Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Saturday, June 27, 2026

Poolgate is a textbook example of how the Trump administration operates. It's a way that one can explore the anatomy of Trump debacles, which tend to unfold in a (roughly) 13-step process. The Reflecting Pool drama is not all the way through this process yet, but I'd bet good money we'll get there. It goes as follows ...

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The list:

1. Devise unnecessary spectacle.
2. Disregard expertise.
3. Bypass normal procedures.
4. Declare victory too early (bonus if done by AI-slop post).
5. Spend way more than estimated.
6. Ignore the haters.
7. Realize it is not going well.
8. Bypass normal procedures once again.
9. Allege conspiracy and sabotage.
10. Redeclare victory.

"This leaves three steps to come in the future. If patterns hold, we should expect 11. More blaming (one contractor told Politico the repairs to the lining will take weeks), followed by 12. Losing interest. And then, of course, the most important one of all. The foundation upon which every Trump debacle is built. The perpetual-motion device of a petulant president:

13. Pretend it never happened, and move on to the next thing."

#1 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-06-27 05:45 AM | Reply

Fueled by a horrendous amount of MAGAt bootlicking and enabling.

"But the Emperor has nothing at all on!" said a little child.
Hans Christian Andersen
"The Emperor's New Clothes"

#2 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-06-27 05:49 AM | Reply

Hi Doc Sarvis

Last night I had to decide between Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr or Droll Stories by Honore de Balzac.

Glad I chose Balzac. He would have written a vicious whirlwind of words about lumpenfleisch Dummkopf Trumpf.

#3 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2026-06-27 05:56 AM | Reply

Might these 13 points provide the outline for a performance marrying Alfred Jarrys Ubu Roi with the movie Idiocracy?

#4 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2026-06-27 07:00 AM | Reply

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