# 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:** 1222
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24425 "2018-08-24T16:11:47Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is there a transcript anywhere? [Transcript.](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1808/23/CPT.01.html) I’d vote for Chris Cuomo. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24426 "2018-08-24T16:17:23Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > yeah, umm, [flailing](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-attacks-justice-system-20180823-story,amp.html) > > _In a “Fox & Friends” interview aired Thursday, Trump argued it “almost ought to be illegal” for “flippers” to get plea deals in exchange for testimony …_ > > heard someone paraphrase it as “_coöperating with prosecutors ought to be a crime_”, which sounds pretty close to the CFSG’s rationality delta Drain the rationality delta!!! ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24427 "2018-08-24T16:40:07Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > You know… don’t put all your Basques in one Exit. _slow clap while frantically searching for a machete_ ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24428 "2018-08-24T17:42:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Is there a transcript anywhere? [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1808/23/CPT.01.html](http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1808/23/CPT.01.html) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24429 "2018-08-24T19:22:13Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Sorry for the cross post, but this is significant: > > [https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/jeff-sessions-senate-support-republican-leaders-trump-794870](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/jeff-sessions-senate-support-republican-leaders-trump-794870) > > Republicans in the Senate have given their blessing for Trump to fire Jeff Sessions after the mid-terms, which will inevitably lead this country to a constitutional crisis. > > It’s happening, folks. It is now beyond clear that the Republican party cares absolutely nothing for the rule of law. > > Get ready. > > Senator Corker, the grave mistake that people like you made is assuming that you could remain a Republican and have any sense of honor. Where are you now? Oh that’s right, headed for retirement. Your party is the shit stain on American history - God damn you all. It’s obstruction. Obvious obstruction. Trump and his buddies want to end the Russia investigation. Meanwhile, Trump is twittering about going after and “investigating” Clinton AGAIN. **Why won’t that twisted fat greasy fucker just DIE.** ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24430 "2018-08-24T20:39:47Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > … Meanwhile, Trump is twittering about going after and “investigating” Clinton AGAIN. Really? I’ve been listening to the news all day, and no-one has mentioned it … Damn responsible journalism! ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24431 "2018-08-24T21:51:30Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > It’s obstruction. Obvious obstruction. Trump and his buddies want to end the Russia investigation. Meanwhile, Trump is twittering about going after and “investigating” Clinton AGAIN. > > **Why won’t that twisted fat greasy fucker just DIE.** \*\<\*\*ThelmaLou \*\*hands \*\*SteveG1 \*_a cold cloth, a cup of camomile tea, and a kitten to pet\>_ It’ll be okay, my friend. I hear ya and I agree, believe me, but we gotta know that it will be okay. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24432 "2018-08-24T22:20:26Z")
This is a beautiful piece of writing. Wish I could quote the whole thing. But go and read: [ **How This Will End** _Sooner or later, tyrants are always abandoned by their followers_](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-end-of-trumps-reign/568480/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > [@](#): > > …But to really get the feel for the Trump administration’s end, we must turn to the finest political psychologist of them all, William Shakespeare. The text is in the final act of what superstitious actors only refer to as the “Scottish play.” One of the nobles who has turned on their murderous usurper king describes Macbeth’s predicament: > > ``` > Those he commands move only in command, > > Nothing in love. Now does he feel his title > > Hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe > > Upon a dwarfish thief. > > ``` > > And so it will be for Trump. To be clear, these are very different people. Macbeth is an utterly absorbing, troubling, tragic, and compelling figure. Unlike America’s germaphobic president, who copped five draft deferments and has yet to visit the thousands of American soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan or Iraq, he is physically brave. In fact, the first thing we hear about him is that in the heat of battle with a rebel against King Duncan (whom he later murders) Macbeth “unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops.” He is apparently faithful to his wife, has a conscience (that he overcomes), knows guilt and remorse, and has self-knowledge. He also has a pretty good command of the English language. In all these respects he is as unlike Trump as one can be. > > But in the moment of losing power, the two will be alike. A tyrant is unloved, and although the laws and institutions of the United States have proven a brake on Trump, his spirit remains tyrannical—that is, utterly self-absorbed and self-concerned, indifferent to the suffering of others, knowing no moral restraint. He expects fealty and gives none. Such people can exert power for a long time, by playing on the fear and cupidity, the gullibility and the hatreds of those around them. Ideological fervor can substitute for personal affection and attachment for a time, and so too can blind terror and sheer stupidity, but in the end, these fall away as well. > … ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24433 "2018-08-24T23:48:40Z")
