# Donald and the Terible, Horrible, No Good, very Bad Week **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 18, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993 "2017-08-18T17:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 18, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/1 "2017-08-18T17:23:01Z")
Interesting piece on the Maddowblog today: > [@](#): > > It’s been nearly 20 years since its release, but there’s a scene early on in “Office Space” that keeps coming to mind. Peter Gibbons, feeling depressed, goes to see a therapist and explains his state of mind. > > “So I was sitting in my cubicle today,” our protagonist says, “and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.” > > The intrigued therapist asks, “What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?” > > Without hesitation, Peter responds, “Yeah,” to which the therapist replies, “Wow, that’s messed up.” > > I was reminded of the scene this morning reading NBC News’ First Read, which labeled this the worst week of Donald Trump’s presidency. > … > An ABC News piece this morning added, “This week has arguably been the worst in his presidency and has left members of his party unsure how to pick up the pieces.” > > Which brings us back to “Office Space” and Peter Gibbons. > > To paraphrase the aforementioned script, I was sitting at my desk today and I realized, ever since Trump became president, every single week of his tenure has been worse than the week before it. So that means that every single week that we see him, that’s the worst week of his presidency. > > What about this week? Is this week the worst of his presidency? > > Yeah, it is, which is messed up. > > National Journal published a piece today noting that various outlets started declaring Trump’s “worst week” to date in March, and the label picked up steam over the summer. > > … > > The implication of the National Journal piece seemed to be that various media professionals use the phrase too often. I disagree. Those previous assessments about Trump’s worst weeks were entirely fair and rooted in fact. The trouble isn’t that the media has gotten lazy about the “worst week” label; the trouble is that Donald J. Trump’s presidency is an unnatural disaster that keeps getting worse. > > Indeed, in early August, the Daily Beast ran a piece that said it was Trump’s “worst week since last week.” And therein lies the point: Trump’s cascading catastrophes sit upon a foundation of previous catastrophes. > **[The worst week of Trump's presidency keeps happening](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-worst-week-trumps-presidency-keeps-happening-msna1013776)** > > Is this the worst week of Donald Trump's presidency? Sure. But it's not the first time he's earned that assessment. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/2 "2017-08-18T17:32:55Z")
That’s not literally true though. There have been weeks when his [approval rating was](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo) higher than the previous week. And if you look at that data so far, this week is actually one of them. (Though the polls are mostly before his meltdown on Wednesday.) ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/3 "2017-08-18T17:37:30Z")
Things are going to get worse before they get better. How low can we go? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/4 "2017-08-18T17:45:34Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Things are going to get worse before they get better …and who says they’re going to get better? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/5 "2017-08-18T18:00:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > …and who says they’re going to get better? Jan 20th 2021 things will probably get better. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/6 "2017-08-18T18:03:24Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That’s not literally true though. There have been weeks when his [approval rating was](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo) higher than the previous week. And if you look at that data so far, this week is actually one of them. (Though the polls are mostly before his meltdown on Wednesday.) Depends upon what criteria you use for gauging How Bad the Week Was, doesn’t it? Judged by the significance and advantage (or lack of) to the White House, this week – with its stumbling over the Charlotte debacle, the departure of CEOs and dismissal of the Councils, the altercations in Charlotte, and the departure of Bannon, has a good reason to be seen as a Bad Week, regardless of ratings. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/7 "2017-08-18T18:08:15Z")
He helped the country open up a dialog, long overdue, as to whether or not there are any “good Nazis”. We should erect a statute to him for that. Probably somewhere in West Virginia. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/8 "2017-08-18T18:08:30Z")
How is this different than every other week? Seems every time we turn around, he’s had the worst week so far. I agree, this is the worst. But he could very easily top himself next week. Not it seems Bannon will rejoin Breitbart and will be declaring war on Orangeanus and the “Democrat White House”, to quote Bannon. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/9 "2017-08-18T18:20:50Z")
