# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 11, 2024, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068 "2024-11-11T06:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 111
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2201 "2025-02-22T02:15:07Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trumps fires the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. > > He’s black. Something felon47’s minime, of course, focused on. From your link: > Hegseth had [previously taken aim at Brown](https://apnews.com/article/pete-hegseth-background-defense-secretary-confirmation-hearing-e160e10c86385a8beff110d9190fb34e). “First of all, you gotta fire, you know, you gotta fire the chairman of Joint Chiefs,” he said flatly in a podcast in November. And in one of his books, he questioned whether Brown got the job because he was Black. > > “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill? We’ll never know, but always doubt — which on its face seems unfair to CQ. But since he has made the race card one of his biggest calling cards, it doesn’t really much matter,” Hegseth wrote. That’s a class act, isn’t it, one blaming the victim of one’s prejudice for one’s prejudice? [/rhetorical question] And his replacement is not actually qualified for the role. Also from your link: > Caine’s military service includes combat roles in Iraq, special operations postings and positions inside some of the Pentagon’s most classified special access programs. However, it does not include key assignments that were identified in law as prerequisites for the job, with an exemption for the president to waive them if necessary in times of national interest. And he’s currently a Lieutenant General (3 stars). One would think there are plenty of Generals (4 stars) to choose from. But, hey, since when did qualification ever matter to felon47? > [@Coriolanus](#): > > That is quite a number of medals. [Wikipedia has the list of his awards here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Q._Brown_Jr.#Awards_and_decorations). But all of those pale in the face of the fact he is not pale. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2202 "2025-02-22T02:48:05Z")
20 years from 2nd lieutenant to full bird colonel in 20 years is maybe slightly above average. Then you “play the race card” and are four star general in like a year. Oh, wait, 13 more years. 41 years - fired by a pair of dumbasses for dumbass reasons. Enjoy your retirement. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2203 "2025-02-22T02:48:57Z")
He also fired the Chief of Naval Operations. The CNO is a woman. The remaning Chiefs are all white males. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2204 "2025-02-22T02:55:28Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > 20 years from 2nd lieutenant to full bird colonel in 20 years is maybe slightly above average. Then you “play the race card” and are four star general in like a year. Oh, wait, 13 more years. 41 years - fired by a pair of dumbasses for dumbass reasons. Enjoy your retirement. I lost track of this paragraph very early on. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2205 "2025-02-22T03:09:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I lost track of this paragraph very early on. Sorry. I had to look up recall what “Playing the race card” meant - it’s some form of blackmail. I had to look up DEI as well a few weeks back so those folks must have all kinds of cards to play, Looking at General Browns career/ranks - 2nd lieutenant in 1985 to full colonel in 2005, where one could nicely retire. In July 2018 he’s promoted to 4 star general. Dunno if he has to retire, yet he’s got 41 years in and I see nothing to indicate he has not earned a swell retirement. ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2206 "2025-02-22T03:12:55Z")
I wonder if Trump is planning on recalling Flynn to active duty, making him JCS Chairman. He’d be Trump’s perfect “yes-man”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2207 "2025-02-22T03:16:37Z")
It sure seems like the argument against DEI of “just hire the best people!” flies in the face of the fact that DEI is very effectively hiring the best people. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2208 "2025-02-22T03:17:01Z")
Never happen. The felon will appoint himself, using the excuses of national emergency and how much more he knows about the military than generals do. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2209 "2025-02-22T03:23:57Z")
How long until he dons a powder blue general’s uniform with gold epaulets? ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2210 "2025-02-22T03:26:48Z")
Next Thursday, when PM Stermer gets a cab ride from Dulles to the White House. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2211 "2025-02-22T05:39:11Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It sure seems like the argument against DEI of “just hire the best people!” flies in the face of the fact that DEI is very effectively hiring the best people. But, are they white? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2212 "2025-02-22T06:06:31Z")
