# 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:** 69
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1361 "2025-01-31T14:02:36Z")
The thought of him jumping in the water makes me afraid of what the fish would think. Not to mention that orange makeup might contaminate the water for years. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1362 "2025-01-31T15:46:28Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > I don’t know if women are allowed to train in Blackhawks, My wife was a Black Hawk pilot (101st Airborne) in Desert Storm. You can see her in a photo in _H-60 Black Hawk In Action_. > [@Monty](#): > > [This](https://twudigital.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16283coll1/id/492/) indicates Mary Jo Carr was the first female Blackhawk pilot. She was only 40 when she died. I don’t know how. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1363 "2025-01-31T17:11:21Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And when he–_finally_–demonstrates some awareness of the blowback for his inane utteerance, he’ll say… **BEEP!** 🫵 Demerits applied to your account for implying that trump will ever acquire let alone _demonstrate_ **awareness** of anything even tangentially related to how a statement of his might have affected anyone. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1364 "2025-01-31T17:17:05Z")
[From Flight Global](https://www.flightglobal.com/helicopters/black-hawk-involved-in-psa-airlines-crash-was-conducting-a-night-proficiency-flight/161602.article) Don’t really know the publication yet at least it’s not the Daily Fail or one of Murdoch’s rags that earlier was “reporting” it was a trans-female pilot and Trump would have had a field day with that (but not true - at least not the one identified as s/he is still alive). There was a woman on board. And another was an instructor. So the instructor was doing some night proficiency flight for one or perhaps all of the other three on board and I simply cannot figure out why that would be anywhere proximate to runway flight paths (albeit there isn’t much “free” airspace in DC. > The crew of a US Army helicopter that fatally struck a commercial airliner near Ronald Reagan Washington National airport was performing an annual night proficiency flight, according to the Pentagon. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > My wife was a Black Hawk pilot (101st Airborne) in Desert Storm. You can see her in a photo in _H-60 Black Hawk In Action_. Great for her. I knew the Blackhawk was a tactical front-line offensive weapon so that gets into “women in combat” territory. I’ve no problem with women pilots, military or civil aviation. Anyone willing to put their lives in danger or start off with the pay airline pilots make gets my respect. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1365 "2025-01-31T17:39:23Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > There was a woman on board. And another was an instructor. So the instructor was doing some night proficiency flight The Pilot in Command (PIC) was a woman with about 500 hours, and she was on a night training flight. The Instructor Pilot (IP) was male, but he was not the PIC. He could take over in an emergency, but the PIC was in charge of the aircraft. Trump will use the PIC’s gender to point out that she wasn’t qualified, and only became a pilot because of DEI. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1366 "2025-01-31T17:39:45Z")
(tried to) ETA: The crew of three included a Staff Sergeant crew chief and two aviators with the ranks of Captain and Chief Warrant Officer 2 so that is a lot of experience and the article mentions they exceeded the 200ft ceiling and were at 375 feet. Wow. Isn’t there lots of closed airspace that military craft can use? I would assume most civil aircraft going from say, Maryland to Virginia would be better off flying over the Shenandoah Valley than traversing all the closed airspace. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Trump will use the PIC’s gender to point out that she wasn’t qualified, and only became a pilot because of DEI. Absolutely. And Pete Buttiegg and all the cruddy night equipment Obama and Biden bought. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1367 "2025-01-31T17:47:00Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > all the cruddy night equipment Obama and Biden bought. It’s not clear if they were using night-vision goggles. I’ve never used them, but I would guess that they would be of limited utility in a brightly-lit urban area. (ETA: My wife was a CWO2.) ---
**Author:** ![Nightaudit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightaudit/32/17181_2.png) [@Nightaudit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightaudit)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1368 "2025-01-31T18:02:51Z")
He would probably sound like Max Cady (De Niro) death scene at the end of Cape Fear… ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1369 "2025-01-31T18:46:03Z")
(from Trump’s press conference) > And one of the other things I will tell you is that the systems that were built, I was going to rebuild the entire system and then _we had an election that didn’t turn out the way it should have_, but they didn’t build the systems properly. This is certainly not the last time Trump will intimate that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him. Let’s therefore consult Clarence the Angel from “It’s a wonderful life” about how Trump’s second consecutive term would have turned out if old man Biden hadn’t reached out from his wheelchair and stolen the election: - Putin would not have invaded Ukraine. - China would have been charmed by Trump into granting full independence for Taiwan. - Best Korea and South Korea would be reunited. - Denmark would have been more than happy to get Greenland off their hands if the USA was willing to take it for free. - Canadians would plead to join the US (us - get it?) to get access to all the gold-standard health care the Greenlanders were raving about. - The wall that the Mexicans built and paid for would be visible from space. - Elon Musk would have planted the 50+ star Stars & Stripes on Mars and claimed it for the U.S.A. - Pan Am would have regular service to Mars. - Dogs and cats would no longer be living together. - At the 2024 State of the Union, _All_ of Congress and SCOTUS would rise and say in unison, “Sir, we need you to remain Our President for the entirety of your long, superbly healthy life!” ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1370 "2025-01-31T19:05:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Trump will use the PIC’s gender to point out that she wasn’t qualified, and only became a pilot because of DEI. Will? Didn’t he already shoot his mouth off with that very accusation before knowing one blame thing about the crew? ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1371 "2025-01-31T19:55:52Z")
