# 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:** 2196
**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 29, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43907 "2020-05-29T21:43:49Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual-1: "So when [Newsom] sends out 28 million ballots in all the mailboxes, and kids go and they raid the mailboxes, and they hand them to people that are signing the ballots down the end of the street, which is happening. They grab the ballots,” Trump said, without evidence. “You don’t think that happens? There’s ballot harvesting.” > [Trump Makes Baseless Claim About Children Stealing Vote-By-Mail Ballots | HuffPost Latest News](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-kids-steal-ballots-mailboxes_n_5ed04b24c5b69af10d23db93)? We should be suspicious that Trump has the idea in his head that people go around collecting mail-in ballots and writing in the names of the people they want to have elected - and his proposed solution is that he should be allowed to send people around to collect mail-in ballots. I have a hard time believing Trump has anything in his head that passes for abstract knowledge. If he knows what ballot harvesting is, it’s because somebody has been telling him how it 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 30, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43908 "2020-05-30T01:11:32Z")
> [@](#): > > [I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right…](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266231100172615680) I’ve thought Trump might start a war in order to help his re-election chances. But I’ll admit the fact that he’s getting ready to declare war on Minnesota caught me by surprise. ---
**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 30, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43909 "2020-05-30T01:34:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve thought Trump might start a war in order to help his re-election chances. Might? What the ever-lovin’ fuck do you think the Soleimani assassination was all about. Luckily, Iran are too smart to play his game. ETA Oh, and Minnesota is a pretty reliably D state, so going to war against them should, theoretically, cost him nothing. ---
**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 30, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43910 "2020-05-30T01:38:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > We should be suspicious that Trump has the idea in his head that people go around collecting mail-in ballots and writing in the names of the people they want to have elected - and his proposed solution is that he should be allowed to send people around to collect mail-in ballots. I have a hard time believing Trump has anything in his head that passes for abstract knowledge. If he knows what ballot harvesting is, it’s because somebody has been telling him how it works. Yeah, he’s processing this about like he processed raking the floor and acid washing servers with Clorox - no fucking clue what it means. _“People in California, they have these farms. The farmers are using ILLEGAL migrant labor on these farms - very bad! They’re using migrants ILLEGALLY to literally grow ballots. They’ve got fields and fields of 'em all over California - it’s outrageous. It’s a crime and I’m gonna put a stop to it. I’ll salt those ballot fields like a Roman - believe me.”_ ---
**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 30, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43911 "2020-05-30T02:22:58Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > _“People in California, they have these farms. The farmers are using ILLEGAL migrant labor on these farms - very bad! They’re using migrants ILLEGALLY to literally grow ballots. They’ve got fields and fields of 'em all over California - it’s outrageous. It’s a crime and I’m gonna put a stop to it. I’ll salt those ballot fields like a Roman - believe me.”_ Sorry, that is _waaaayyyyyy_ too rational and coherent. You need to **Smapti** that up a bit. ---
**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 30, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43912 "2020-05-30T03:00:10Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Sorry, that is _waaaayyyyyy_ too rational and coherent. You need to **Smapti** that up a bit. “The Fake News, MSDNC, Amazon Washington Post refuses to cover many reports of Caravans “harvesting” ballots from our great Farmers in California. Nervous Newsom, Shifty Schiff, and “Nancy” must ACT - or I will shut it down! RIGGED!” ---
**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 30, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43913 "2020-05-30T03:19:07Z")
The transcripts of the Flynn conversations with Kislyak have been released. Can somebody explain to me if they’re as revealing as people are claiming they are? ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43914 "2020-05-30T06:57:24Z")
The government has apparently managed to screw up the stimulus payments [link](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/people-are-accidentally-throwing-out-their-stimulus-check-because-it-n1216991). Apparently they decided that some people instead of getting direct deposit or a fancy check signed by Trump, would instead get a prepaid VISA card sent in plain white envelopes > [@](#): > > that say “Money Network Cardholder Services” and do not bear any federal markings. To activate them you need to call in and give the last 6 digits of your SS#. People are apparently assuming that this is a scam and cutting them up or throwing them away. I certainly haven’t heard any publicity about this so I would assume it is a scam. Also there are fees if you want to use an out of network ATM to withdraw cash and fees for replacement. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43915 "2020-05-30T07:32:00Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > The government has apparently managed to screw up the stimulus payments [link](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/people-are-accidentally-throwing-out-their-stimulus-check-because-it-n1216991). > > Apparently they decided that some people instead of getting direct deposit or a fancy check signed by Trump, would instead get a prepaid VISA card sent in plain white envelopes > > To activate them you need to call in and give the last 6 digits of your SS#. People are apparently assuming that this is a scam and cutting them up or throwing them away. I certainly haven’t heard any publicity about this so I would assume it is a scam. Also there are fees if you want to use an out of network ATM to withdraw cash and fees for replacement. Any guesses as to who is ultimately collecting those fees and if they have any ties to the Trump administration? ---
