# 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:** 2187
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43727 "2020-05-22T15:43:11Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I don’t know that that is really even a good dog whistle to his base. > > While “anti-semite asshole” is a good description of Ford, I don’t think it is the first (or even 10th) thing that most people think about when he is brought up. > > There are people on both sides who are aware of this aspect of Ford, but they either think it is a good thing and already support Trump, or they think it is a bad thing and already would never vote for him. I imagine the more racist part of his base are well aware of the racist history of Henry Ford- he’s probably a hero to them. But, I will say this-- it’s always hard to tell which bullshit that comes out of his mouth is planned dog whistle content, and which is just some off-the-cuff nonsense that spewed out of his own mind, and he didn’t have the capacity to think it through, for good or bad, before he said it. He’s talked about his own “good genes”; he may just be thinking along the lines of “successful businessman = good genes/ good bloodline”. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43728 "2020-05-22T16:16:05Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > If you support Trump, what possible excuses can you give for this behavior: > > 1. Trump is a nazi ideology sympathizer. > 2. Trump is so incompetent that he would say this without realizing its meaning. And it really would be grossly incompetent for any president to say this unknowingly. If you support Trump, you either: 1. Go “hells ya! Good Bloodlines! Ford was a smart white man, and we need to celebrate our white culture! Keep America Pure!” 2. You never even hear about this, because the media you consume does not report it - they are busy reporting that Biden kills babies with poison darts at his rallies. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43729 "2020-05-22T16:24:08Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I imagine the more racist part of his base are well aware of the racist history of Henry Ford- he’s probably a hero to them. > > But, I will say this-- it’s always hard to tell which bullshit that comes out of his mouth is planned dog whistle content, and which is just some off-the-cuff nonsense that spewed out of his own mind, and he didn’t have the capacity to think it through, for good or bad, before he said it. He’s talked about his own “good genes”; he may just be thinking along the lines of “successful businessman = good genes/ good bloodline”. I think it’s the off-the-cuff nonsense explanation. Trump grew up in a time when Henry Ford was in the pantheon of Great Americans, with Lincoln, Davy Crockett and Thomas Edison, and his racist/political beliefs were ignored. And he knows that Ford’s descendants are still with the company, so he thinks it’s the polite thing to acknowledge the connection between Great American Henry Ford and the people in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43730 "2020-05-22T16:52:24Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I think it’s the off-the-cuff nonsense explanation. Trump grew up in a time when Henry Ford was in the pantheon of Great Americans, with Lincoln, Davy Crockett and Thomas Edison, and his racist/political beliefs were ignored. And he knows that Ford’s descendants are still with the company, so he thinks it’s the polite thing to acknowledge the connection between Great American Henry Ford and the people in the room. So the “grossly incompetent and remarkably ignorant comments of a self-described genius” expanation? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43731 "2020-05-22T17:09:34Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > So the “grossly incompetent and remarkably ignorant comments of a self-described genius” expanation? Yes – and one which always works. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43732 "2020-05-22T17:31:08Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > If you support Trump, what possible excuses can you give for this behavior: > > 1. Trump is a nazi ideology sympathizer. > 2. Trump is so incompetent that he would say this without realizing its meaning. And it really would be grossly incompetent for any president to say this unknowingly. Trump and his followers are the embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect. They think they’re being clever and they’re sending message to each other while fooling everyone else. They’re don’t realize how transparent their schemes are and how easily the rest of us see through them. ---
**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 22, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43733 "2020-05-22T17:56:30Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I think it’s the off-the-cuff nonsense explanation. Trump grew up in a time when Henry Ford was in the pantheon of Great Americans, with Lincoln, Davy Crockett and Thomas Edison, and his racist/political beliefs were ignored. And he knows that Ford’s descendants are still with the company, so he thinks it’s the polite thing to acknowledge the connection between Great American Henry Ford and the people in the room. Don’t get me started on that fuck Thomas Edison. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43734 "2020-05-22T18:52:57Z")
[It appears our god-fearing president has deemed churches to be essential.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/politics/religious-gatherings-cdc-coronavirus/index.html) “Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics essential, but have left our churches and houses of worship. It’s not right. So I’m correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential,” Trump said during his announcement at the White House. The President said that at his direction, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide the guidance. Trump said he was calling upon governors to "allow churches and places of worship to open right now. “If there’s any question, they’re going to have to call me, but they’re not going to be successful in that call,” Trump added." ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43735 "2020-05-22T19:10:12Z")
The last time I looked at my voter’s pamphlet I don’t recall seeing the words “King” or “Emperor” anywhere. ---
