# Trump's Cabinet of Curiosities **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367 "2016-11-10T16:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 62
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1221 "2017-03-04T21:32:10Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > A) Paranoid delusions. > > B) He’s shit scared that his phone calls with the Russians are going to come out soon > > C) He read this on a nut-bar rightie blog, and thinks it’s true. > > Or one from each. C. It comes from an article on Breitbart, run by Steve Bannon. > **[Mark Levin to GOP: Investigate Obama's 'Silent Coup' vs. Trump](https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2017/03/03/mark-levin-obama-used-police-state-tactics-undermine-trump/)** > > Mark Levin outlined the known steps taken by the Obama administration to undermine Donald Trump's presidential campaign and administration. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1222 "2017-03-04T21:35:41Z")
Also… El Cheeto was apparently so pissed about Sessions recusing himself, he _purposely left Priebus and Bannon in DC_ while he flew to his sixth vacay weekend in a row. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1223 "2017-03-04T22:10:46Z")
> [@DrumBum](#): > > Pres. Trump is now accusing Pres. Obama of [wiretapping](http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/04/politics/trump-obama-wiretap-tweet/index.html) Trump Towers prior to the election. > This just keeps getting weirder by the day… Nope, same ol’ same ol’. Throwing up more and more bullshit to obscure whatever he wants to hide. Draining the swamp indeed. ---
**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:** [March 5, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1224 "2017-03-05T01:02:34Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Wow. Some very nice men in white coats may soon be visiting the White House. Don’t worry, Donald, they’re NICE men. The straitjacket is for your own protection. A straitjacket will be the only way to keep him off Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1225 "2017-03-05T02:59:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > A straitjacket will be the only way to keep him off Twitter. Straitjackets and handcuffs cannot hold Trump. One of the benefits of having tiny, tiny hands. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1226 "2017-03-05T05:32:25Z")
I shouldn’t be surprised at this, but I’m still pretty pissed: [Trump administration’s further dismantling of environmental entities](http://www.npr.org/2011/08/31/140079532/budget-cuts-threaten-noaas-weather-forecasts) > [@](#): > > [NPR’s congressional correspondent Andrea] SEABROOK: And here’s the thing: The budget for the satellites to replace the ones that are getting old has been cut, and seriously cut. This year it was cut by more than half. And we’re talking about a billion dollar budget that was cut to just over three hundred million and then NOAA scraped together to the point to where they got to about five hundred million dollars, in order to replace these satellites. And that’s just a catastrophic cut to that program. > [@](#): > > SEABROOK: Oh, the satellites will have to be replaced within the next few years. In fact, if they don’t have something ready, if they don’t have these new weather satellites ready to go, then one scientist put it as: You could wake up one day as if you have had kind of a minor stroke. You’d still be able to see the world but your picture would be so occluded by not having this piece of critical information, these satellites, that the world could be very different and it could be much harder to work through. The article goes on to elaborate on the NOAA’s effectiveness at being way more than just a weather-predictor, such as trucking and train companies relying on their weather data for distributing product globally. Despite budget cuts being a political inevitability in Washington, the severity of such cuts is egregious. This just after Trump’s executive ordure to roll back the Waters of the US regulation. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1227 "2017-03-05T15:42:04Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > \This just after Trump’s executive ordure to roll back the Waters of the US regulation. And increase military spending. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1228 "2017-03-06T00:58:16Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > Trump’s executive ordure If this is not a typo, I applaud your brilliance. If it is a typo, I found it and I’m keeping it and will give it a good home. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1229 "2017-03-06T02:52:41Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > If this is not a typo, I applaud your brilliance. If it is a typo, I found it and I’m keeping it and will give it a good home. 😃 Wow I wish I could make the claim for brilliance (thanks!) but I saw other folks use the variant first. ☹ ---
**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:** [March 7, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1230 "2017-03-07T01:02:14Z")
Ben Carson, you big doofus. :smack: “Ben Carson Refers to Slaves as ‘Immigrants’ in First Remarks to HUD Staff” [https://nyti.ms/2n8lSZW](https://nyti.ms/2n8lSZW) > [@](#): > > Ben Carson’s first full week as secretary of Housing and Urban Development got off to a rough start on Monday after he described African slaves as “immigrants” during his first speech to hundreds of assembled department employees. The remark, which came as part of a 40-minute address on the theme of America as “a land of dreams and opportunity,” was met with swift outrage online. > > Mr. Carson turned his attention to slavery after describing photographs of poor immigrants displayed at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. These new arrivals worked long hours, six or seven days a week, with little pay, he said. And before them, there were slaves. > > “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,’’ he said. “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.” > … Yeah, and dreamed that one day one of their own would be not just President of the United States, but Secretary of HUD. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1231 "2017-03-07T02:12:33Z")
> [@](#): > > “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,’’ he said. “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”… There is a bare modicum of thought in that paragraph surrounded by a whole lot of stupid. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1232 "2017-03-07T21:39:21Z")
PZ Myers chimes in on Ben’s big brain claims… > [@](#): > > [That’s not how the brain works!](http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2017/03/07/33781/) > > I’m watching this video of Ben Carson’s recent speech, and I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I know everyone is aghast at his trivializing of the slave trade, and that’s the more important example of negligent ignorance to focus on, but good grief, I was trained as a neuroscientist, and his remarks about the brain are appalling. > > None of that is true! Not one bit of it! I can’t imagine anyone who learned the slightest bit of neurobiology in the 20th century believing any of that. The brain throws away most of its sensory input. We don’t know what the “storage capacity” (and it’s fundamentally wrong to think of it that way, as if it’s a flash drive) of the brain is, and we don’t know the storage requirement of a “fact”, so that’s just a bullshit estimation. > > Do you even need to know anything to be a brain surgeon? Somebody wack him upside the head with a copy of Kandel and tell him to start reading this stuff he pretends to know. > > Apparently, he’s been reciting this pseudoscientific claptrap for years, in his books and speeches before religious groups, but we all know that anybody who read or listened to that stuff wasn’t competent to criticize his bad science. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1233 "2017-03-07T21:58:44Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > And increase military spending. The vast majority of Americans are going to be substantially worse off after even a year of Trump, let alone four years. That increased military (both in manpower and weaponry) will be needed to keep the One Percent safe from the inevitable food riots. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1234 "2017-09-29T20:59:43Z")
> [@](#): > > The White House announced Friday afternoon that President Trump has accepted the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price following the controversy over his use of expensive charter and military flights. > **[HHS Secretary Tom Price resigns amid criticism for taking charter flights at...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/29/trump-to-decide-friday-night-whether-to-fire-hhs-secretary-price/)** > > Price submitted a resignation letter in which he said he regretted “that the recent events have created a distraction” from the administration’s objectives. I think that was probably just the straw which broke the camel’s back; he was fired primarily because he didn’t deliver on Obamacare repeal. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1235 "2017-09-30T05:36:23Z")
And because he got bad headlines: [http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/tom-price-donald-trump-fired/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/tom-price-donald-trump-fired/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1236 "2017-09-30T08:01:02Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I think that was probably just the straw which broke the camel’s back; he was fired primarily because he didn’t deliver on Obamacare repeal. Does it serve Trump’s purpose to admit that the resignation was over the travel issue? Trump will rarely acknowledge that bad news exists; he’d much rather control the narrative and have people talking about the things he wants them talking about. Admitting that Price left over his private travel expenses is to keep the story of a scandal alive for another news cycle. Saying that Price left over his failure to deliver ACA repeal lets Trump portray himself as a decisive leader who demands results from his people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=61)