# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making Part Deux (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083 "2020-06-22T03:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 153
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3058 "2020-09-02T14:27:05Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Personally, I have long believed Trump is a full, witting Russian asset. He may not entirely grasp the broad range of damage caused by his actions on Putin’s behalf, but he absolutely understands it is more important to his own well being to serve Russian interests at the expense of America’s. Absolutely correct, in my view. No question that Trump is a knowing and willing accomplice in the Russian assault on American democracy. Trump doesn’t understand the implications and doesn’t want to understand. I would add two things: 1. Trump is not just going along with this because he enjoys his friendship with Putin. He’s almost certainly being blackmailed and pressured into behaving the way he behaves. It’s a coercive pressure that Putin is applying. Why does that matter? Because there’s a difference between someone who assumes he has the _choice_ of following Putin’s lead - that person can back out at any time. But the person who is blackmailed cannot. They feel permanently indebted to that person in order to survive. It’s not just Trump’s political fortunes at stake; it’s his survival. It’s legal jeopardy we’re talking about. It’s the survival of his financial “empire” (house of cards). 2. Trump is almost certainly _not_ the only one who is in legal jeopardy, and he almost certainly not the only one who has highly questionable relationships to Russian oligarchs (thugs). And that’s what’s on the line in early November: whether or not this country normalizes an authoritarian democracy that is run by thug rule and anti-democratic values. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3059 "2020-09-02T15:27:29Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’m buying this book today as well. Schmidt is going to be on Fresh Air tomorrow. P.S. Did you get my email? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3060 "2020-09-02T15:50:25Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > > [@rocking\_chair](#): > > > > I bought this book last night. mr Schmidt was on rachel maddow’s show last night. a bit disturbing that investigations have been dropped into the deep cracks. > > I’m buying this book today as well. > > Schmidt was back on MSNBC last night with Lawrence O’Donnell, and I’ve never seen him so animated – which, if you are familiar with Mr. Schmidt, you understand is a bit alarming in and of itself. He seems perplexed and even a little appalled that the big takeaway from his book so far is the comparatively small reference to Trump’s health. While this is obviously an important concern, Schmidt clearly feels that his work to reveal that the failure to investigate the counterintelligence aspect of Trump’s relationship with Russia is the most significant point he is trying to make. Well, we could all extrapolate at least the broad outlines of that from watching the two years of the Mueller investigation, so it gets mentally placed in the BTDT file. The health issues, with the mini-strokes (which sounds a lot scarier than Transient Ischemic Attacks) lets us think: “Maybe he’ll DIE!” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3061 "2020-09-02T16:21:18Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The health issues, with the mini-strokes (which sounds a lot scarier than Transient Ischemic Attacks) lets us think: “Maybe he’ll DIE!” Ooo, I hope not. I want to see him prosecuted first. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3062 "2020-09-02T16:26:30Z")
Yeah. In the grand scheme of things, the fact that the POTUS is literally a Russian agent is really significant. But it’s also old news. On the other hand, if Trump’s brain gives one more wobbly MAGAt a reason not to vote… then that’s important. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3063 "2020-09-02T16:32:10Z")
exactly. McCabe thought he had teed it up (to use a golf analogy) so the investigation would continue no matter what happened to him. the best we can hope for is a democratic sweep in November. the amount of legislation and investigations needed to deal with what happened these past 4 years is staggering. although biden wasn’t in my top five during the primary, i’m leaning more and more in to the “he is the best bet” to get the government back on track. he has playbooks from the Obama transition to give him a base line to start. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3064 "2020-09-02T16:51:50Z")
He’s not the best bet; he’s the _only_ bet. If not enough people understand this, we will lose a functional, if imperfect, democracy for the foreseeable future. It might still resemble a democracy in some ways, but it will be one that is run by and for aristocrats. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3065 "2020-09-02T16:53:44Z")