**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 30, 2020, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43916 "2020-05-30T10:53:37Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Any guesses as to who is ultimately collecting those fees and if they have any ties to the Trump administration? If people throw away the cards because they think it is a fraud/scam who keeps that money-the government, or the company sending the cards? ---
**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 30, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43917 "2020-05-30T10:59:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “The Fake News, MSDNC, Amazon Washington Post refuses to cover many reports of Caravans “harvesting” ballots from our great Farmers in California. Nervous Newsom, Shifty Schiff, and “Nancy” must ACT - or I will shut it down! RIGGED!” “Not only are ballots being harvested, but voters are being found in bathtubs with NO KIDNEYS!” ---
**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 30, 2020, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43918 "2020-05-30T11:02:08Z")
Is that as bad as being found in The White House with no brains? ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43919 "2020-05-30T13:29:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve thought Trump might start a war in order to help his re-election chances. But I’ll admit the fact that he’s getting ready to declare war on Minnesota caught me by surprise. Indeed. I thought it was going to be against Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43920 "2020-05-30T13:33:32Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The transcripts of the Flynn conversations with Kislyak have been released. Can somebody explain to me if they’re as revealing as people are claiming they are? I haven’t read them, but from a cursory glance at Twitter, I gather that they prove that Flynn was lying and that the investigation and prosecution were entirely warranted, while also proving the exact opposite. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2020, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43921 "2020-05-30T14:19:26Z")
President Nero threatens “professionally managed” White House protesters with “vicious dogs and ominous weapons”: > **[May 30 George Floyd protests news](https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-05-30-20/index.html)** > > Protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man who pleaded that he couldn't breathe while he was held down with a knee by a Minneapolis police officer, have spread nationwide. Follow here for the latest updates. Well, of course. No one could possibly have a legitimate grievance toward Fearless Leader. Release the hounds! ---
**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 30, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43922 "2020-05-30T14:46:17Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I’m REALLY starting to think Trump is 1/2 trying to lose the election. Really, what’s the downside? He suffers through another term in a job he clearly hates, or he becomes a right-wing media darling with his own TV show again, which he LOVES, constant guest appearances on other TV and radio shows, speaking engagements, book deals, and on, and on, and on… > > (ETA) All the while paying the victim - which he also LOVES > [@psychobunny](#): > > The government has apparently managed to screw up the stimulus payments [link](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/people-are-accidentally-throwing-out-their-stimulus-check-because-it-n1216991). > > Apparently they decided that some people instead of getting direct deposit or a fancy check signed by Trump, would instead get a prepaid VISA card sent in plain white envelopes > > To activate them you need to call in and give the last 6 digits of your SS#. People are apparently assuming that this is a scam and cutting them up or throwing them away. I certainly haven’t heard any publicity about this so I would assume it is a scam. Also there are fees if you want to use an out of network ATM to withdraw cash and fees for replacement. I was actually thinking back when the stimulus was first announced that distributing it on cards would be the most efficient way of doing so. They are already set up to be able to send out hundreds of millions of cards (I get at least that many every week), and if a second round of stimulus payments is called for, it is much easier, just load more money onto the cards. Of course, that’s how I’d do a UBI as well. Give everyone a credit card with a $20,000 limit and interest rates the same as the Federal discount rate. Pay off $1000 or whatever the UBI is every month. ---
**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 30, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43923 "2020-05-30T15:37:22Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > …Well, of course. No one could possibly have a legitimate grievance toward Fearless Leader. Release the hounds! “…or I’ll _feed you to the mastiff!!!”_ — Mr. Jephro Rucastle, in “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ---
**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 30, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43924 "2020-05-30T15:38:57Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Apparently they decided that some people instead of getting direct deposit or a fancy check signed by Trump, would instead get a prepaid VISA card sent in plain white envelopes Not McDonalds gift certificates? ---
**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 30, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43925 "2020-05-30T16:51:16Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > President Nero threatens “professionally managed” White House protesters with “vicious dogs and ominous weapons”: > > [May 30 George Floyd protests news](https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-05-30-20/index.html) > > Well, of course. No one could possibly have a legitimate grievance toward Fearless Leader. Release the hounds! > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > “…or I’ll _feed you to the mastiff!!!”_ — Mr. Jephro Rucastle, in “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [“Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War!”](https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/cry-havoc-and-let-slip-the-dogs-of-war)\* \*This expression comes from the play Julius Caesar, written by the English playwright William Shakespeare in the year 1601. **Definition** : Cause chaos and release dogs trained to attack during warfare; create chaos and violence in other situations. This expression is easier to understand when broken down into its separate components. _Cry havoc_ means for a military commander to give the order to cause chaos by allowing the soldiers to pillage and otherwise destroy an area. _Let slip_ means to unleash. In modern variations of this phrase let slip is also expressed as release, unleash, let loose, etc. The _dogs of war_ can have a literal meaning, which would be dogs trained to fight in war. In the modern sense, the dogs of war can simply mean soldiers, weaponry, missiles, etc. ---
**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 30, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/43926 "2020-05-30T17:53:51Z")
[yeah, ok, w/e](https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1266774512332390400), **Chris Jansing** _Are you concerned you’re stoking more racial violence with your tweets?" (shitgibbon): No, not at all. MAGA says Make America Great Again…By the way, they love African American people. The love black people. MAGA loves the black people"_ see, not racist, no, not at all [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2195) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2197)