> [@Bannon](#): > > “A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a country‘s history, right?” Well I can’t argue with that given that after such a man comes along said country’s history often comes to an abrupt end. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2213 "2025-02-22T06:26:30Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > They are rare so likely not scattered around to be raked up. Rare earths are actually not that scarce, and in fact are “scattered around” in small amounts all over the earth’s crust, though richer in some areas. Production generally involves going through large amounts of ore deposits for rather small amounts of minerals, making it economical (though environmentally damaging) to separate them out using large amounts of toxic chemicals, which creates poisonous waste ponds. Also, rare earths are often mixed in ore deposits with uranium and thorium, meaning the ore may be slightly radioactive as well. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2214 "2025-02-22T06:46:11Z")
Are we sure he wasn’t just fronting a [Jackyl cover band](https://youtu.be/A52p9jc-gOo?si=w-g3fbiUjMyhV3r8)? ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2215 "2025-02-22T09:02:03Z")
What do you know? The felon actually backed down on an incredibly stupid funding cut, one with bipartisan opposition. Go ahead. Take a moment to guess what group of people he targeted with that cut. Then scroll down and read… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …[this clusterfuckinanity](https://abc7ny.com/post/trump-doge-cuts-president-reverses-changes-world-trade-center-health-program-staffing-funding/15940879/). (The link goes to ABC7 (New York)). > NEW YORK (WABC) – Cuts to the federal program that administers aid to September 11th emergency workers and others have been reversed. > > Both Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer and Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis made the announcement in separate statements Thursday night. > > “We just received confirmation from the White House that there will be no cuts to staffing at the World Trade Center Healthcare Program and research grants related to 9/11 illnesses,” Malliotakis posted on social media. > > The World Trade Center Health Program’s 90-member staff [was reduced by about 20%, with 16 probationary staff members who oversee and administer the program being fired and others taking buyouts](https://abc7ny.com/post/trump-doge-cuts-critics-sound-alarm-say-world-trade-center-health-program-heavily-impacted-putting-911-first-responders-risk/15932029/). ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2216 "2025-02-22T09:56:15Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > He (dear leader) is one day closer to not being here…… that is all I can think of to make me feel better. Wait, wait… you are looking forward to the _intelligent, capable_ lunatics who have ridden in on Trump’s coat tails taking over? ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2217 "2025-02-22T12:18:28Z")
[And now Mapquest is tweaking the twerp spray-painted-tan nose.](https://www.pcmag.com/news/mapquest-lets-you-name-the-gulf-of-mexico-whatever-you-want) (The link goes to _PC Mag_.) > Not a fan of the “Gulf of America?” MapQuest is poking fun at President Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water by releasing a new site that lets you rebrand it however you’d like. > > The [Name your own gulf](https://gulfof.mapquest.com/) site is designed to do just that: Plug in the desired term, and MapQuest will generate a map with the title emblazoned on the body of water. Users can also download the map as an image and share it on social media. In case you missed the link to _Mapquest’s Gulf of_ site above, [here it is again](https://gulfof.mapquest.com/). Clicking on _Surprise Me_ is fun. [But I kind of like my submission.](https://gulfof.mapquest.com/?name=Fuck+you%2C+Traitor+Trump!) And there’s more news with a [particular pardoned insurrectionist getting arrested for, you guessed it, a crime of violence](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y93jgdvqjo). (The link goes to _BBC_.) > The former leader of the far-right Proud Boys was arrested on Friday outside the US Capitol, police said. > > Enrique Tarrio, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the 6 January 2021 riot at the US Capitol, was arrested not long after holding a news conference on Friday. > > Protesters attempted to drown out the event, held near the site of the riot, but Tarrio’s remarks to media went ahead as planned. > > In a statement, US Capitol Police said that after the event concluded and the Proud Boys were leaving the area, a woman put a phone near Tarrio’s face. Officers allegedly saw him strike the phone and the woman’s arm. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2218 "2025-02-22T13:28:43Z")
So Musk did a Sig Heil. Then Bannon did one. Even Nick Fuentes thinks this is getting odd. > **[Even neo-Nazis say it’s getting a ‘little excessive’ following Bannon’s CPAC...](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/nick-fuentes-steve-bannon-cpac-salute-b2702639.html)** > > ‘The Manson Family had a more coherent ideology than MAGA. And the liberal criticism that American ‘fascism’ is merely a personality cult around Trump seems justified,’ notorious white supremacist Richard Spencer said on Friday But it got me thinking: If I had any idea how to use photoshop, I’d love to put Bannon into one of Hermann Goering’s most ostentatious uniforms. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2219 "2025-02-22T13:38:58Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > I’d love to put Bannon into one of Hermann Goering’s most ostentatious uniforms. Just one? ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/2220 "2025-02-22T14:40:09Z")
If we’re talking real-life I’ll take the one he wore in 1946. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=110) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=112)