Since Trump’s interview with Laura Ingraham Sunday went _so_ well, he went back for more last night and came up with this doozy: [Biden must be on drugs, because he can competently engage in debate.](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/trump-explains-why-he-wants-biden-drug-tested-he-is-on-some-kind-of-enhancement-054127491.html) More projection than a multi-plex, as the saying goes. If he sinks lower every day, and we still have 9 weeks to the election, I literally can’t imagine what kind of shit he will do and say in October. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3066 "2020-09-02T16:55:02Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > it will be one that is run by and for aristocrats. An, the Aristocrats - those are those people with the public act characterized by extremes of debauchery, depravity, moral corruption and filth, yes? Sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3067 "2020-09-02T16:59:48Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Since Trump’s interview with Laura Ingraham Sunday went _so_ well, he went back for more last night and came up with this doozy: [Biden must be on drugs, because he can competently engage in debate.](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/trump-explains-why-he-wants-biden-drug-tested-he-is-on-some-kind-of-enhancement-054127491.html) Not the first time, either. [https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/politics/donald-trump-joe-biden-debates-drugs/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/politics/donald-trump-joe-biden-debates-drugs/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3068 "2020-09-02T18:06:04Z")
In Individual 1’s interview with Laura Ingraham, Part 2, he also claimed that he really won the popular vote because all of the cheating in California and New York doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3069 "2020-09-02T18:09:59Z")
Speaking of clusterfucks, it looks like Trump tried to whore out his press secretary. No wonder he keeps aiming younger and dumber in that job. > **[Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump told her to go to North Korea and take 'one...](https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-sarah-sanders-one-for-team-kim-jong-un-2020-9)** > > Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the president told her: "Well, Sarah, that settles it. You're going to North Korea and taking one for the team!" ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3070 "2020-09-02T18:17:16Z")
And all this time I thought she had no boundaries. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3071 "2020-09-02T18:26:17Z")
Individual 1 couldn’t get a shop owner in Kenosha to do a photo op with him, so he brought in the shop’s former owner and claimed he was the owner. > **[A Kenosha man says the Trump-supporting 'owner' of a destroyed business in a...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/kenosha-business-owner-says-declined-052609187.html)** > > Tom Gram, the owner of a destroyed Kenosha business, is accusing President Donald Trump of using his business for political gain, TMJ4 reported. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3072 "2020-09-02T18:38:30Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 couldn’t get a shop owner in Kenosha to do a photo op with him, so he brought in the shop’s former owner and claimed he was the owner. Is that grounds for a slander lawsuit? ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3073 "2020-09-02T18:42:56Z")
The second guy was the property owner. So he also was hurt by the destruction. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3074 "2020-09-02T18:43:39Z")
Uh, what? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3075 "2020-09-02T18:44:32Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > The second guy was the property owner. So he also was hurt by the destruction The second guy and Trump lied through their teeth. Got a handy excuse for _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3076 "2020-09-02T18:45:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@Morgyn](#): > > > > To be fair to $45 (and I hate doing that 🤮), I think he was talking about bags _of cans_ of soup. As in, using a large bag to carry a lot of cans of soup. > > > > It’s not unusual to refer to a part of something (soup) when you’re actually talking about a whole thing (can of soup). [It’s a rhetorical device called synecdoche](https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-syn1.htm) , and you can blame James Thurber for me even knowing such a thing exists. (At least, I think that’s what’s happening here. At any rate, it’s a fairly common speech pattern, and much as I hate $45, this is not something I can ding him on.) > > It’s not synedoche here. It’s brain damage. 🙄 If I’m telling someone to get me soup out of the pantry, I’ll say, “Get me the chicken noodle soup, would you?” I don’t say, “Get me the can of chicken noodle soup.” This is an common, ingrained speech pattern and, while I fully agree with you that $45 is demented, I would not consider this an example of his declining cognitive ability. And in closing, 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 Because $45 makes me sick to begin with. Also, 🤮 ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083/3077 "2020-09-02T18:49:41Z")
The property owner let Trump lie about him still being the business owner and presented himself as such. That’s called “lying” in most places. Clearly it’s “close enough” to the truth for some people. Truth-adjacent, as it were. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=152) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making-part-deux-part-1/911083.md?page=154)