# 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:** 1120
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22385 "2018-07-02T01:11:23Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I would have thought so, too, until I read the other thread which explains how an overturn would ban abortions in red states (where they’re already difficult to procure), but not in blue ones. > > If a federal legislative ban were passed as well, okay, there would be unrest — but I’m told that’s unlikely. On the way to work this morning, I saw an interesting headline: _Trump says abortion should be left to the states maybe_. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22386 "2018-07-02T03:14:51Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > The problem isn’t that the Democrats have the numbers … It kind of is, though. At present, based on Gallup’s party affiliation historical trends numbers, the Democrats are at just under 30% and the Republicans are a few points behind (depending on which month you look at). I put the numbers into a spreadsheet and ran the trendline function over a few timeframes. In the short term, (from 2016 to present) the Democrats show a very tiny gain (m=.005) and the Republicans show a small decline (m=-.255); from 2012, the situation is reversed (D=-.042, R=.003), but over the long term, both are hemorrhaging at nearly the same rate (m=-.04~). In none of these timeframes are the Indies showing a non-positive trend, not falling below 40%, and growing. Analysis is somewhat iffy, as Gallup’s methodology is always questionable, but it does look like, behind the noise, the Parties are slowly dying. The two-party system has fucked the country up royally for most of two centuries, but what happens when the parties collapse? It surely will not be pretty. I think we need to think about this seriously. We can function as a country without major parties, but not as-is. Chaos does not benefit the common man. If this hazard is not realistically addressed soon, we could end up even more fucked than we already are – except for the nihilists, who like to watch stuff burn without thought to cleaning up after. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22387 "2018-07-02T05:14:42Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > As a NY resident, had I voted for Sanders, 3rd party, or even Shit-Gibbon, it wouldn’t have mattered one iota. There are only a few key states, like Michigan and Pennsylvania, where it mattered. As an independent, I get no say in the primaries and the presidential vote is a foregone conclusion. Even the congressional votes are rarely contests. So unless this person voted in a contested state, it’s not even an oops. In a lot of elections, only around half of the voters bother voting. That means people in the minority can swing an election just by showing up. In the most recent mid-term election (2014) only 26.2% of eligible voters in New York actually voted. Cuomo beat Astorino in the race for Governor; 2,069,480 votes to 1,537,077. That’s a margin of less than 535,000 votes. And over ten million people didn’t vote. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22388 "2018-07-02T06:43:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In the most recent mid-term election (2014) only 26.2% of eligible voters in New York actually voted. … over ten million people didn’t vote. Of those ten million, six million of them are already utter fucking morons who cannot even make change without the register telling them how much to hand back. Or completely clueless about any of the issues, either because their heads cannot hold onto that information, or because they have other shit to do and the country/state will run itself. Some of them are ultra-cynics who find the system too flawed to support in that way (_politicians are all the same_). Honestly, do you really want _more_ idiots thrown into the mix? It is kind of a conundrum. We want everyone to vote, but if they all do, holy crap what a mess we can end up with. I would favor a system where it is not all that difficult to get involved but we do not force, or even especially encourage, people to do so. Keep the news-buzz/hype/propaganda at a minimum and let the people come in because they see that stuff needs to be done. That is probably the best filter. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22389 "2018-07-02T06:59:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > There’s a lot of talk now about _Roe vs. Wade_ being overturned as a result of the new Supreme Court justice, whoever he or she may be. I’ll tell ya what, if that ever happens, that will spark the greatest mass demonstrations, uprisings and whatnot, the likes of which have not been seen since the darkest days of the 1960s, maybe surpassing those by a long mile. There be my prediction. I cannot fathom why the current administration putting children in cages and having congress attack the FBI and the DOJ has not already resulted in: “the greatest mass demonstrations, uprisings and whatnot, the likes of which have not been seen since the darkest days of the 1960s, maybe surpassing those by a long mile” I was heartened to see the demonstrations against the separations of families this weekend, but seriously America? What the fuck are you waiting for?!?!? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22390 "2018-07-02T08:26:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The President can’t be sued or even investigated. > > > [@Brett M. Kavanaugh](#): > > > > The nation’s chief executive should be exempt from time-consuming and distracting lawsuits and investigations, which would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis. > > Brett M. Kavanaugh, who wrote that in 2009, is one of the frontrunners for Trump’s new Supreme Court justice. As it happens, he’s an [expert](https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/12/us/testing-president-authors-young-protege-starr-established-nonfiction-writer.html) in investigating the president in ways that ill serve the public interest. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22391 "2018-07-02T13:32:28Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump claims every person who ever bought a Harley Davidson voted for him > [http://thehill.com/homenews/395067-trump-i-guarantee-everyone-who-has-bought-a-harley-davidson-voted-for-me](http://thehill.com/homenews/395067-trump-i-guarantee-everyone-who-has-bought-a-harley-davidson-voted-for-me) …but a lot of HDs are sold abroad… to foreigners… Is that the illegal voters he likes to talk about? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22392 "2018-07-02T14:30:50Z")
