# 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:** 2179
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43567 "2020-05-16T23:13:53Z")
The [$3 trillion Democratic Relief Package](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrats-push-new-3t-coronavirus-relief-bill-through-house) was to help out states and local gov’ts ($1 trillion), renew $1,200 (which should have been at least $1,500 to begin with, as had been suggested) in cash payments, and hazard pay to healthcare workers and others on front lines. How many Trump voters would’ve seen this as a good thing, considering they, themselves, would be very likely (possibly desperate?) beneficiaries of such assistance? Unsurprisingly, the Republicans sure didn’t, falling back again on their “derp! partisan!” shite, complaining there’s nothing in this package from _their_ side, which I can only guess would be the usual reprehensible dross, like more wall funding, or sneak in a couple more of Moscow Mitch’s shit-judge appointments, or cutting payroll taxes, or another $600 billion slush fund for the ultra rich and corporations. So, no, (R.) Tom Cole - sitting down to draft a bipartisan bill is not quite the noble gesture you’re trying to frame it as, this time around, as with the previous three relief packages. To whit, from [The Hill:](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/497351-house-democrats-unveil-3-trillion-coronavirus-relief-package) > [@](#): > > Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threw cold water on the plan, saying Republican senators are working on their own “major package.” Meh, I don’t think I’m really too crazy to find out what heaps o’puke they have in store. Getting back to Trump aid recipients - a lot of them are too ignorant to find out this information, but even if they did, a good portion would find some warped, fucked up way to spin this as some sort of “oh noes, gotta be soclalism, somehow”, or to have Fox or OAN help them see it in that way. I’ll naively hold out, though, for some tiny trickle of Trumpsters who might, _just might_, start to clue in as to how much their party is raping them in their time of most dire need. How much more fucking around will the admin. do on this package going into next week? ---
**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:** [May 16, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43568 "2020-05-16T23:53:19Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > …Individual 1 praising the anti-shutdown protesters on Long island who threatened a reporter from a local tv station who was there just to report on their demonstration. (This was in Suffolk County, the county with the fourth most cases in the country) > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1261651008398282754](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1261651008398282754) The only thing that would deter these bully-boys (and gals) from idolizing Trump is for the reality of Trump’s stupidity and insecurity to be brought home to them. People who admire bullies want to believe Their Bully is strong and smart. Trump is the exact opposite of that----but the bully-worshipers don’t get exposed to the evidence very often. The more often that evidence is posted, the more likely that the bully-worshipers will start to doubt their choice of bully to worship. Today, for example, Trevor Noah’s _Daily Show_ account had this short video–well worth a look: > [@](#): > > It’s time to play “What Was Trump Asked About”! We give you a Trump rant and you guess what he was asked about in the first place. > > [@asahi](#): > > …Not only is Trump doing Putin’s bidding by absolutely gutting the Dept of State, but he’s quite literally trying to replicate Putin’s political system here in the US. > > I’ve been following a lot of Garry Kasparov’s posts on twitter, as they offer very real insights into what Trump is trying to do. > > > [@](#): > > > > The courts are important, but things won’t really change unless enough Republicans start to see Trump as a liability to their fundraising and reelection chances. That could be quite soon if he can’t fulfill his many campaign promises. **Making him look like a loser is crucial.** > > [A top Putin critic on how to oppose Trump: “making him look like a loser is crucial” - Vox](https://www.vox.com/conversations/2017/2/11/14577834/garry-kasparov-putin-trump)… My emphasis. Kasparov may have been referring to making Trump look like a loser to his big-money donor/enablers and GOP pols, but the principle stands for all. Trump IS a loser. The more we make that fact an inescapable part of the cultural landscape, the better. Loser Donald needs to be booted from the Oval Office. Bungler Donald needs to become a private citizen again, so that the wheels of justice may finally turn. Dumb Donald is too stupid for this nation—and it’s time everyone knew it. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43569 "2020-05-17T01:48:43Z")
I can’t read minds, but when Kasparov was talking about merely making Trump look like a loser, I think he might have meant things like exposing his financial records. Trump’s inner circle and his legal team saw that move coming and blocked it. If we could get his financials, perhaps, maybe, possibly it would have been enough to merely expose him and make him look bad. I tend to doubt that since presidents get a pass, regardless of what the truth says about them, unless the country is going to hell in a hand basket. This is why I have long believed that, as sick as it seems to say it, the country will have to face some sort of crisis, and not just see it on TV, but experience it directly. I made the comment somewhere else that “socialism” is unpopular - until the great masses of people are forced to stand in breadlines and have no money to withdraw form their bank accounts. It’s the same thing with a demagogue’s popularity. People will wave big-ass Trump flags and wear MAGA hats until they realize their farms are being taken by New York banks and Trump ain’t doin’ a fucking thing to stop it. That creates an opportunity for change. But it also makes Trump and his defenders dangerous. Because they’re capable of anything and will do anything to cling to power. As David Frum said (and I’m very loosely paraphrasing here), when the right wing starts losing at the game of democracy, they will sidestep democracy and go with a rebranded form of it: a hybrid authoritarian democracy. ---
