it happen. As Donald said, in one of his few lucid and correct statements – if we had mail-in voting we’d never see a Republican elected again. So it will happen slowly on a state-by-state basis, starting with blue states. Here in California, I’ve done mail in only for a couple of years now. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43222 "2020-05-07T16:58:44Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It would, but Republicans won’t let it happen. As Donald said, in one of his few lucid and correct statements – if we had mail-in voting we’d never see a Republican elected again. > > So it will happen slowly on a state-by-state basis, starting with blue states. Here in California, I’ve done mail in only for a couple of years now. Note that [Oklahoma passed a law requiring absentee ballots to be notarized.](https://oklahoman.com/article/5661626/oklahoma-supreme-court-strikes-notary-requirement-for-absentee-ballots) The law has been struck down- for now. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43223 "2020-05-07T17:10:54Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Apparently the singer guy for Guns n Roses was displeased with the administration’s management of the pandemic relief funds, tweeting that it is official, Mnuchin is an asshole. Mnuchin responded by asking Rose the dangerous question “_What have you done for the country lately?_” which he decorated by adding a pretty red white and blue flag at the bottom. > > Unfortunately for him, some people noticed what flag it was (one star on the blue canton field), prompting Mnuchin to delete and repost with a correction. > > Only the best people. Lesson: Keep your Twitter account on a separate system from your online banking. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43224 "2020-05-07T17:16:15Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > [Trump’s personal valet tests positive for Covid-19.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/trump-valet-tests-positive-covid-19/index.html) > > **Heh.** Interesting. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43225 "2020-05-07T18:26:01Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It would, but Republicans won’t let it happen. As Donald said, in one of his few lucid and correct statements – if we had mail-in voting we’d never see a Republican elected again… We could-if the GOP decided to change some of its policies and predilections to appeal to, you know, a wider slice of the electorate. Now, whose fault is that? ---
**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:** [May 7, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43226 "2020-05-07T18:38:24Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Also, Labor Day is the first Monday after the first Tuesday in September. For some indiscernible reason, it can’t fall on September 1. I think that is incorrect. As far as I can find in a Google search, it’s just the first Monday in September, even if it’s September 1. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2160) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2162)