I had a lucid dream the other day in which someone came on TV and explained that the Donald Trump administration had all been a social experiment to see what it takes to get partisan Americans to stop rooting for their team no matter what. “It was getting to the point that we were having trouble coming up with any example of more outrageous behavior. Some member of our team were suggesting we have him commit an act of cannibalism on prime time TV, but others were afraid that his remaining supporters would cheer if he started eating Heather Heyer’s body or chowing down on fillet of Jeff Sessions. Then where would we go from there?” ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/10 "2017-08-18T18:41:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Depends upon what criteria you use for gauging How Bad the Week Was, doesn’t it? Judged by the significance and advantage (or lack of) to the White House, this week – with its stumbling over the Charlotte debacle, the departure of CEOs and dismissal of the Councils, the altercations in Charlotte, and the departure of Bannon, has a good reason to be seen as a Bad Week, regardless of ratings. But hey, near the very end of the week there was a ISIS sponsored terrorist attack in a foreign country that probably put a smile on Trump’s face. So it hasn’t been all bad. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/11 "2017-08-18T18:42:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He helped the country open up a dialog, long overdue, as to whether or not there are any “good Nazis”. We should erect a statute to him for that. Probably somewhere in West Virginia. In his honor, every toilet produced from this day forward should have a picture of his face painted in the bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/12 "2017-08-18T18:46:16Z")
Every member of the President’s Committee On the Arts and Humanities just quit out of disgust. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/13 "2017-08-18T18:46:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Depends upon what criteria you use for gauging How Bad the Week Was, doesn’t it? Judged by the significance and advantage (or lack of) to the White House, this week – with its stumbling over the Charlotte debacle, the departure of CEOs and dismissal of the Councils, the altercations in Charlotte, and the departure of Bannon, has a good reason to be seen as a Bad Week, regardless of ratings. The thing is, he digs the hole deeper every week. Sometimes he digs a lot, and sometimes he digs a bit less. But the hole always gets deeper and deeper. So every week is necessarily worse than the one before. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/14 "2017-08-18T18:46:43Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > In his honor, every toilet produced from this day forward should have a picture of his face painted in the bowl. No, just in Russian brothels. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/15 "2017-08-18T19:41:30Z")
And he’s supposed to be on vacation! He’s not even supposed to be here today! Imagine how awful a week he could have if really put his 110% in it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/16 "2017-08-18T19:51:25Z")
It is easy to assume every week is worse than the last because the Trump administration has been such a disaster and it’s been especially disastrous lately, but Maddow’s claim is literally false. If you go back over the timeline it is absolutely not true that every week has been worse than the last; until recently some have been relatively news-light. I think it is fair to say, for instance, that the week of February 6, when nothing particular embarrassing happening, was better than the preceding week, when the court shot down his travel ban. Similarly the week of February 20 was not nearly as bad as the week of February 13; that was the week Michael Flynn resigned/was pushed, a hugely embarrassing event that really accelerated the Russia thing; other Russia related humiliations came out that week too. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/17 "2017-08-18T19:53:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Every member of the President’s Committee On the Arts and Humanities just quit out of disgust. And with a certain artistic and creative flourish in the resignation letter: > [@](#): > > …The first letter of each paragraph spells “RESIST,” keen-eyed readers on Twitter discovered. Kal Penn, who sat on the committee, confirmed the Easter egg was intentional. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/18 "2017-08-18T19:55:10Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Jan 20th 2021 things will probably get better. For one thing, the background radiation levels will be a bit lower than they were on Jan 19th 2021. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/19 "2017-08-18T19:56:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The thing is, he digs the hole deeper every week. Sometimes he digs a lot, and sometimes he digs a bit less. But the hole always gets deeper and deeper. So every week is necessarily worse than the one before. [Dig UP, stupid!](http://thedailynooze.com/2016/08/10/trump-continues-to-employ-his-trusty-shovel/) ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993/20 "2017-08-18T19:59:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It is easy to assume every week is worse than the last because the Trump administration has been such a disaster and it’s been especially disastrous lately, but Maddow’s claim is literally false. If you go back over the timeline it is absolutely not true that every week has been worse than the last; until recently some have been relatively news-light. > > I think it is fair to say, for instance, that the week of February 6, when nothing particular embarrassing happening, was better than the preceding week, when the court shot down his travel ban. > > Similarly the week of February 20 was not nearly as bad as the week of February 13; that was the week Michael Flynn resigned/was pushed, a hugely embarrassing event that really accelerated the Russia thing; other Russia related humiliations came out that week too. Enh. He may have had a not completely terrible week sometime six months ago, but he’s been breaking records all summer. CNN has a rundown of his recent atrocities. It was compiled before they could add, “Gets publicly snubbed by the mother of that poor girl who was killed by a Nazi”. > (Video via that tweet.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-and-the-terible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/793993.md?page=2)