**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 17, 2020, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43570 "2020-05-17T02:18:45Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Didn’t stop them from using hoards of illegal migrant caravans… At first, I thought you meant [_hordes_](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/horde#), but given the likely illegal and certainly immoral stunts this administration has pulled regarding undocumented aliens, especially those who are attempting to apply for asylum (and I definitely use the term _attempting_ advisedly), I think you actually hit the nail on the head. ---
**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 17, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43571 "2020-05-17T03:54:55Z")
Individual 1 Junior calls Joe Biden a pedophile. > **[Donald Trump Jr. Smears Biden With Baseless Instagram Post (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html)** > > Signaling the increasingly dark tactics of the Trump campaign, the president’s oldest son falsely accused Mr. Biden of preying on children. ---
**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 17, 2020, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43572 "2020-05-17T03:59:44Z")
^ That little twerp is not holding elective office so he certainly has no protection for being sued for slander/libel. I hope Biden runs him through whatever courts are still open. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43573 "2020-05-17T04:15:06Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > At first, I thought you meant [_hordes_](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/horde#), but given the likely illegal and certainly immoral stunts this administration has pulled regarding undocumented aliens, especially those who are attempting to apply for asylum (and I definitely use the term _attempting_ advisedly), I think you actually hit the nail on the head. Oh dear god, sometimes I think I don’t belong here. Thanks for the spelchek. He will probably pull out the migrant caravans as we get closer to the election. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43574 "2020-05-17T05:48:46Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 Junior calls Joe Biden a pedophile. > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html) > [@Monty](#): > > ^ That little twerp is not holding elective office so he certainly has no protection for being sued for slander/libel. I hope Biden runs him through whatever courts are still open. That tweet actually made me wonder what the next bit of garbage will be from the Putin Internet Troll Farm. It doesn’t relate to any of the bullshit accusations the far right stooges or Bernie bros have been pushing about Biden for their Moscow Masters. Makes me curious what news will come out in the next 48 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43575 "2020-05-17T07:06:32Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 Junior calls Joe Biden a pedophile. > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html) I have a libertarian FOAF on Facebook who’s been posting that kind of blather for awhile now - they’ll take a picture of him patting his granddaughter on the shoulder and say it’s evidence of him groping kids in public. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43576 "2020-05-17T13:57:53Z")
At a time when the president is increasingly behaving like an autocrat and declaring absolute immunity from oversight, this is a timely read: [https://businessjournaldaily.com/trumps-emergency-powers-worry-some-senators-legal-experts/](https://businessjournaldaily.com/trumps-emergency-powers-worry-some-senators-legal-experts/) This quote gives us a glimpse into his thinking: > [@](#): > > The day he declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency, President Donald Trump made a cryptic offhand remark. > > **“I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about,** ” he said at the White House. It got the attention of several senators. Trump probably had no idea these papers existed, but people around him certainly did and probably didn’t hesitate to put the framework together. > [@](#): > > That prompted 10 senators to look into how sweeping Trump believes his emergency powers are. > > They have asked to see this administration’s Presidential Emergency Action Documents, or PEADs. **The little-known, classified documents are essentially planning papers.** The president can declare himself a temporary king under the right circumstances, and there would be little or nothing anyone could do to stopp him. > [@](#): > > Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of a national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said PEADs have not been subject to congressional oversight for decades. She estimates that there are 50 to 60 of these documents, which include draft proclamations, executive orders and proposed legislation that could be swiftly introduced to “assert broad presidential authority” in national emergencies. > > She said the Eisenhower administration had PEADs outlining how it might respond to a possible Soviet nuclear attack. According to the Brennan Center, PEADs issued up through the 1970s included **detention of U.S. citizens suspected of being subversives, warrantless searches and seizures and the imposition of martial law.** > > “ **A Department of Justice memorandum from the Lyndon B. Johnson administration discusses a presidential emergency action document that would impose censorship on news sent abroad,”** Goitein wrote in an op-ed with lawyer Andrew Boyle published last month in The New York Times. The defense reauthorization act of 2006-7 also updated and broadened (significantly) the emergency powers of the president during times of emergency. People assume that the Constitution forbids the president from declaring himself an autocrat, but that is not now, nor was it ever, the case. It’s people who stop an autocrat, and its the values they embrace which compel them to - not words on aging parchment. 2020 is not just a referendum on president Trump; it’s a referendum on America’s political traditions. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43577 "2020-05-17T14:37:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > ^ That little twerp is not holding elective office so he certainly has no protection for being sued for slander/libel. I hope Biden runs him through whatever courts are still open. I look forward bigly to his [DEL][COLOR=“Black”]Twinky[/DEL][/COLOR] emoji defense. CMC fnord! ---
