# 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:** 1157
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23125 "2018-07-18T01:10:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I can’t wait for people to give up on the incredibly juvenile and salacious “pee tape” references and focus on the fact that Trump is compromised, not how. Because the fact that he’s compromised means he no longer fears the tape, if one exists; he fears getting himself and everyone he knows murdered by Putin. I don’t think he fears being murdered by Putin; he fears being bankrupted by him and having documents turned over to federal prosecutors that would incriminate him and put him and his children in jail for life. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What do you think the purpose of that trip was, once you strip away the innocent-sounding language from the description? “A thaw in relations”; “strive for a better relationship”? :dubious: The purpose of the trip was to serve their oligarchal masters in America, who have been wanting to have a better relationship with oligarchs in Russia. Russia doesn’t control the US without its consent; they have waded into American politics because the billionaire class sees Putin as a tool in helping them destroy democracy, which is what many people in our own country have wanted for years. The disease, the rot…it started from within. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23126 "2018-07-18T01:56:57Z")
Not even the deplorables are buying this would/wouldn’t thing, right? Right? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23127 "2018-07-18T01:58:57Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Not even the deplorables are buying this would/wouldn’t thing, right? Right? I think you’re underestimating their ability to rationalize and overestimating the importance they place on facts, friend. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23128 "2018-07-18T02:52:25Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Speaking of alternate history, did he also say that Queen Elizabeth reviewed her Honor Guard for the first time in 70 years? (Despite the fact that she’s only been queen for 65.) Any idea what he was babbling about? Perhaps this was his interpretation of the elegant comment she made about horses asses? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23129 "2018-07-18T03:02:27Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just posted this in another thread but I think it’s relevant here and I don’t wanna type that much again: > > I can’t wait for people to give up on the incredibly juvenile and salacious “pee tape” references and focus on the fact that Trump is compromised, not how. Because the fact that he’s compromised means he no longer fears the tape, if one exists; he fears getting himself and everyone he knows murdered by Putin. > > Do you think [the Novichok poisonings in the UK](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/15/world/europe/uk-skripal-russia-novichok.html), right before Trump visited, were an accident or a random act? > > That was a message: Putin can get to Trump and to Trump’s family; Trump knows it and knows he can’t stop Putin. The only thing he could do that might save his neck would be to admit what was going on and fall back on our government’s resources but he can’t and won’t do that because of both fear and his ego. And because he thinks that there’s a scenario that ends with him winning it all and coming out on top (here’s the secret tho: there isn’t!). > > Attempts to remove him will not be successful because Putin also has dirt on way too many Republicans, thanks to the emails he hacked back in 2016 (and ongoing, no doubt) and because many in the GOP likely also see a scenario where they come out on top after things shake out (here’s another secret: they won’t!). Do you forget that [a bunch of Republicans were in Russian for the 4th of July holiday just a couple of weeks ago](https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republicans-on-russia-trip-face-scorn-and-ridicule-from-critics-at-home/2018/07/05/68f0f810-807e-11e8-b0ef-fffcabeff946_story.html?utm_term=.0868873e6244)? What do you think the purpose of that trip was, once you strip away the innocent-sounding language from the description? “A thaw in relations”; “strive for a better relationship”? :dubious: I seriously doubt that Trump fears Russia is gonna whack him or his family. What he fears is the big unveiling that he’s been laundering probably billions of dollars in rubles for his puppet masters, and that he and his family are going to jail in the US of A. Even if you believe Russia would do an overt act of war in America on the family of the President Trump, even I would say there has to be some sort of retaliation and retribution. Regardless of what I think, do you think a narcissist like Trump really cares if Jared or a niece gets poisoned? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23130 "2018-07-18T05:20:45Z")
Good article by the New Yorker’s editor in chief about the aftermath of the summit: > **[The Unwinding of Donald Trump](https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-unwinding-of-donald-trump)** > > The contemptible remarks that Trump delivered alongside Vladimir Putin seemed to mark a turning point, even for some of his most ardent defenders. I had not been aware of the bit mentioned in passing at the beginning – that Trump considers insufficiently enthusiastic applause for him to be “treasonous”. I believe Kim Jong Un feels the same way (about himself, that is). ---