45% of women voted for Trump. So does that mean 45% of women have no self respect? I mean, what woman sits there and hears someone saying “women can’t fly helicopters” and says “That’s my guy!”?\* \*Is that the right way to write a question that ends with an exclamatory quote? Or should the question mark also go inside the quotes? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1372 "2025-01-31T20:04:00Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > \*Is that the right way to write a question that ends with an exclamatory quote? Or should the question mark also go inside the quotes? IMHO, you did that correctly: > **[More Quotation Mark Rules - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/quotation_marks/more_quotation_mark_rules.html)** > > A rundown of the general rules of when and where to use quotation marks. > [@](#): > > Place a question mark or exclamation point within closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the quotation itself. Place the punctuation outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence. > > Phillip asked, “Do you need this book?” > Does Dr. Lim always say to her students, “You must work harder”? ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1373 "2025-01-31T20:53:25Z")
ICE has informed its staff that they’re not allowed to take President Musk’s buyout. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4k6dakv7cskxttdvfpzadq7e/bafkreicijn4uxxnzacwwu2t4ghqsoxoldd25tctljsgcwoooqyfqk64ynu@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4k6dakv7cskxttdvfpzadq7e/bafkreicijn4uxxnzacwwu2t4ghqsoxoldd25tctljsgcwoooqyfqk64ynu@jpeg) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1374 "2025-01-31T20:57:45Z")
[![](https://i.imgflip.com/9inh0n.jpg) ](https://i.imgflip.com/9inh0n.jpg) ---
**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:** [January 31, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1375 "2025-01-31T21:01:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > A real president would have gone immediately to the scene of Wednesay night’s collision. Turns out he had a far more important prior engagement. > **[President Trump to return to Mar-a-Lago Friday](https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-president-trump-return-mar-a-lago-jan-31-washington/63632162)** > > Road closures in Palm Beach are expected as President Trump travels back to Mar-a-Lago. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1376 "2025-01-31T21:03:17Z")
I live in the South. I have few RL friends. And nobody I can truly talk to about this. So I’m posting this here. I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried for years to reason with people. And to appeal to their sentiments. Nothing. And then, I watched THIS– [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvmctbycWDk&ab\_channel=PoliticsGirl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvmctbycWDk&ab_channel=PoliticsGirl) And the true depths of this crisis opened like the maw of a monster. And I don’t know what to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1377 "2025-01-31T21:09:48Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > And then, I watched THIS– > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvmctbycWDk&ab\_channel=PoliticsGirl](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvmctbycWDk&ab_channel=PoliticsGirl) > **[Did Trump’s firing of aviation officials increase likelihood of DC crash?](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/31/did-trumps-firing-of-aviation-officials-increase-likelihood-of-dc-crash)** > > Experts say Trump firing aviation officials and ending DEI programmes likely did not affect aircraft. > [@](#): > > But aviation experts said Trump had done little that could have precipitated the crash between a commercial jet from Wichita, Kansas, and a military Black Hawk helicopter. There was simply too little time – less than 10 days after Trump was sworn in – for any of his broadly worded [executive orders](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/22/how-trumps-executive-orders-will-roll-out-if-courts-allow) to have had an effect, experts said. > > Read more: [Did Trump’s firing aviation officials raise the risk of the DC plane crash? | Aviation News | Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/31/did-trumps-firing-of-aviation-officials-increase-likelihood-of-dc-crash#ixzz8ywqPub00) It also currently appears that it’s the helicopter which was at fault for flying too high. My current understanding would be that every flight from the helipad would have had the same height restrictions, so it also seems unlikely that the people in the towers would be at issue, since everyone in that heliport would already know the rules. That said, it does seem curious that there would be a sudden issue in DC, just days after the presidential transition. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1378 "2025-01-31T21:16:36Z")
If you’re concerned about your own current mental health, may I _sincerely_ suggest that you read articles like the one posted by @Sage_Rat and _do not_ watch videos like the one that you posted. Like most propaganda, there is some truth in – at least – the first ninety seconds (all I cared to watch), but it’s fearmongering to garner eyeballs, views, and clicks, all in the name of the almighty buck. Be gentler with yourself. Find the most objective sources for factual information that you can and limit yourself to those. In all seriousness, if you need additional context for that which you’re (hopefully) reading, start a thread here. This place is a great Wisdom of Crowds resource. Take care of yourself. Right now, each of us _can be_ a bigger threat to our own well-being than Donald J. Trump is _likely_ to be … if we aren’t careful. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1379 "2025-01-31T21:18:24Z")
> [@Al Jazeera](#): > > But aviation experts said Trump had done little that could have precipitated the crash between a commercial jet from Wichita, Kansas, and a military Black Hawk helicopter. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > It also currently appears that it’s the helicopter which was at fault Sinning in a chair in a hangar, I agree that Trump was not responsible for the crash, and that the helicopter pilots were at fault. But I’m still going to push the message that Trump was to blame, because that’s what he does. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1380 "2025-01-31T22:15:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Sinning in a chair in a hangar, So many quips. So little time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=70)