# 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:** 111
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2201 "2017-03-10T05:55:07Z")
It’s not often that compliments are given in the Pit, but I think a couple are warranted. > [@dropzone](#): > > I heard a saying once. Something about taking a knife to a gunfight? Or maybe it was taking a poorly-sharpened Crayola to a gunfight? Kid, you’re playing in the Bigs here… **Dropzone** , you said what I was thinking, but you said it much better than I could. The SDMB is indeed the big leagues. Nicely said! And **Evil Economist** , great job at ferreting out the plagiarism! Carry on, all. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2202 "2017-03-10T05:58:31Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > It’s from an article in the Sunday Times (Sept. 16, 2001) ([only online link I could find](https://books.google.com/books?id=03ct9daFycUC&pg=PA201#v=onepage&q&f=false)): > > The middle part of the country—the great red zone that voted for Bush—is clearly ready for war. The decadent Left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead—and may well mount what amounts to a fifth column. > > And what \*\*ckalli1998 \*\*wrote: > > > [@ckalli1998](#): > > > > The great red zone of Middle America, the South, and the Rust Belt that voted from Trump is clearly ready for the great, coming economic growth after 8 years of slow growth and low home ownership rates, the lowest in 51 years in fact. The decadent, ultraliberal left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead; they may very well mount s fifth column and make common cause with the Islamists. Well done! With that help I found the original column [reprinted](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/524437/posts) at Free Republic for those who would like to compare it to **ckalli1998** ’s future (?) posts. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2203 "2017-03-10T06:13:52Z")
Why does this sound familiar? > [@ckalli1998](#): > > I mean, come on. Do we truly believe that ALL red-state residents are ignorant racist fascist knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating tobacco-juice-dribbling gun-fondling religious fanatic rednecks; or that ALL blue-state residents are godless unpatriotic pierced-nose Volvo-driving France-loving left-wing communist latte-sucking tofu-chomping holistic-wacko neurotic vegan weenie perverts? Oh, that’s right: > [@Dave Barry in a 2004 column for The Washington Post](#): > > Must we stereotype those who disagree with us? Do we truly believe that all red-state residents are ignorant, racist, fascist, knuckle-dragging, NASCAR-obsessed, cousin-marrying, roadkill-eating, tobacco juice-dribbling, gun-fondling, religious-fanatic rednecks; or that all blue-state residents are godless, unpatriotic, pierced-nosed, Volvo-driving, France-loving, left-wing communist, latte-sucking, tofu-chomping, holistic-wacko, neurotic, vegan, weenie perverts? [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A218-2004Dec14.html?nav=rss\_style/columns/barrydave](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A218-2004Dec14.html?nav=rss_style/columns/barrydave) Dude, that was the FIRST hit when I Googled “knuckle-dragging NASCAR-obsessed cousin-marrying roadkill-eating.” If you’re ever going to hone your skills as a truly effective plagiarist, you’ve got to learn how to hide your tracks. But plagiarists (especially undergraduate students) are usually too lazy to bother, or assume their readers/professors won’t notice. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2204 "2017-03-10T06:35:59Z")
Can we please stop this hijack and feeding the troll? Pretty please. I come to this thread daily to read about the clusterfuck that is the Trump Administration. It’s like a one stop shop for all things stupid-Trump related. Heard someone (might have been on Facebook) call it a Trumpster fire. I think that’s awesome. I want to get that made into a t-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2205 "2017-03-10T06:51:26Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > Enough with the plagiarism, I quoted someone else on an online forum and didn’t originally give credit, no, but a guy who quoted MLK here didn’t give credit either. Obviously, I never plagiarize on college assignments, buddy. > I’m not excusing it, I’m saying Trump more than made up for what he said on the tape. What this tells us, is that you’re willing to plagiarize in situations where there’s no penalty to being caught. And not because you have any understanding of, or concern for, the ethical issues involved in stealing other people’s work. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2206 "2017-03-10T06:56:37Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > It’s not often that compliments are given in the Pit, but I think a couple are warranted… > > **Dropzone** , you said what I was thinking, but you said it much better than I could. The SDMB is indeed the big leagues. Nicely said! happy thougts before my rrwblet crqshes agsin;. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2207 "2017-03-10T07:00:35Z")
