# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 1, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298 "2025-12-01T20:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 367
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7321 "2026-07-21T02:01:43Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > MagaMike explains to college students why the USA is the greatest nation ever. Spoiler… It’s GOD. And take a wild guess who he means when he says _God_. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7322 "2026-07-21T02:18:29Z")
I absolutely did ask, and thank you! That reminds me of a joke. And since this is the Pit I’m going to go ahead and digress. This guy was getting ready to go on a business trip to Boston, and his work colleagues said, when you get there be sure and try the local fish dish, it’s called scrod. So he made a mental note to do that, and when landed in Boston and got into a cab, he said to the cabbie, “Do you know where I can get scrod around here?” And the cabbie replied, “I’ve heard that question asked many different ways before, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive.” 😆 * * * > [@TheTooth](#): > > Should be “R-U-N-N-O-F-T”. Or maybe “RUN-DED OFF,” complete with tar and feathers. That would be the passive-aggressive case, imperative voice, first person singular. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7323 "2026-07-21T02:18:49Z")
Post all the blind links you want, as far as I’m concerned. No one is being pressured to click on them, despite the whining. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7324 "2026-07-21T02:21:51Z")
I think the issue is that it would be nice to know beforehand that it’s a link to YouTube. Yes, I’m guilty of posting such, but I try not to forget to mention it. I have terrible luck with advancing the link to a particular point so I also try to mention where the relevant part or parts begin. As with many other things, I don’t always remember. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7325 "2026-07-21T02:59:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > That reminds me of a joke. And since this is the Pit I’m going to go ahead and digress. > > This guy was getting ready to go on a business trip to Boston, and his work colleagues said, when you get there be sure and try the local fish dish, it’s called scrod. > > So he made a mental note to do that, and when landed in Boston and got into a cab, he said to the cabbie, “Do you know where I can get scrod around here?” > > And the cabbie replied, “I’ve heard that question asked many different ways before, but never in the pluperfect subjunctive.” > > 😆 I love this joke! For those who don’t know, there is no species of fish called “[scrod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrod)”, even though it shows up on a lot of menus here in New England. It basically just means “generic whitefish,” usually cod, haddock, or pollock. I had someone ask me once what it was, and I came up a joke on the fly, saying if you think you’re getting cod when you order fish and chips, but you actually get something else, then you got scrod. 😉 ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7326 "2026-07-21T03:11:43Z")
> [@Monty quoting The Hill](#): > > The White House pushed back on the Democrats’ report, saying the president “has a lot of assests because he was a massively successful businessman prior to becoming President.” The White House then immediately supplied two examples of his successes. I can’t believe I typed that with a straight face. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7327 "2026-07-21T03:22:07Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > passive-aggressive case Now that’s a great idea for a grammatical case! I still like H. Beam Piper’s Kragan tense setup: - spatial-temporal present, things here-and-now - spatial present and temporal remote, things which were here at some other time - spatial remote and temporal present, things existing now somewhere else - spatial temporal remote, things somewhere else some other time This was in his _Uller Uprising_, an appallingly racist recasting of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (aka Sepoy Mutiny) in a Science Fiction setting. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7328 "2026-07-21T11:51:02Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I love this joke! For those who don’t know, there is no species of fish called “[scrod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrod)”, even though it shows up on a lot of menus here in New England. It basically just means “generic whitefish,” usually cod, haddock, or pollock. I had someone ask me once what it was, and I came up a joke on the fly, saying if you think you’re getting cod when you order fish and chips, but you actually get something else, then you got scrod. 😉 When I was an undergrad at MIT, it was said that the sentence “Scrod by the Dining Service again,” had two meanings, both of them correct. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7329 "2026-07-21T12:15:32Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [No shit, Sherlock!](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/let-real-explosive-diarrhea-outbreak-134359393.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > On Thursday, the _[New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/well/cyclospora-taylor-farms-lettuce-taco-bell.html)_[reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/well/cyclospora-taylor-farms-lettuce-taco-bell.html) that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had linked the outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an infection notorious for inducing explosive diarrhea, to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms that was supplied to Taco Bell. > > > > Per the reporting, Taco Bell said it was voluntarily pulling the lettuce from select states where it received the contaminated produce: Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. An [announcement](https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/07-26/index.html) from the CDC warned the public not to eat food items with shredded lettuce from Taco Bell, but hasn’t identified Taylor Farms as the source. > > > > But while Taco Bell may have served the tainted lettuce, it would be remiss to lay all of the blame on the fast food chain (although one aggrieved customer [is already suing it after contracting the illness](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/07/16/man-sues-taco-bell-says-illness-left-him-unable-to-function/90951353007/)). > > > > The contamination occurred at the farms or facilities where the food was processed, from a single supplier in Mexico, Food and Drug Administration officials said. The supplier, Taylor Farms, has been involved in previous outbreaks, including another outbreak of cyclosporiasis in a salad mix in 2013. > > > > Taco Bell, to its credit, also [immediately pulled](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/taco-bells-makes-urgent-changes-185753337.html) its ingredients from some of its locations last week as soon as it learned about the situation, according to local reports. > > > > And then there’s the broader political context that many experts [are drawing attention to](https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2026/07/13/unresolved-cyclospora-outbreak-raises-questions-over-cdc-cuts/): how