Trump going [full QAnon](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-in-oval-office-meets-promoter-of-qanon-conspiracy-theory-that-says-democrats-run-pedophile-cult?ref=scroll). "\*On Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for an Oval Office photo with one of the leading promoters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that top Democrats are part of a global pedophile cult. YouTube conspiracy theorist Lionel Lebron was in the White House for an event on Thursday, according to a video Lebron posted online. During the visit, Lebron and his wife posed for a smiling picture with Trump in the Oval Office. \*" ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24434 "2018-08-25T00:12:47Z")
Unbelievable. It’s the old, “I’m the president and I believe them and so will you!!!” Of course, even THIS line of thinking is good enough to impeach in a world with rules… ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24435 "2018-08-25T00:22:47Z")
> [@](#): > > All four White House officials the Beast did speak with about about how Trump, the leader of the free world, ended up in a smiling photo op at the Resolute Desk with a prominent QAnon conspiracy theorist, pleaded ignorance about when this occurred, and why. Two of these West Wing officials audibly could not contain their laughter. [from **Fiveyearlurker’s** link above] :D:D ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24436 "2018-08-25T00:34:53Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Trump going [full QAnon](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-in-oval-office-meets-promoter-of-qanon-conspiracy-theory-that-says-democrats-run-pedophile-cult?ref=scroll). > > "\*On Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for an Oval Office photo with one of the leading promoters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that top Democrats are part of a global pedophile cult. > > YouTube conspiracy theorist Lionel Lebron was in the White House for an event on Thursday, according to a video Lebron posted online. During the visit, Lebron and his wife posed for a smiling picture with Trump in the Oval Office. \*" You can’t make this shit up. :smack: Do you think thump thought this was LeBron James? Did thump ask him any basketball questions? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24437 "2018-08-25T01:26:41Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is a beautiful piece of writing. Wish I could quote the whole thing. But go and read: > > [ **How This Will End** > _Sooner or later, tyrants are always abandoned by their followers_](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-end-of-trumps-reign/568480/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcom’s feet and be baited by the rabble’s curse. Though Burnam wood be come to Dunsiane, and thou opposed being of no woman born, yet I will try the last. Lay on, McDuff, and damned be he who first calls, “Hold! Enough!” The next stage direction is “Enter McDuff with MacBeth’s head on a pike”. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24438 "2018-08-25T01:33:58Z")
So when do _exeunt_, preferably pursued by bear ? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24439 "2018-08-25T01:56:53Z")
Are we past the point where a Republican who turns on Trump could still be considered principled? ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24440 "2018-08-25T02:53:30Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > So when do _exeunt_, preferably pursued by bear ? The bear is the mascot of which country? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24441 "2018-08-25T04:21:31Z")
Insane Qanon story confirmed by _WaPo_, the _Hill_, and others. I wish it were funny, could have some fun with it if it were funny. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24442 "2018-08-25T05:01:56Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Are we past the point where a Republican who turns on Trump could still be considered principled? IMO, oh yeah. Way beyond. Anyone turning on him now is too little, too late. It’s like condemning a serial killer because he’s made his 51st kill. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24443 "2018-08-25T05:59:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Pecker had a whole safe full of blackmail material on Trump: > > [AP: National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe | AP News](https://apnews.com/143be3c52d4746af8546ca6772754407) I wonder if this was part of that blackmail material - [Ex-Trump Tower doorman-released from “catch and kill contract” about alleged Trump affair that resulted in an illegitimate child.](https://ktla.com/2018/08/24/ex-trump-world-tower-doorman-releases-catch-and-kill-contract-about-alleged-trump-affair-illegitimate-child/) Not impeachable but that one is likely to really smart. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24444 "2018-08-25T06:09:23Z")
_I came out against the war on Moratorium Day. It was very early on Moratorium Day, well before noon. Not like some political opportunists who waited until four or five in the afternoon._ Ted Kennedy (as imagined by David Frye on his 1971 record, _Richard Nixon, Superstar_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1221) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1223)