So apparently our new poster has never had an original thought in his life. ---
**Author:** ![ckalli1998](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ckalli1998](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ckalli1998)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2208 "2017-03-10T07:05:17Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > So apparently our new poster has never had an original thought in his life. not true ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2209 "2017-03-10T07:05:22Z")
(trying again) I’m ADD. When I was a kid there wasn’t a thing like ADD. You have no idea how long this took. However, you are an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2210 "2017-03-10T07:18:21Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > not true I’ve heard that before. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2211 "2017-03-10T08:07:13Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > International respect. I think the women of the world would disagree, my friend. Funny thing… I seem to remember that America was widely respected during the Clinton administration. The reason we started to be seen as substantially worse was… Oh right, the guy after him. Between the un-asked-for massages and > [@ckalli1998](#): > > The great red zone of Middle America, the South, and the Rust Belt that voted from Trump is clearly ready for the great, coming economic growth after 8 years of slow growth and low home ownership rates, the lowest in 51 years in fact. The decadent, ultraliberal left in its enclaves on the coasts is not dead; they may very well mount s fifth column and make common cause with the Islamists. [https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/10/a-response-to-a-roast-a-fifth-column-apology/181356/](https://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/10/a-response-to-a-roast-a-fifth-column-apology/181356/) For _fuck’s_ sake. Even your crazy is lifted wholesale from the work of others. And it’s not iconic quotes that _everyone_ recognizes, like referring to the “arc of history bends towards justice”; anyone reading this not familiar either with the works of Andrew Sullivan in the lead-up to the iraq war or the fact that you keep doing this would think that this was your original thoughts. I guess you’re not that eloquent on your own, huh? > [@ckalli1998](#): > > And it’s not like Mr. Obama exacerbated the problem by passing a multibillion dollar stimulus program down the throats of the American people that was chock-full of infamous, wasteful pork measures like Solyndra, which costs the taxpayers a whopping $780 million in full, as well as other blatant saps to environmental zealots that costs taxpayers $2.2 billion in full, ultimately giving taxpayers a net negative return on their investments–oh wait, yes he did. Just so you know, that program Solyndra got loans under? Not only did it jumpstart the utility-level photovoltaic industry, but it’s [currently in the black](http://www.npr.org/2014/11/13/363572151/after-solyndra-loss-u-s-energy-loan-program-turning-a-profit), with around a 2% loss rate, despite congress initially predicting up to 10 billion dollars in losses. Guess what - when you invest in a bunch of tech startups, you’re going to have some losers. This is always the case. It will always be the case, particularly when talking about technologies which are not yet proven to be effective but show great potential. Meanwhile, the program produced quite a few jobs and is _still_ turning a profit for Washington. I have no idea where you got the idea that this program cost taxpayers $2.2 billion, because as of 2014 it was in the black and as of 2016 it was [outperforming banks](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can-t-kill-solyndra-loan-program-that-outperforms-banks). The consensus in economics is pretty clear, meanwhile: [the stimulus worked](http://freakonomics.com/2012/07/25/the-secret-consensus-among-economists/). The worst you can say about it is that it didn’t go far enough. > [@](#): > > You can blame Bush all you want, but Obama was President for the least eight years, the first six of which he had a Democratic Senate, the first two of which he had a Democratic House (and Senate, his party controlled both houses his first two years). Oh look, [another stupid myth that needs busting](http://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/09/the-myth-of-the-filibuster-proof-democratic-senate/). Let’s be perfectly clear here. For the first two years of Obama’s presidency, the senate minority turned the filibuster from “we’re going to block this extreme bill” to “we’re going to block fucking everything”. Which shouldn’t have been a problem, except that between a bogus voter fraud investigation on Al Franken and the death of Ted Kennedy, the democrats only had a very slim window in which they had 60 seats - two months, and even that’s