**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 17, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43578 "2020-05-17T18:11:53Z")
Lil Eric says the coronavirus is a hoax perpetrated to keep his daddy from having rallies. Uh, are they holding Individual 1 at gunpoint keeping him in the White House? [Eric Trump Says Coronavirus Will Disappear After Election Day](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/claudiakoerner/eric-trump-coronavirus-fox-news)? In related news, during this “hoax”, his sister Ivanka posts pictures of her kids washing their hands. People seeing the pictures noted that they were using $39 bottles of soap. > **[As Americans Struggle To Make Ends Meet, Ivanka Posted Clip Of Her Kids...](https://polinews.org/as-americans-struggle-to-make-ends-meet-ivanka-posted-clip-of-her-kids-washing-their-hands-with-39-dollar-soap)** > > Never mind the fact that people can't pay rent, huh? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43579 "2020-05-17T18:32:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > In related news, during this “hoax”, his sister Ivanka posts pictures of her kids washing their hands. People seeing the pictures noted that they were using $39 bottles of soap. > [https://politicaltribune.org/as-americans-struggle-to-make-ends-meet-ivanka-posted-clip-of-her-kids-washing-their-hands-with-39-dollar-soap](https://politicaltribune.org/as-americans-struggle-to-make-ends-meet-ivanka-posted-clip-of-her-kids-washing-their-hands-with-39-dollar-soap) One of the Twitter commentators mentioned how Obama was considered elitist for liking arugula. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43580 "2020-05-17T18:38:36Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 Junior calls Joe Biden a pedophile. > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html) And Son #2, also known as the “slow” one, [says COVID-19 will suddenly disappear](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjq-oDDw7vpAhUZVs0KHfOkA8IQ0PADegQIBhAf&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Feric-trump-coronavirus-disappear-after-election-day-probably-get-worse-2020-5&usg=AOvVaw0IVh1fzLCJmdEkraGOuz-Z) after Election Day because it is all part of a Democratic plot. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43581 "2020-05-17T18:49:47Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > One of the Twitter commentators mentioned how Obama was considered elitist for liking arugula. That isn’t so outrageous. How many hard-working Americans can only _dream_ of visiting a Caribbean island? ---
**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 17, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43582 "2020-05-17T19:53:28Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 Junior calls Joe Biden a pedophile. > [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/us/donald-trump-jr-biden-smear.html) I understand that Trump fucks pigs. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43583 "2020-05-17T21:26:33Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > And Son #2, also known as the “slow” one, [says COVID-19 will suddenly disappear](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjq-oDDw7vpAhUZVs0KHfOkA8IQ0PADegQIBhAf&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Feric-trump-coronavirus-disappear-after-election-day-probably-get-worse-2020-5&usg=AOvVaw0IVh1fzLCJmdEkraGOuz-Z) after Election Day because it is all part of a Democratic plot. It’s remarkable that Donald Trump has two adult sons, each one dumber than the other. ---
**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 17, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43584 "2020-05-17T21:28:53Z")
The crap doesn’t fall far from the bunghole in that family. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43585 "2020-05-17T22:12:29Z")
[Cheeto-Faced ShitGibbon remains as perceptive](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/15/politics/fact-check-trump-trucker-protest/index.html) as ever _When blaring truck horns intruded on … Friday speech in the … Rose Garden, **“[COLOR=DarkOrange]And you hear that outside, that beautiful sound – those are truckers that are with us all the way. They are protesting in favor … as opposed to against. There’s hundreds of trucks out there, and that’s the sign of love. Not the sign of your typical protest. So I want to thank our great truckers. They like me and I like them… They’re on our side. It’s almost a celebration, in a way.”** The truckers’ grievances … include what they say are unfairly low freight rates during the coronavirus pandemic, price-gouging by the brokers, ill-conceived safety regulations … Greg Anderson, who said he has been in the trucking business for 33 years, told CNN earlier on Friday that Trump had “lied on national television” … “ This is a protest. (Individual-ONE) elaborated that we were here to support him. Our message to him would be this is a protest against bad regulation, broker transparency, truck insurance, so on and so forth. This is not here to support (Individual-ONE). We’re here to get resolution and bring awareness to our problem and fix our problems.”_[/COLOR] But, of course _ **It’s always about ME** _ ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43586 "2020-05-17T22:35:23Z")
Nice concise piece about Trump in the Atlantic by Anne Applebaum called ‘[A Study in Leadership](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/donald-trump-study-leadership/611719/)’ (with a great video link inside the article). From the article: > [@](#): > > Even now, even in the worst public-health crisis in a century, he divides people instead of unifying them, creating precisely the kind of distrust that makes the disease harder to defeat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2178) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2180)