# 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:** 79
**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 5, 2025, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1561 "2025-02-05T03:55:45Z")
Any guesses on why [this](https://www.aol.com/usps-temporarily-suspends-accepting-packages-020834992.html) is happening? (The link goes to AOL.) > The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday night that it is temporarily suspending accepting packages sent from China and Hong Kong until further notice. > > The suspension is effective immediately, the USPS said. Letters and flats are not included in the suspension, it said. > > The postal service did not provide a reason for the suspension or say how long it expects it to last. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1562 "2025-02-05T05:18:38Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Imagine that a dozen or so chimps hopped up on cocaine A couple years ago I read an informal book about the human immune system. In talking about [eosinophils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eosinophil) it likened them to chimps on cocaine armed with machine guns. When there is an infection they’re among the system’s first response and they do a bang-up (heh) job fighting the infection but they have to be reined in quick before the collateral damage becomes too great. Six-odd years ago I said Trump was a stress-test for the Republic, one that it had passed, with some damage, in 2020. In 2024 the American electorate in search of cheaper eggs saw fit to apply the same stress test it had in 2016. I’m not sure it will survive this round. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1563 "2025-02-05T06:17:20Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > What? Too soon? I snickered. ---
**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 5, 2025, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1564 "2025-02-05T10:43:20Z")
[And now Felon47 thinks he can start a war after he’s dead.](https://www.aol.com/trump-says-hes-given-advisers-202131425.html) (The link goes to AOL.) > WASHINGTON (AP) — [President Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) said Tuesday that he’s given his advisers instructions to obliterate Iran if it assassinates him. > > “If they did that they would be obliterated,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters while signing an executive order calling for the U.S. government to impose maximum pressure on Tehran. "I’ve left instructions if they do it, they get obliterated, there won’t be anything left.” So, basically, he wants to kill everyone in the country. How’s _that_ for not being involved in any foreign wars? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1565 "2025-02-05T10:53:30Z")
Iran would never assassinate him anyway, he’s doing far too much damage to the US. ---
**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 5, 2025, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1566 "2025-02-05T11:52:37Z")
@Der_Trihs I share that sentiment, or I would, except he’s doing too much damage to everywhere. ---
**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 5, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1567 "2025-02-05T12:02:52Z")
> [@](#): > > [President Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) said Tuesday that he’s given his advisers instructions to obliterate Iran if it assassinates him. ~~Article II, Section 1, Clause 6~~ ~~Twenty-Fifth Amendment~~ ~~Fourteenth Amendment~~ ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1568 "2025-02-05T12:03:27Z")
So Trump’s new plan is just to war crime the Palestinians out of Gaza? ---
**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 5, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1569 "2025-02-05T12:06:49Z")
'When the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Actions which otherwise would be war crimes become lawful if undertaken for any purpose. ~~Richard M. Nixon~~ Donald J Trump ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1570 "2025-02-05T12:25:59Z")
I worked for a fortune 50 company in the late 90s, Boston area, and we paid a retired guy $300/hr then to keep our systems alive. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1571 "2025-02-05T12:47:26Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > we paid a retired guy $300/hr I know, totally off topic, but I would just learn COBOL for US$300/hr. It cannot be harder than that [bastard](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XSLT) XLST Maybe if I were God I might send trump to his eternal punishment as an Assembly programmer. No, I would not be a benevolent god. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1572 "2025-02-05T13:05:10Z")
Now Trump offers the CIA employees a buyout: > [@](#): > > # CIA sends ‘buyout’ offers to entire workforce > > The Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday became the first major national security agency to offer so-called buyouts to its entire workforce, a CIA spokesperson and two other sources familiar with the offer said, part of [President Donald Trump](https://www.cnn.com/politics/president-donald-trump-47)’s broad effort to shrink the federal government and shape it to his agenda. > > The offer — which tells federal employees that they can quit their jobs and receive roughly eight months of pay and benefits — had up until Tuesday not been made available to most national security roles in an apparent cognizance of their critical function to the security of the nation. > **[CIA sends ‘buyout’ offers to entire workforce | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/04/politics/cia-workforce-buyouts/index.html)** > > The Central Intelligence Agency on Tuesday became the first major national security agency to offer so-called buyouts to its entire workforce, a CIA spokesperson and two other sources familiar with the offer said, part of President Donald Trump’s... ---
