# 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:** 2190
**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:** [May 25, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43787 "2020-05-25T22:55:54Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [14 Words](https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/14-words) " The slogan was coined by David Lane, a member of the white supremacist terrorist group known as The Order (Lane died in prison in 2007)…" Oh, that’s too bad. Did he get fucking stabbed or anything, I hope? ---
**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 25, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43788 "2020-05-25T23:21:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [14 Words](https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/14-words) Ahh. So, kinda like the “33” on the Rolling Rock beer bottles? [https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/389/why-is-there-a-33-on-rolling-rock-beer-labels/](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/389/why-is-there-a-33-on-rolling-rock-beer-labels/) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43789 "2020-05-25T23:52:13Z")
**running coach** : Thank you for that. I was wondering the same thing. Alas, I’m old enough to remember when “88” meant “With love and kisses.” Now it’s another Nazi code-phrase. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43790 "2020-05-26T00:07:29Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Alas, I’m old enough to remember when “88” meant “With love and kisses.” Now it’s another Nazi code-phrase. Wow. I know about the [fairly] recent 88=HH=“Heil Hitler” nonsense, but _I’m_ old and I don’t remember 88 meaning “love and kisses.” “XOX” is two kisses and a hug. (“XOXZX” is the code I use with my wife and I’m not explaining the “Z” in there…) ---
**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 26, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43791 "2020-05-26T00:09:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [14 Words](https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/14-words) > > > [@](#): > > > > Because of its widespread popularity, white supremacists reference this slogan constantly, in its full form as well as in abbreviated versions such as “14 Words”, “Fourteen Words,” or simply the number “14.” “14” is starting to have a different connotation: the number of days after white-supremacists gather, when they start needing to be hospitalized with their gathering-acquired COVID-19 infections. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43792 "2020-05-26T00:12:15Z")
I’m kinda wondering when Ann Coulter flung “14” around. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43793 "2020-05-26T00:40:10Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > Wow. I know about the [fairly] recent 88=HH=“Heil Hitler” nonsense, but _I’m_ old and I don’t remember 88 meaning “love and kisses.” “XOX” is two kisses and a hug. > (“XOXZX” is the code I use with my wife and I’m not explaining the “Z” in there…) Old Ham Radio Code, some of the elements going back to telegraphers’ shortcuts. I found a link… [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/88-or-how-telegraphers-coded-love-and-kisses/282850/](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/88-or-how-telegraphers-coded-love-and-kisses/282850/) Leave it to Nazis to mess up otherwise perfectly good symbols, such as the “Sun-Mandala” or Swastika. Bastages, I sez. Bastages. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43794 "2020-05-26T00:58:09Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > If the (Democratic) governor of North Carolina cannot immediately guarantee that the site will be filled to capacity, then [Chump is threatening to move this summer’s Republican convention to elsewhere](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/25/politics/trump-threatens-charlotte-republican-convention/index.html). And the sounds you hear are members of the RNC banging their heads against the walls… I used to hold meetings/conferences for up to 30 people at at time, and it took weeks to work out the details, get the food and room requirements firmed up and contracted for, find times that work for everybody, hotels, cars…and I guarantee you the Republicans have been working overtime to get this set up, and have been doing so for literally years. And now President Tantrum is threatening to undo it all…and in a state that should be Republican but which he could turn into a battleground by taking away millions of dollars in commerce (which is not going to make the Chamber of Commerce folks happy). And it would give the Republicans a bare 2 months to find another location, sign the contracts and arrange the thousand and one details necessary…not impossible, but the likelihood of Murphy paying a call is heightened considerably. But what can they do? If the Pres says move it, the Republican Party has already shown they have a spine like a wet noodle, so they’ll move it…and face his wrath when things go wrong. Interesting times… ---
**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:** [May 26, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43795 "2020-05-26T01:10:05Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Old Ham Radio Code, some of the elements going back to telegraphers’ shortcuts. I found a link… > > [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/88-or-how-telegraphers-coded-love-and-kisses/282850/](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/88-or-how-telegraphers-coded-love-and-kisses/282850/) > > Leave it to Nazis to mess up otherwise perfectly good symbols, such as the “Sun-Mandala” or Swastika. Bastages, I sez. Bastages. One of the reasons why I love this board. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43796 "2020-05-26T01:16:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m kinda wondering when Ann Coulter flung “14” around. January 5, 2017. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43797 "2020-05-26T04:22:22Z")
[Here’s](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ann-coulter-tweet_n_586e7734e4b02b5f858765ff) a HuffPost elaboration. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43798 "2020-05-26T04:35:57Z")