> [@Quint](#): > > I cannot fathom why the current administration putting children in cages and having congress attack the FBI and the DOJ has not already resulted in: > > “the greatest mass demonstrations, uprisings and whatnot, the likes of which have not been seen since the darkest days of the 1960s, maybe surpassing those by a long mile” > > I was heartened to see the demonstrations against the separations of families this weekend, but seriously America? What the fuck are you waiting for?!?!? For themselves to be personally affected. It’s easy to be complacent when it’s “those other people over there” being oppressed. [Martin Niemöller’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...) poem has been repeated to the point of being cliche, but there’s a great deal of truth in it. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22393 "2018-07-02T16:34:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > People need to publicize the “Hogs for Hillary” movement, just to show how our \*Conniver-in-Chief \*just makes stuff up as he goes along. They know. They just don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22394 "2018-07-02T16:38:43Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Interesting that Trump wants to put off a vote on immigration (whatever the hell he thinks that may be) until the “Red Wave” in November. > > Umm… I very much doubt the wave will be red. > > This asshole, at least for myself, has turned we into a party instead of policy voter. Republicans must be shown that electing morons to promote their agendas and a few pocket books will not be tolerated. I will be voting a straight Dem ticket. if a Dem is not running, I’ll vote for the Anarchist or the Communist… but not a Republican. Anything BUT. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22395 "2018-07-02T16:41:55Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > It kind of is, though. At present, based on Gallup’s party affiliation historical trends numbers, the Democrats are at just under 30% and the Republicans are a few points behind (depending on which month you look at). I put the numbers into a spreadsheet and ran the trendline function over a few timeframes. > > In the short term, (from 2016 to present) the Democrats show a very tiny gain (m=.005) and the Republicans show a small decline (m=-.255); from 2012, the situation is reversed (D=-.042, R=.003), but over the long term, both are hemorrhaging at nearly the same rate (m=-.04~). In none of these timeframes are the Indies showing a non-positive trend, not falling below 40%, and growing. > > Analysis is somewhat iffy, as Gallup’s methodology is always questionable, but it does look like, behind the noise, the Parties are slowly dying. The two-party system has fucked the country up royally for most of two centuries, but what happens when the parties collapse? It surely will not be pretty. > > I think we need to think about this seriously. We can function as a country without major parties, but not as-is. Chaos does not benefit the common man. If this hazard is not realistically addressed soon, we could end up even more fucked than we already are – except for the nihilists, who like to watch stuff burn without thought to cleaning up after. And what do we have now??? The Trump White House, with Trump. Miller, Sessions, Bolton,etc and Bannon STILL involved somehow behind the scenes… we already have nihilism. Maybe a reboot would be the best thing. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22396 "2018-07-02T17:33:19Z")
trump proposes “Fair and Reciprocal Trade Act”. Yes, look at the acronym. > **[Trump administration set to abandon fundamental WTO rules after devising bill...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-set-abandon-fundamental-105841849.html)** > > Donald Trump’s administration has drafted a bill that proposes abandoning fundamental principles of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act, dubbed the Fart Act, would give the president licence to raise tariffs... ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22397 "2018-07-02T18:24:57Z")
If there’s anything Trump is good at, its branding. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22398 "2018-07-02T18:29:54Z")
I’d like to see him branded, wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22399 "2018-07-02T18:41:23Z")
The only chance I might vote Republican is in a local race where the Republican has publicly sided against Trump. At first I was going to say that probably won’t happen. But maybe being in a red state means that it could–counting on enough Republicans to vote for them anyways. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22400 "2018-07-02T19:04:45Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’d like to see him branded, wouldn’t you? I propose D S (the Delta is a dunce cap). ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22401 "2018-07-02T23:03:45Z")
[Here](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375) is an article about how Trump is grooming the US for fascism. To me it is a compelling description of what is happening. YMMV. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22402 "2018-07-02T23:27:05Z")
> [@Quint](#): > > [Here](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fintan-o-toole-trial-runs-for-fascism-are-in-full-flow-1.3543375) is an article about how Trump is grooming the US for fascism. To me it is a compelling description of what is happening. YMMV. Excellent article. Short, worth reading. > [@](#): > > …Fascism does not need a majority – it typically comes to power with about 40 per cent support and then uses control and intimidation to consolidate that power. So it doesn’t matter if most people hate you, as long as your 40 per cent is fanatically committed. That’s been tested out too. And fascism of course needs a propaganda machine so effective that it creates for its followers a universe of “alternative facts” impervious to unwanted realities. Again, the testing for this is very far advanced. > > Moral boundaries > > But when you’ve done all this, there is a crucial next step, usually the trickiest of all. You have to undermine moral boundaries, inure people to the acceptance of acts of extreme cruelty. Like hounds, people have to be blooded. They have to be given the taste for savagery. Fascism does this by building up the sense of threat from a despised out-group. This allows the members of that group to be dehumanised. Once that has been achieved, you can gradually up the ante, working through the stages from breaking windows to extermination. > … ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22403 "2018-07-03T05:28:26Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’d like to see him branded, wouldn’t you? I think he paid Stormy Daniels extra for that. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/22404 "2018-07-03T06:49:10Z")
Gee I wonder if President Descanting the Insalubrious will give an ass’s whinny about Europe’s [warnings](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/eu-warns-trump-auto-tariffs-could-lead-to-300-billion-retaliation) about a $300 billion retaliation on US goods. But hey - all in the name of that sacrosanct go-to “for National Security” thingie to cling on to, for, oh, just about EVERY FUCKING OCCASION - why not, then. Surprised Turkey\* is one of the countries slapping the US with retaliatory tariffs - I thought преЦАРдент Trump and President Merde-on-Lawn were “like this” (with crossed fingers). I see possible disillusion here - a possible Diamond/Streisand tune, perhaps, in the form of some kind of “what up with that?” tweet from President Bum. It could be awkward - I could see Dr. Phil’s brow furrowing in concern. \*Sure, they’re part of the EU, but they’re not exactly considered ideal team players at this moment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1119) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1121)