overstated due to the ill health of Arlen Spectre. And then, in 2010, republicans took the house, and at that point literally any chance of enacting his agenda went out the window. Not that there was much chance between then and the election of Scott Brown in the Massachussetts special election, because apparently doing anything in the senate requires 60 votes now. And your comparisons to Reagan are interesting, but miss the point that the democratic congress was fundamentally willing to work with Reagan and reach compromises, and respected that he was the president. Even with only 40 fucking seats in the senate, Mitch McConnell insisted on using the filibuster as a cudgel against anything he didn’t find ideologically appealing - which was virtually everything. > [@ckalli1998](#): > > What’s the matter, QuickSilver? You’re not addressing my points at hand (and there are a lot of them) Yeah. You engaged in a gish gallop of long-form right-wing spew. It’s all bullshit. > [@ckalli1998](#): > > my gut Guts are inherently full of shit, yours doubly so. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2212 "2017-03-10T11:57:16Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > not true Still making excuses and deflecting blame, huh, plagiarist? What a gutless coward you are. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2213 "2017-03-10T14:32:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Still making excuses and deflecting blame, huh, plagiarist? What a gutless coward you are. He plagiarized that one from _Hamilton_. I’ll see myself out… ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2214 "2017-03-10T15:35:12Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > I do. Go for it. You lose the bet pretty spectacularly. Pretty pathetic when you can’t even come up with your own messageboard posts. ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2215 "2017-03-10T15:47:45Z")
Yes, it’s pretty pathetic when you can’t even come up with your own messageboard posts. That’s what **I** say. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2216 "2017-03-10T15:52:57Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > my gut Sounds familiar: "…my name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it’s my privilege to celebrate this president. We’re not so different, he and I. We get it. We’re not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We’re not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say “I did look it up, and that’s not true.” That’s 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the “No Fact Zone.” Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term." ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2217 "2017-03-10T15:53:12Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Yes, it’s pretty pathetic when you can’t even come up with your own messageboard posts. That’s what **I** say. Or at least cite your sources: “Yes, it’s ‘pretty pathetic when you can’t even come up with your own messageboard posts.’ ( **Colibri** , SDMB BBQ Pit, March 10, 2017).” ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2218 "2017-03-10T16:03:51Z")
> [@ckalli1998](#): > > my gut Brain too small? ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2219 "2017-03-10T16:03:54Z")
Wow, **Colibri** preemptively plagiarized **Gyrate**. 😃 ---
**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:** [March 10, 2017, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2220 "2017-03-10T16:04:44Z")
This is what the “moral high ground” of conservatives has become: a little plagiarism is no big deal. A little theft is no big deal. Shutting down the federal government is no big deal. Bald-faced lies are no big deal as long as we get what we want. A little torture is no big deal as long as it gets us what we want. Admission to sexual assault on camera is no big deal. Falsely accusing a former president, on Twitter, of something illegal, with absolutely no evidence, is no big deal. Hiring a foreign agent to head our _fucking national security_ is no big deal. Calling journalists the “enemy of the people” is no big deal. Having ties to the Russians is no big deal. Handing the West Wing over to a couple of conspiracy theorists and white nationalists is no big deal. Appointing people to run federal departments with absolutely zero professional experience or education in those areas is no big deal. And that’s why the clusterfuck of Trump’s presidency is what it is. The water in the pot just keeps getting warmer and warmer, and the frogs just keep making excuses as to why we just couldn’t \*possibly \*be getting boiled alive. Oh, but fucksticks like this latest copy-and-paste troll, they’ve got the “moral high ground.” Fuck that. You’re fucking destroying this country, and you’re too stupid to even realize it, or care. Now can we please put this fucker on ignore and get back to pointing at Trump’s dumbfuckery already? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=110) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=112)