**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 22, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43736 "2020-05-22T19:12:00Z")
I’d like to see the governors tell him “Begone! You have no power here!” He didn’t shut anything down, he can’t open anything up. His feelings on the matter are as significant as graffiti in the men’s room walls. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43737 "2020-05-22T19:17:08Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’d like to see the governors tell him “Begone! You have no power here!” He didn’t shut anything down, he can’t open anything up. His feelings on the matter are as significant as graffiti in the men’s room walls. My unqualified opinion is that both sides are on shaky constitutional ground. Can a governor actually order churches closed? I don’t think it’s ever been challenged in court – it would be interesting to see how it played out. But can a president override a governor on a public health order? Oh, hell no. ---
**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 22, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43738 "2020-05-22T19:22:16Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > My unqualified opinion is that both sides are on shaky constitutional ground. Can a governor actually order churches closed? I don’t think it’s ever been challenged in court – it would be interesting to see how it played out. But can a president override a governor on a public health order? Oh, hell no. I think that’s an open question. Some religious groups have defied the orders all along and I think they’d probably win in court on religious freedom grounds. But certainly a president can’t butt in to state orders. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43739 "2020-05-22T19:43:43Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > My unqualified opinion is that both sides are on shaky constitutional ground. Can a governor actually order churches closed? I don’t think it’s ever been challenged in court – it would be interesting to see how it played out. But can a president override a governor on a public health order? Oh, hell no. Little shaky on the governors side, completely over the cliff on Trump’s. The state health department of Ohio does have the authority to close any commercial or public entity for the sake of public health. Forget Covid-19 for a second, if a church has black mold growing in the pews, are we saying that the health department cannot shut them down, make them clean it up or even condemn the building? ---
**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 22, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43740 "2020-05-22T20:11:39Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > My unqualified opinion is that both sides are on shaky constitutional ground. Can a governor actually order churches closed? I don’t think it’s ever been challenged in court – it would be interesting to see how it played out. But can a president override a governor on a public health order? Oh, hell no. They were talking about this yesterday on my local NPR station. Someone pointed out that the state can’t put conditions on churches (and other houses of worship) reopening, like the parishioners have to maintain distance from each other or that they have to wear masks in church, because to do so would be to infringe on religious freedom. So instead the order to close churches and other public events (like sports). ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43741 "2020-05-22T20:30:31Z")
Nice hesitation before he said “mosques”…I was almost expecting him to leave that off. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43742 "2020-05-22T21:01:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I imagine the more racist part of his base are well aware of the racist history of Henry Ford- he’s probably a hero to them. > > But, I will say this-- it’s always hard to tell which bullshit that comes out of his mouth is planned dog whistle content, and which is just some off-the-cuff nonsense that spewed out of his own mind, and he didn’t have the capacity to think it through, for good or bad, before he said it. He’s talked about his own “good genes”; he may just be thinking along the lines of “successful businessman = good genes/ good bloodline”. For the more racist part of his base, this ambiguity is probably a good thing. A man who \*deliberately \*says racist things might just be courting the racist vote, and once he wins, will screw over the nazis. But someone who, when speaking off-the-cuff, _still_ says racist shit, is almost certainly a real racist, and can be relied on to act in a racist manner once elected. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43743 "2020-05-22T21:07:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The last time I looked at my voter’s pamphlet I don’t recall seeing the words “King” or “Emperor” anywhere. No, he’s only planning on another term as President this time. He’s saving that stuff for his 2024 campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43744 "2020-05-22T21:09:04Z")
The fire Wednesday in Holly Springs destroyed the First Pentecostal Church, and investigators found graffiti in the church parking lot that reads, “Bet you stay home now you hypokrits," [https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mississippi-church-fighting-coronavirus-restrictions-burned-to-the-ground/ar-BB14rx08](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mississippi-church-fighting-coronavirus-restrictions-burned-to-the-ground/ar-BB14rx08) I DO NOT recommend arson as a solution to this dilemma, but considering that churches can spread the deadly virus and thereby threaten the lives of Innocents, we can say one’s freedom of religion ends there. Can’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43745 "2020-05-22T21:48:15Z")
Could be Chump knows he can’t open churches and such and is just scoring points with his base and other knuckle-draggers. ---
**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 22, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43746 "2020-05-22T22:16:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The last time I looked at my voter’s pamphlet I don’t recall seeing the words “King” or “Emperor” anywhere. By now he probably knows he doesn’t have the authority to declare churches open, but simply taking time to say it and threatening consequences gets the point across. It’s the language of power. That’s political symbolism and theatrics. But he could threaten to withhold funding for states and make it conditional on opening churches. I’m not saying he will, but he could. Even if he ends up being pressured into doling it out, he could take his time in transmitting it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2186) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2188)