# 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:** 1092
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21825 "2018-06-20T06:54:29Z")
So you lock kids in cages, and most of the populace rants and raves and clutches their pearls…and nothing changes. Just means that Trump Inc can get away with worse atrocities next time. You talk about a slippery slope? This is it folks. Fuck. Oh, and by the way, Australia is doing similar to folks who (almost) arrive on our shores seeking asylum. We’re no better and I just think we all fucken suck at being compassionate humans. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21826 "2018-06-20T07:01:54Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > So you lock kids in cages, and most of the populace rants and raves and clutches their pearls…and nothing changes. Just means that Trump Inc can get away with worse atrocities next time. If you have a doable idea for more effective action, we’re all ears over here. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21827 "2018-06-20T07:05:50Z")
“Look what happened in Europe and other places." What other places? Antarctica? South America? Which of the other five continents are also having imaginary immigrant crime waves? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21828 "2018-06-20T07:14:22Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > If you have a doable idea for more effective action, we’re all ears over here. 😛 Maybe have a word with all those militia folks who were up in arms about Wal-Marts being used as detention centers. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21829 "2018-06-20T07:23:44Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > North Korea. > > Iraq used to have them too under Saddam Hussein. You are mistaken, **Wesley Clark**. North Korea does not separate the children from the family; they just chuck three generations of the family into the camps. But, hey, they don’t yank the kids from the moms. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21830 "2018-06-20T07:46:29Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The news about children being put in prison hit today. I feel so much shame and rage about being an American. Our country is such a fucking disgrace. > > Not all of it, but you know what I mean. There are so many vile white nationalists here with no morals. We are such an embarrassment. Yep. But when you consider human rights, the United States has never been a compassionate country. Or even a middling one. But now we’re kicking the dog under the lamest of pretences. Just one short hop now to atrocities without bothering to make excuses. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21831 "2018-06-20T08:10:50Z")
I’ll just leave this here. [Homeland security chief heckled at Mexican eatery over separation policy](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/homeland-secretary-chief-heckled-mexican-eatery-over-separation-policy-n884921) I of course feel real bad that Ms. Nielsen couldn’t finish her meal in peace. I hope someone issued her a mylar blanket for comfort. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21832 "2018-06-20T08:56:58Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Saying that some people will "infest our country " probably sounded better in the original German. [It did](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Jew_(1940_film)) (for a given value of “better”). ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21833 "2018-06-20T09:39:52Z")
There is some argument to be made against our (the German) policy to just open the borders for refugees without any preparation for dealing with the consequences of such a far-reaching action - but watching this, I feel better about it every day. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21834 "2018-06-20T09:49:30Z")
> [@Jack Batty](#): > > “Look what happened in Europe and other places." > > What other places? Antarctica? South America? Which of the other five continents are also having imaginary immigrant crime waves? There’s also the fact that Europe doesn’t have an immigrant crime wave either. But you know, that’s just reality. IOW, irrelevant details. (sadly enough, that’s not even sarcasm - and that shit is infectious too…) ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21835 "2018-06-20T10:01:43Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’ll just leave this here. > > [Homeland security chief heckled at Mexican eatery over separation policy](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/homeland-secretary-chief-heckled-mexican-eatery-over-separation-policy-n884921) > > I of course feel real bad that Ms. Nielsen couldn’t finish her meal in peace. I hope someone issued her a mylar blanket for comfort. Was it the protest, or did she leave in a huff when she found out that the food wasn’t made from real Mexicans? ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21836 "2018-06-20T10:31:09Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > So you lock kids in cages, and most of the populace rants and raves and clutches their pearls…and nothing changes. Just means that Trump Inc can get away with worse atrocities next time. > > You talk about a slippery slope? This is it folks. > > Fuck. > > Oh, and by the way, Australia is doing similar to folks who (almost) arrive on our shores seeking asylum. We’re no better and I just think we all fucken suck at being compassionate humans. I think this is happening worldwide. Democracy and human rights are increasingly out of fashion. I’m pessimistic (I prefer realistic) because I see certain patterns and trends that are happening. Technology has disrupted the way we share information, and it has changed the way we perceive our world around us. The massified media of broadcast TV and radio and print made it easier to herd people together; the de-massified media has made it so that we’ve gone from being demographics to tribes. Our tribal instincts are brutal. It doesn’t help that we’ve lost confidence in the post-WWII international order, which is now facing a direct assault from national populists worldwide. The collapse of that order means almost certain conflict. And with the weapons we possess now, compared to in the past, that is a terrifying prospect. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21837 "2018-06-20T10:48:17Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Was it the protest, or did she leave in a huff when she found out that the food wasn’t made from real Mexicans? Her meal was cut short from the protest, otherwise she would have lingered for a minute and a huff. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21838 "2018-06-20T10:58:56Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I think this is happening worldwide. Democracy and human rights are increasingly out of fashion. [Not really, no.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44510002) That happens to be local news for me. The migrants have already filed their asylum requests; about half of them, with France, which makes sense as a lot of them come from francophone countries. France is sending down several government officers to deal with those requests (interviews etc.). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21839 "2018-06-20T11:11:45Z")