**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 18, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23131 "2018-07-18T05:21:10Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > A suspended sentence. But death? No, I am a cruel and vindictive person. Take his money, all of it, down to the last dime. Give him a third-story walkup studio apartment with a hotplate, buy his dinner at the Dollar Store. Free medical care, want him to live a long, _long_ time. > > Oh yeah, I like this plan a lot. In Barstow. Supervised by Najib. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23132 "2018-07-18T05:27:44Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Good article by the New Yorker’s editor in chief about the aftermath of the summit: > [The Unwinding of Donald Trump | The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-unwinding-of-donald-trump) > > I had not been aware of the bit mentioned in passing at the beginning – that Trump considers insufficiently enthusiastic applause for him to be “treasonous”. I believe Kim Jong Un feels the same way (about himself, that is). I remember the Blue Ash rally. > [@David Remnick](#): > > Now we will see who, particularly in the Republican Party, will stand up not to applaud the Great Leader but to find the capacity to say what is obvious and what is true. In the Republican Party? None of them. ETA: One had the balls to shout “you lie” at President Obama during the SotU; none of them have even that much courage to call Trump out for what he is. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23133 "2018-07-18T05:33:56Z")
By the way, is it just me, or is it curious that the AP story headline is [Trump backs off siding with Russia over US intelligence](https://apnews.com/96d2a363f39c4230ba28f1bf10989218/Trump-backs-off-siding-with-Russia-over-US-intelligence) when it should be “Trump Continues to Insist ‘Other People’; Not Russians”? Why is the spin in Trump’s favor ffs? ---
**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 18, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23134 "2018-07-18T07:04:00Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Yeah… [this](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-groups/u-s-move-to-protect-dark-money-donors-raises-russia-concerns-idUSKBN1K727L?il=0) doesn’t seem like a good idea right now. Or ever. > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Treasury Department decision to safeguard the identities of so-called “dark money” donors to politically active nonprofit groups spawned warnings on Tuesday that the policy could inadvertently aid foreign actors, including Russia. > > The Trump administration’s Treasury said on Monday it will no longer require certain tax-exempt groups to disclose the identities of their donors to the Internal Revenue Service. > > The move was hailed by Republican lawmakers as a win for free speech. **The conservative political group FreedomWorks urged Congress to enact legislation that would codify the policy change to prevent its reversal by a future administration.** > > Democrats criticized the change as a setback for election transparency at a time of high tension over Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The part I bolded quite gets my goat. Never heard of FreedomWorks before. Sounds Orwellian enough. That the repuke-icans can foist this off as a, huh?..win for free speech? is just plain lobotomized tooletry. Also from the article: > [@](#): > > The Treasury’s policy change was unveiled just hours after federal investigators announced conspiracy charges against a Russian woman with ties to the National Rifle Association, a nonprofit group whose donors would be protected by the change. > > “(The) Treasury Department made it easier for anonymous foreign donors to funnel dark money into non-profits the same day a Russian national linked to the NRA was arrested for attempting to influence our elections,” Senator Ron Wyden, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. > > NRA officials were not immediately available to comment. Ah, the serendipity of shit. Funny how…stuff…just seems to, I dunno, work out like that, sometimes. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > By the way, is it just me, or is it curious that the AP story headline is [Trump backs off siding with Russia over US intelligence](https://apnews.com/96d2a363f39c4230ba28f1bf10989218/Trump-backs-off-siding-with-Russia-over-US-intelligence) when it should be “Trump Continues to Insist ‘Other People’; Not Russians”? > > Why is the spin in Trump’s favor ffs? Sure, AP should’ve gone with the latter. Sometimes the odd PBS Newshour i-view, especially with someone gross like Marc Short (bon voyage!) or Matt Schlapp, has had a softball-y question or two, and I’d get all “Judy!\*\*…really?” We can thank U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden for being one of the earlier enablers of what I’ll hereby officially dub The Handmaiden Voyage, as he [ruled that federal funding can be reprioritised for faith-based groups over organisations like Planned Parenthood.](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-judge-planned-parenthood-family-planning-mike-pence-faith-groups-a8451306.html). > [@](#): > > The reproductive health care nonprofit filed a lawsuit along with the the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association in May attempting to block the guidelines from taking effect. > > Under Mr Trump, HHS will begin reassessing which family-planning groups receive millions in grants, favouring faith-based organisations and groups conducting abstinence counselling over birth control and abortion providers. \*\*Or, if I’m blazing stoned enough, more of a Carey Grantian “Ju-dy, Ju-dy, Ju-dy!”. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23135 "2018-07-18T07:36:08Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I can’t wait for people to give up on the incredibly juvenile and salacious “pee tape” references and focus on the fact that Trump is compromised, not how. > [@asahi](#): > > I doubt Trump cares if he’s caught in a pee tape; he would probably proudly own that moment. I think you’re both underestimating the fragility of Loser Donald’s ego and his particular fear of the pee tape. Firstly, Donald almost certainly believes the tape exists. You’ll recall he specifically instructed Comey to investigate whether it was real or not. That’s not the act of someone who has never paid a hooker for a golden shower party. Secondly, Donald is severely threatened by any implication that any aspect of him isn’t great or terrific or the best (witness his 30-year tantrum over the size of his hands). The existence of a tape would be proof that someone had to be paid to do sex stuff to him, which would mean he’s not the ladies’ man he makes himself out to be. If he’s in any state of undress, it’ll also show how obese and unattractive he is. It could show even worse - maybe that he has a small penis, maybe that he can’t get it up, maybe he gets peed on himself, maybe he gets grossed out and throws up (and illness is just another sign of weakness to him.) Russia wouldn’t have to try to kill him or expose his finances to destroy him. All they’d have to do is reveal that tape to the world and it’d be incontrovertible proof of his loser-ness that no amount of screaming “FAKE NEWS!” would be able to deny. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23136 "2018-07-18T07:42:49Z")
“Still better than Crooked Hillary. Now, let’s get on with getting rid o’ them evil Muslims and the Mexicans who keep raping our white women.” is how his supporters will respond. I doubt the rest of the world would be more disgusted than they already are. His sexual peccadilloes don’t concern me nearly as much as pretty much everything else that statistical anomaly of a president has done. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23137 "2018-07-18T10:15:00Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > [John Kelly gave Congressional Republicans the green light to tear into Trump after the Putin Presser yesterday.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/397552-kelly-lobbied-republicans-to-rebuke-trump-for-putin-press-conference) > > Man, how bad do you have to suck if your own chief-of-staff is lobbying politicians against you? That’s not the main thing. The main thing is that this is an exception; they are all normally muzzled. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23138 "2018-07-18T10:15:31Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Trump is so thin skinned, and this criticism so strong, that he should be in full on Twitter tantrum mode now. Has there been a single tweet yet lashing out at the deep state for undermining him? If not, it sounds like his people have hidden his phone. They may realize how dangerous his place is and that it will take a concerted effort to fix. They can’t keep his phone forever, sooner or later Trump will derail their plans. Maybe somebody installed some kind of [Twitter-nanny software](https://images.dailykos.com/images/564688/large/Clippy_TrumpTweet.jpg) in his phone. 😛 ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23139 "2018-07-18T10:26:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > One of them was pretty typical of the bunch. Speaking in that southern drawl that one associates with country music and the kind of total political cluelessness that elects Republicans to Congress, he declared that Trump was a man of great integrity, and that it was better to be friendly with Russia than to show up at a summit hurling insults, and that it seemed to this eminent scholar that y’all leftists just want waahr. > > Well, no actually, we don’t want waahr, and that’s kind of the point. Strongman dictators like Putin look for weakness in other leaders and exploit them. When Khrushchev perceived weakness in Kennedy after the 1961 Vienna summit, the consequences were dire. Khrushchev was under pressure to deal with his festering “Berlin problem”, and as soon as he had assessed Kennedy as weak and unlikely to retaliate, the infamous Berlin wall went up almost immediately. Not long after, Soviet nuclear missiles starting flowing into Cuba. The historical anecdote reminds me of past Presidential responses to such crises. Who can forget FDR’s stirring statement “Emperor Hirohito was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today” or JFK’s firm “I accept our intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia placed missiles in Cuba – could be other people also” or GWB’s definitive “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be al-Qaeda”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23140 "2018-07-18T11:56:25Z")
> [@APB](#): > > That may actually be sort-of true. In the past the Queen and Prince Philip together have welcomed visiting heads of state but the Queen has usually left it to him to do the bit where they walk alongside their guest during the inspection of the guards. As Philip recently stopped making public appearances (Harry’s wedding being a rare exception), it was a bit unusual for her to be doing this instead. But that also means that it wasn’t some sort of special honour for Trump. Rather it was clearly that Philip had taken the view that the event wasn’t that important. And who can blame him? That said, I would be very surprised if the Queen had never ever done it herself before. > > It is perhaps a pity that Philip wasn’t doing it, as one presumes he would have been rather less tactful in dealing with Trump’s apparent cluelessness. > > Not that it is especially reassuring that this may be the closest to something vaguely accurate that Trump has said over the past few days. Not very accurate at all – she reviewed the troops herself as recently as 2011 when Obama came to visit > **[Trump wrongly says queen reviewed guard for 1st time in 70 years](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claims-queen-reviewed-honor-guard-for-1st-time-in-70-years-shes-been-queen-for-65/)** > > President Trump claimed Queen Elizabeth II reviewed her Honor Guard for the first time in 70 years, but it doesn't add up ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23141 "2018-07-18T13:59:13Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The existence of a tape would be proof that someone had to be paid to do sex stuff to him, which would mean he’s not the ladies’ man he makes himself out to be. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Trump has spent over three decades working his image as a ladies’ man, and it’s VERY important to a lot of his base. Search Twitter, or message boards that love him, and the idea that Trump must be successful because beautiful women love him is a surprisingly common thing. They’ll post pictures of Trump with a bunch of models and say “look, he’s awesome.” The fact the models are paid to be there is something they then deny; nope, those are women who just love him, you see. I’m not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23142 "2018-07-18T14:12:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not very accurate at all – she reviewed the troops herself as recently as 2011 when Obama came to visit > > [Trump wrongly says queen reviewed guard for 1st time in 70 years - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-claims-queen-reviewed-honor-guard-for-1st-time-in-70-years-shes-been-queen-for-65/) No. [When Obama walked along the line of guards formally inspecting them, it was Philip who accompanied him](https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/president-barack-obama-is-accompanied-by-britians-prince-news-photo/114934808). The Queen and Mrs Obama merely watched them do so. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23143 "2018-07-18T14:40:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Russia wouldn’t have to try to kill him or expose his finances to destroy him. Dude, Putin doesn’t humiliate his enemies. Putin doesn’t have enemies. Putin has tools. And when those tools are no longer useful, or if, like a broken hammer, they become a possible source of harm, he discards them. Have you not been paying attention to the trail of corpses that he’s left behind over the past 20 years or so? That wasn’t done out of hate or spite; it was pure self-interest. Donald Trump doesn’t fear being “destroyed”; his ego doesn’t allow him to believe he can be “destroyed”. But it can be made very, VERY clear to even that kind of man that he can watch his family die, knowing that he is responsible and, most importantly to that kind of man, that he will be last. The kompromat sets things up. Trump’s ego allows him to believe he can make lemons out of lemonade, so he goes along. Now he’s in deep, but he can’t back out because it’ll cost everything: the Trump family lineage would be lucky to continue. That’s how I see it. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/23144 "2018-07-18T14:42:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The importance of this cannot be overstated. Trump has spent over three decades working his image as a ladies’ man, and it’s VERY important to a lot of his base. Search Twitter, or message boards that love him, and the idea that Trump must be successful because beautiful women love him is a surprisingly common thing. They’ll post pictures of Trump with a bunch of models and say “look, he’s awesome.” The fact the models are paid to be there is something they then deny; nope, those are women who just love him, you see. I’m not kidding. Okay, but even a ladies man knows that if he wants a golden shower with multiple women in the same room peeing on him or each other, or on the furniture marking their territory, then he’s probably gonna have to pay for it. He could just as easily convince himself that he’s one of the few people in the world who can afford and organize such an event. It’s like something out of one of Nero’s infamous orgies. And maybe by ‘paying’ for it, that was just one of the expenses involved in the party. It’s not like some single or divorced 50-something staying at a Holiday Inn and having to pay 10-20% of his weekly take-home pay to get an ‘escort’. I could be wrong, but I don’t think this really keeps Donald up at night, which is not to say that he would want it leaked. After all, what is seen cannot be unseen. But this is the guy who was caught on tape bragging about sexual assault, and his republican allies in congress have consistently and increasingly shown a remarkable ability to suspend reality and make excuses for essentially anything the man does. He brags about grabbing women in the pussy. He uses foul language. He makes references to Mike Brzesinski and Megyn Kelly having blood coming out of their whatever. His legions of rednecks simply don’t care. They’re fighting a culture war, and he is their Beowulf. He could claim the tape is doctored, or that he was drugged - his people would still probably forgive him for it. The only thing Trump has to do - and this is critical - is to keep winning, to keep his voters in farm country, coal country, and white suburbia believing that there’s hope for a return to America, the idyllic place that it used to be in their minds. Trump’s Waterloo will, in my estimation, be confronting the consequences of his gross incompetence. There will come a point at which people will realize how destructive he has been, because they will be living with the pain. They might not immediately blame Trump for causing their misery, but they will absolutely blame him if he can’t fix it - and trust me, he can’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1156) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1158)