# The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 7, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070 "2016-12-07T00:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1044
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20865 "2018-05-31T17:31:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Note, though, that Sarah the Huckster never answered the kid’s question. 'Course not. That would require someone actually knowing the president’s plans. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20866 "2018-05-31T17:35:34Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Eh, there’s multiple messages: > > 1. “Yo, base, sorry I couldn’t do a thing about Rosanne, but I’m going to pardon a man who is 1,000X the racist she is! He’s very fine people!” > 2. “Hey, Mickey! Lookie what I got for ya!” > > Also, there’s another message, made by Mr. Cohen’s lawyer: > > **“You do know the President can only pardon for Federal crimes, right? He cannot do anything about the various State charges which will be headed your way, especially if the State AG’s think the Feds are letting you off softly or if they think the pardon is affecting your cooperation.”** Can’t recall where I read/heard it, but my understanding is that Mike Flynn has actually put the message out there, “Don’t help!” He doesn’t want a pardon. I think a reasonable inference can be made that if Trump pardons him, state charges will immediately come into play not just for him, but for his son – including charges perhaps being held in abeyance by the State of Pennsylvania for conspiracy to attempt a kidnapping (Turkish cleric). I understand Flynn wants his son kept out of prison at any cost. Obviously Cohen’s lawyer has done the same math. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20867 "2018-05-31T18:06:32Z")
[Martha Stewart and Rod Blagojevich might be next.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/31/politics/martha-stewart-rod-blagojevich-trump-pardons/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20868 "2018-05-31T18:12:58Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Hasn’t D’souza already completed his sentence? What’s getting pardoned going to do for him? The great bulk of Presidential pardons are extended to those who have completed their sentence. This really is an abuse of Presidential pardon power. The decline towards banana republic status continues. Josh Marshall: [INDENT][INDENT] …the real pattern is giving political allies an out from the execution of the law, political allies and people who have an iconic significance for Trump’s most loyal supporters. This isn’t just bad governance. It’s the essence of factional rule. The faction leader – the political warlord – gets control of the state and uses it in the interest of his supporters, protecting them from the law and giving them the state’s largesse. We’re not quite there yet. But Joe Arpaio, Scooter Libby, Dinesh D’Souza – the pattern is pretty clear. [/INDENT][/INDENT] This is what happens when you install an outsider who cares nothing about his party or democratic norms. You get… accelerated decline. [D’Souza, the Pardon Power and the Question of Norms - TPM – Talking Points Memo](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dsouza-the-pardon-power-and-the-question-of-norms) Next year, proper discussion will cover the moral and proper scope of retaliation directed towards the non-repentant. Targets include Trump but also McConnell. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20869 "2018-05-31T20:07:37Z")
I refuse to stop calling him “Dinesh D’Felon”. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20870 "2018-05-31T20:18:43Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I refuse to stop calling him “Dinesh D’Felon”. You don’t have to. The guy’s a felon and always will be. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20871 "2018-05-31T20:50:40Z")
Trump has potentially made his first major unforced error with consequences, with his announcement of tariffs. The thing about tariffs is, it’s not only nations that trade with other nations - individual states trade with other cities, other states, and other nations as well. Some Republicans may end up having to explain why their beloved moron in chief screwed people in their home state out of jobs. Or they’ll have to explain how the tax cut that they’ve been crowing about is going to become essentially worthless in terms of any economic stimulus at all. Like I’ve been saying, it ain’t Mueller that’s going to undo Trump - Trump will have to be the one to undo himself. And eventually, he will. Mueller may then be used as the excuse to legitimize ridding ourselves of this scourge through impeachment, resignation, or just convincing him not to run for reelection. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20872 "2018-05-31T20:50:59Z")
Trump before leaving to go to Texas to meet with survivors of the Santa Fe High School shooting: “We are going to Dallas, we are going to Houston. We are going to have a little fun today.” > ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20873 "2018-05-31T21:41:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump before leaving to go to Texas to meet with survivors of the Santa Fe High School shooting: “We are going to Dallas, we are going to Houston. We are going to have a little fun today.” > [x.com](https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1002175839721672704) For a guy who says so much of nothing, he can really say some mindfuckingly stupid shit. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20874 "2018-05-31T21:42:58Z")
I’ve taken to reminding my various congress critters today that the Constitution grants CONGRESS the right to levy tariffs, but those rights were frequently ceded to the President. And perhaps now is the time for Congress to reclaim those rights. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20875 "2018-05-31T22:23:20Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > There is always the visa programs for new ladies, one of which Melania was snuck in under (somehow she was exceptional in some way). > And he just expanded the H2B visa program for the poor Maryland crabbers who were whining. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > She got in by marrying a citizen, and produced an anchor baby to make sure. Her \*parents \*got Einstein Visas for reasons that probably aren’t all that mysterious. > > But chain migration is bad if it’s Mexicans, he says. Ignorance and all that - can’t let this go by. "Nicknamed the “Einstein Visa”, the EB-1 is in theory reserved for people who are highly acclaimed in their field - the government cites Pulitzer, Oscar, and Olympic winners as examples - as well as respected academic researchers and multinational executives. Mrs Trump began applying for the visa in 2000, when she was Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model working in New York and dating Donald Trump. **She was approved in 2001** , one of just five people from Slovenia to win the coveted visa that year, according to the Post." \*\*Not married to the president until 2005. \*\* “Becoming a citizen in 2006 gave her the right to sponsor her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who are now in the US and in the process of applying for citizenship.” _ **Chain migration not Einstein visa** _ - Something that Trump railed against. Took a couple of google nanoseconds to check my memory. > **[What is the Einstein visa? And how did Melania Trump get one?](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43256318)** > > In 2001 Melania Knauss scored a coveted visa reserved for people of "extraordinary ability". ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20876 "2018-05-31T22:24:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I’ve taken to reminding my various congress critters today that the Constitution grants CONGRESS the right to levy tariffs, but those rights were frequently ceded to the President. And perhaps now is the time for Congress to reclaim those rights. Right. Because if there’s one thing the 115th Congress will be remembered for, it’s the high standards they held President Trump to. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20877 "2018-05-31T22:30:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Right. Because if there’s one thing the 115th Congress will be remembered for, it’s the high standards they held President Trump to. They stopped him from having affairs willy-nilly. He hasn’t opened any “universities” since he took office. That’s about as high as they can get. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 31, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20878 "2018-05-31T22:34:16Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > …Some Republicans may end up having to explain why their beloved moron in chief screwed people in their home state out of jobs. Or they’ll have to explain how the tax cut that they’ve been crowing about is going to become essentially worthless in terms of any economic stimulus at all. > … Easy-peasy–stupid Democratic laws or sumptin’ like that. Or Obama. > [@smithsb](#): > > … > “Becoming a citizen in 2006 gave her the right to sponsor her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who are now in the US and in the process of applying for citizenship.” > _ **Chain migration not Einstein visa** _ - Something that Trump railed against. > … You’re doing that thing. Trying to make sense of President PantsOnHead. You’ll give yourself a migraine. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20879 "2018-06-01T00:24:28Z")
Next up on the pardon list, federal inmate and Celebrity Apprentice character, [Rod Blagojevich](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-illinois-governor-blagojevich-trump-20180531-story.html). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20880 "2018-06-01T02:55:12Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Next up on the pardon list, federal inmate and Celebrity Apprentice character, [Rod Blagojevich](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-illinois-governor-blagojevich-trump-20180531-story.html). Who the hell is clamoring for Gov. Hairdo to be released, besides Gov. Hairdo? Dems don’t want him, Pubs don’t want him. I don’t think his wife really even cares at this point. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20881 "2018-06-01T03:01:27Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Who the hell is clamoring for Gov. Hairdo to be released, besides Gov. Hairdo? Dems don’t want him, Pubs don’t want him. I don’t think his wife really even cares at this point. From the CNN article linked upthread a bit: > [@](#): > > Both Blagojevich and Stewart’s convictions have ties to James Comey, the FBI director Trump fired last year whose testimony could be crucial to any obstruction of justice charges Mueller may consider bringing against Trump. > > Comey, as the US attorney in Manhattan, built the case against Stewart ahead of her 2003 indictment. And Blagojevich was arrested during US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s tenure in Chicago in 2008. Fitzgerald is currently a member of Comey’s legal team and was appointed by Comey to investigate the Valerie Plame affair in 2003. > > Trump’s comments about Blagojevich come three days after the disgraced Illinois governor published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal arguing that “the rule of law is under assault in America” and is being “perverted and abused” by some FBI and Justice Department officials – comments that closely mirrored Trump’s recent rhetoric about the Mueller investigation, FBI and Justice Department officials. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20882 "2018-06-01T03:12:54Z")
Pruitt is about to submit [revised vehicle emissions policy](https://www.telluridenews.com/news/article_6bbb1e72-639b-11e8-b214-87fdd9d16183.html). I kind of expected him to roll them back to where they were in 1923, but it appears more like he is planning to freeze them at 2020. Thing is, _According to the Times, the proposal sent to the White House today also challenges California’s exemption from the EPA’s vehicle pollution standards (the Golden State was granted its exemption in the 1970s as a way for the state to rein in its notorious smog problem). Recently, California has said that it would continue to enforce Obama-era rules. Given the size of the state’s market, such a move would threaten to undercut the EPA’s authority. Twelve other states currently follow California’s standards._ Among the states that subscribe to California standards are New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. That could add up to a lot of pissed-off people. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20883 "2018-06-01T03:14:43Z")
Blagojevich was jailed under Obama. It’s another “Get rid of everything Obama” action. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/20884 "2018-06-01T03:16:01Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > From the CNN article linked upthread a bit: So it’s Trump rewarding a blatant orange-mouthed ass-licker (I guess it’s not like Blago had any dignity to lose anyway) and getting back at Comey at the same time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1043) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1045)