Maybe it’s just as well the US failed to qualify for the World Cup, as the team would have been heckled (even more than the typical sports rivalry) for the geopolitical (and now human rights) disasters of its current government. They’d have been feted by the hosts, though. ---
**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:** [June 20, 2018, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21840 "2018-06-20T11:17:22Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > [Not really, no.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44510002) > > That happens to be local news for me. The migrants have already filed their asylum requests; about half of them, with France, which makes sense as a lot of them come from francophone countries. France is sending down several government officers to deal with those requests (interviews etc.). I’m not saying it’s happening everywhere - there are indeed countries trying to stand up for human rights, but there’s a disturbing global rise in authoritarianism and attacks on human rights and liberties. I don’t see this trend being easily stopped, either. For decades, post-WII and Cold War order influenced global politics, sometimes for worse but often for the better. But like any order, over time, there was displacement, there was mismanagement and corruption, and people began losing confidence in the systems and institutions that quietly undergirded their standards of living. Along comes a superman who promises to shake things up, and there goes democracy. We’re living through the same experience that people went through from 1890 until 1930. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21841 "2018-06-20T11:51:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Maybe it’s just as well the US failed to qualify for the World Cup, as the team would have been heckled (even more than the typical sports rivalry) for the geopolitical (and now human rights) disasters of its current government. Yeah but those heckles would be interpreted as being against the brave soldiers and the flag. Also liberals probably would have paid thousands of people to heckle. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21842 "2018-06-20T12:06:27Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m not saying it’s happening everywhere - there are indeed countries trying to stand up for human rights, but there’s a disturbing global rise in authoritarianism and attacks on human rights and liberties. I don’t see this trend being easily stopped, either. For decades, post-WII and Cold War order influenced global politics, sometimes for worse but often for the better. But like any order, over time, there was displacement, there was mismanagement and corruption, and people began losing confidence in the systems and institutions that quietly undergirded their standards of living. Along comes a superman who promises to shake things up, and there goes democracy. We’re living through the same experience that people went through from 1890 until 1930. But it didn’t happen everywhere in 1890-1940, and it isn’t happening everywhere now. It’s not even happening in the majority of wheres. There’s a series of movies called “the hidden camera trilogy” or “the\* tó er mundo e güeno\* trilogy”. _Tó er mundo e güeno_ is slang for “everybody is a good person” or “everybody means well”; the original idea was a hidden camera sketch for a TV program, but the results led to making a movie, and its success to two more. Those results weren’t quite what the creators had expected, you see: they were surprised at how many people wanted to help the hooks they’d placed in situations ranging from the believable to the completely incredible\*, and the lengths to which they’d go to help. Is everybody a good person? No. But a lot of our perception is shaped by the fact that explosions are spectacular whereas people cooking food for a sick neighbor are not. - But hey, if some dude wearing his underwear outside his trousers is badgering passersby about the upcoming invasion by alien cats… turns out the reaction of a lot of people was “this poor crazy man needs help”, not “dude’s nutso, run away”. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21843 "2018-06-20T13:41:05Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I’ll just leave this here. > > [Homeland security chief heckled at Mexican eatery over separation policy](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/homeland-secretary-chief-heckled-mexican-eatery-over-separation-policy-n884921) > > I of course feel real bad that Ms. Nielsen couldn’t finish her meal in peace. I hope someone issued her a mylar blanket for comfort. I hope the kitchen was made aware of who they were serving. I’m thinking she might be better off staying out of _any_ restaurants. But seriously, how fucking dumb do you have to be to go out for Mexican food under the circumstances. Either that or she’s got a spit consumption fetish. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/21844 "2018-06-20T13:52:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > It’d be like if I wanted $100 to buy a KKK robe and confederate flag, but didn’t have the $100. So I grabbed a kid at random and started punching them and then told you ‘I’m going to keep punching this kid until you give me $100. this is your fault’. > > That is Trump and his apologists argument right now. They are using child abuse as leverage to get funding for a white nationalist policy item. I think of it as being akin to the serial killer telling the police, “It’s your fault because you didn’t stop me. You knew I was out there cutting people into bits, but you let me do it. This is on you!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1091) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1093)