**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 5, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1573 "2025-02-05T13:59:42Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > 'When the president does it, that means it is not illegal. Actions which otherwise would be war crimes become lawful if undertaken for any purpose. > ~~Richard M. Nixon~~ Donald J Trump Don’t you mean the Roberts court said so? ---
**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 5, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1574 "2025-02-05T14:04:12Z")
Like The Donald is above taking credit for things other people have done despite him not actually being allowed to do the thing in question. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1575 "2025-02-05T14:12:27Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > So Trump’s new plan is just to war crime the Palestinians out of Gaza? Who had “ethnic cleansing” on your trump bingo card? Not me. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1576 "2025-02-05T14:15:07Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Any guesses on why [this](https://www.aol.com/usps-temporarily-suspends-accepting-packages-020834992.html) is happening? (The link goes to AOL.) > > > The United States Postal Service announced Tuesday night that it is temporarily suspending accepting packages sent from China and Hong Kong until further notice. > > > > The suspension is effective immediately, the USPS said. Letters and flats are not included in the suspension, it said. > > > > The postal service did not provide a reason for the suspension or say how long it expects it to last. OLD NEWS! Hard to keep up, isn’t it? > **[U.S. Postal Service Reverses Decision to Halt Parcel Service From China](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/business/usps-china-de-minimis.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uk4.pHh5.O7ykdhxuBVub&smid=url-share)** > > The Postal Service will continue to accept parcels from Hong Kong and China despite a new executive order that will require greater inspection of packages. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1577 "2025-02-05T14:49:06Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Who had “ethnic cleansing” on your trump bingo card? > > Not me. Let’s discuss the ways that Trump’s brilliant plan for Gaza is grotesque, obscene, immoral and stupid: As noted, it commits the US to backing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. And we just assume that Jordan and Egypt want to bring in a few million refugees? I thought western imperialism went out of fashion in the 19th century. He thinks that Israel’s neighbors will welcome a new colonial power in their back yard? Let’s assume that he snaps his fingers and Gaza becomes the new Miami Beach…how many US troops will it take to secure it? Who’s going to work in his new hotels and condos? How many of those workers will be carrying bombs to work? Would you buy a condo in World Terrorism Target #1? And that’s not even getting into the probability that those hotels will have “TRUMP” plastered all over them… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1578 "2025-02-05T14:53:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Who had “ethnic cleansing” on your trump bingo card? I’m not surprised at all, but I wouldn’t have laid odds on which one he got to first. (If pressed, I would have bet on Ukraine.) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1579 "2025-02-05T14:53:32Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > And that’s not even getting into the probability that those hotels will have “TRUMP” plastered all over them… 100%. That one is easy. > [@jsc1953](#): > > Who’s going to work in his new hotels and condos? I actually think trump believes that all those free Gazans will just be so happy to have jobs and be able to live in the shadow of the free rich people they’ll line up like drones for any job, and they’ll thank him, probably with tears in their eyes. Or he can get all the deported “Mexicans” from the US. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/1580 "2025-02-05T15:04:59Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > How many of those workers will be carrying bombs to work? Would you buy a condo in World Terrorism Target #1? [Motives for the September 11 attacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks): > … [the **presence of US troop** s in Saudi Arabia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Southern_Watch),[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-e1998-5)[[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-6)[[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-7) [**US support of Israel**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_States_military_relations),[[8]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-8)[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-isrsources-9) and [sanctions against Iraq](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_Iraq).[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-10) Bin Laden and [Ayman al-Zawahiri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayman_al-Zawahiri) asserted that **Israeli repression of Palestinians during the [Second Intifada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Intifada) was the immediate cause** that forced Al-Qaeda to launch the September 11 attacks.[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-11)[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-12)[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motives_for_the_September_11_attacks#cite_note-13) [**my bold**] There’s no justification for killings thousands of people, but I think building beachfront condos in Gaza will seriously infuriate some bad actors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=80)