the Trump administration has slashed funding to the CDC and paralyzed the nation’s food safety bodies. > > > > Last February, shortly after Trump took office, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dissolved its National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, which provided scientific guidance on food safety policy. Ryan Cooper [at _The Prospect_ notes](https://prospect.org/2026/07/16/how-donald-trump-created-worst-diarrhea-outbreak-cyclosporiasis-food-safety/) that the committee was working on advice for foodborne illness outbreaks before being terminated. The FDA also shut down its National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection. Then over the weekend the FDA says ‘oops, we had a false positive on a Taylor Farms lettuce sample’ just a few days after execs from Taylor Farms met with the trump admin. Oh, and Taylor Farms had given the trump Superpac ‘Make America Great Again Inc.’ a $1 million donation in 2025. Taylor Farms issues a statement saying the FDA apologized to them, to which the FDA said 'did not!" In response to all that, the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) wrote on X on Monday: "This is how the FAKE NEWS works: imply collusion, ignore the facts. Nothing influences our decisions except science and the safety of the American people.” To which I say, _ **of course** _, this chain of events is all coincidence! I don’t mean to imply collusion at the expense of our national food safety at all. I _ **totally** _ believe that statement by the HHS. The fact that the social media arm of the HHS sounds exactly like a mouthpiece for trump himself does not _ **in the slightest** _ suggest that the HHS is a rubber-stamping marionette puppet of the trump admin. > **[Trump admin denies colluding with Taylor Farms over cyclospora: "FAKE NEWS"](https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-denies-colluding-taylor-farms-cyclospora-outbreak-12221624)** > > Taylor Farms' political affiliations have come under scrutiny as the company has been linked to a multistate cyclospora outbreak. > **[The FDA Says It Did Not ‘Officially Apologize’ to Taylor Farms](https://www.notus.org/health-science/fda-taylor-farms-false-positive)** > > The retracted “false positive” cyclospora test has not changed initial investigation findings pointing to the farm’s iceberg lettuce. > **[Taylor Farms Visited White House Before Getting Outbreak Reprieve](https://www.thedailybeast.com/taylor-farms-visited-white-house-before-getting-outbreak-reprieve/)** > > As investigations into the outbreak continue, Taylor Farms has come under scrutiny over its political donations. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7330 "2026-07-21T12:20:01Z")
Thanks. I’ll be here all week. And longer, too. 😉 ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7331 "2026-07-21T14:32:42Z")
BREAKING-NEWS. NYTIMES prints an anti-trump opinion piece. 🥱 > # Trump’s Kiss of Death > > July 21, 2026 > > By [Thomas B. Edsall](https://www.nytimes.com/by/thomas-b-edsall) > _Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality._ > > [Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/opinion/trump-inept-second-term.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zVA.MJ_c.zwWAUrJH535N&smid=url-share) > Donald Trump is the black-thumb president. > … Blahblahblah… 🗣 He cites and quotes others **at length** on the ineptitude and destructiveness of DJT. Which most of us knew and watched while it was happening. In conclusion: > … > The problem is that we are going to have to live with this man in the White House for the next two and a half years. Even worse, what Trump destroys with a snap of his fingers will take years to repair, except in those cases where he has broken something beyond restoration. To which I can only comment: what took you so fucking long! And I did post that comment, but they probably won’t print it. Still, it’s something. Trump will probably call for the paper to be shut down. Whatever. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7332 "2026-07-21T15:04:04Z")
Yeah, that writer is years behind. Wait until they learn about Jan 6. They’ll probably write something scathing! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7333 "2026-07-21T17:47:23Z")
Nice to see you read Pinker when he was still good and funny. BTW, when I read that joke I wondered how come the pluperfect, subjunctive or not, does not use an auxiliary verb. Or is _get_ suposed to be the auxiliary verb in that joke? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7334 "2026-07-21T18:31:04Z")
The joke only works if you understand the terms as grammatical, but not their specific meaning, which I’d wager is the majority of English speakers. Our language education (at least in the US and UK) is very, very sparing on analytical grammar, and our colloquial language doesn’t really use the subjunctive much at all. Both “pluperfect” and “subjunctive” are things we tend to encounter in our brief educational forages into French or Spanish, which typically don’t result in fluency. People educated in other languages have a different experience. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7335 "2026-07-21T18:52:21Z")
Later, the cab driver stops to pick up a man who’s doubled over in pain… PASSENGER: Take me to the nearest hospital! DRIVER: Peter Bent? PASSENGER: Bent?! She damn near bit it off! ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7336 "2026-07-21T19:01:08Z")
“Young kids, they kill them like they’re candy.” > **[Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com)](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mr652nriwh23)** > > Trump on protesters killed by the regime: "Young kids, they kill them like they're candy. It's crazy. They treat them so badly." ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7337 "2026-07-21T19:16:12Z")
Kegbreath is lying to lawmakers live on CNN and so far has been interrupted 4 times by protesters. God, I hate this Asshole! I want to throw things at the TV. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7338 "2026-07-21T19:54:58Z")
…sure, Donald, why not. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreihjo646lhcx7bbnqpkpfv235xbwjbb4aqcwq7fidix5bt5hamyed4) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/bafkreihjo646lhcx7bbnqpkpfv235xbwjbb4aqcwq7fidix5bt5hamyed4) ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7339 "2026-07-21T19:55:13Z")
I must confess that I was educated in another language (Spanish) but since I hated all that grammatical stuff with all my heart I studied juuust enough to pass the exam and promptly and gladly forgot all about it. So I cannot currently distinguish a “pluscuamperfecto” from a “subjuntivo”. ---
**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:** [July 21, 2026, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/7340 "2026-07-21T20:06:10Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > …our colloquial language doesn’t really use the subjunctive much at all. Both “pluperfect” and “subjunctive” are things we tend to encounter in our brief educational forages into French or Spanish… Duh. THAT’S what makes it a joke! 🤪 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=366) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=368)