Republicans find themselves explaining how they don’t really say the things they say an awful lot. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43799 "2020-05-26T04:50:54Z")
She defended herself with screenshots of tweets suggesting that she’d been running a countdown feature for the previous year. Did she post 15 on February 4, 16 on the 3rd, and so on? ‘Cos it looks a little too implausible to suppose that she lost interest in the project until I-Day minus 14. ---
**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 26, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43800 "2020-05-26T06:15:45Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > She defended herself with screenshots of tweets suggesting that she’d been running a countdown feature for the previous year. Did she post 15 on February 4, 16 on the 3rd, and so on? > ‘Cos it looks a little too implausible to suppose that she lost interest in the project until I-Day minus 14. It wasn’t even posted on the day when Obama had fourteen days left in office. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43801 "2020-05-26T11:31:41Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > And the sounds you hear are members of the RNC banging their heads against the walls… > > I used to hold meetings/conferences for up to 30 people at at time, and it took weeks to work out the details, get the food and room requirements firmed up and contracted for, find times that work for everybody, hotels, cars…and I guarantee you the Republicans have been working overtime to get this set up, and have been doing so for literally years. > > And now President Tantrum is threatening to undo it all…and in a state that should be Republican but which he could turn into a battleground by taking away millions of dollars in commerce (which is not going to make the Chamber of Commerce folks happy). And it would give the Republicans a bare 2 months to find another location, sign the contracts and arrange the thousand and one details necessary…not impossible, but the likelihood of Murphy paying a call is heightened considerably. > > But what can they do? If the Pres says move it, the Republican Party has already shown they have a spine like a wet noodle, so they’ll move it…and face his wrath when things go wrong. > > Interesting times… I would expect any competent organizer (yeah, I know) to have a reasonably well-thought-out Plan B in their pocket, in case of emergency. Charlotte isn’t on the coast, but August is hurricane season and it’s not unheard of for a good portion of North Carolina to be impacted by particularly nasty storms. Yeah, it would be a royal pain in the ass to change venues at this date, but you’d think there’d be the bare bones of an alternate plan in the books. But, who knows with this crowd. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43802 "2020-05-26T11:44:00Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > And now President Tantrum is threatening to undo it all…and in a state that should be Republican but which he could turn into a battleground by taking away millions of dollars in commerce (which is not going to make the Chamber of Commerce folks happy). And it would give the Republicans a bare 2 months to find another location, sign the contracts and arrange the thousand and one details necessary…not impossible, but the likelihood of Murphy paying a call is heightened considerably. > > But what can they do? If the Pres says move it, the Republican Party has already shown they have a spine like a wet noodle, so they’ll move it…and face his wrath when things go wrong. Trump is assuming Cooper will cave, and treating this as a dick measuring contest. And I think there is a chance that by August it might be safe-ish to open the convention center, in which case Cooper will take heat if he doesn’t cave. I hope though that he doesn’t and climbs up on the federalism horse - traditionally, the Carolina’s aren’t big on being told what to do by the US government. Not that I would expect such cognitive dissonance to effect the current crop of Trumplican’s, but it would be fun any way. ---
**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 26, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43803 "2020-05-26T13:16:39Z")
I’m surprised he didn’t ask for a guarantee of sunshine for the week of the convention. No responsible public servant could guarantee that it will be permissible to pack a convention arena three months down the road. Guess he’ll have to try Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43804 "2020-05-26T13:23:14Z")
What are the odds Trump suggests holding it at Mar-A-Lago? ---
**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 26, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43805 "2020-05-26T13:25:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > What are the odds Trump suggests holding it at Mar-A-Lago? Not enough hotel rooms he can jack the prices up on. The Trump International in Las Vegas on the other hand… ---
**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 26, 2020, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43806 "2020-05-26T13:49:59Z")
Democratic governor in Nevada, though. The CNN article says he mentioned Florida, Georgia and Texas as possible alternatives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2189) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2191)