# 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:** 1228
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24545 "2018-08-27T00:07:37Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > And give the rebuttal to Obama. So Bush and Obama are giving the eulogies That’s got to burn. 🙂 I wonder what he’ll tweet during the ceremony to get some attention. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24546 "2018-08-27T00:15:20Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > So we can expect him to attend, just out of spite. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > And give the rebuttal to Obama. Would not in the least surprise me. ---
**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 27, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24547 "2018-08-27T00:23:44Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > So Bush and Obama are giving the eulogies That’s got to burn. 🙂 > > I wonder what he’ll tweet during the ceremony to get some attention. Which Bush, “my dick is bigger than Sadam’s”, or “they tried to kill my Dad”? McCain seemed to me to want to win a war to replace Viet Nam. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24548 "2018-08-27T00:32:07Z")
_The Washington Post_ is now reporting that Chump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain’s military and political service and instead ordered the bland sympathy statement that was issued. I could not care less about McCain, but that’s pretty cold. Completely within character though. ---
**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 27, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24549 "2018-08-27T00:57:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > _The Washington Post_ is now reporting that Chump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain’s military and political service and instead ordered the bland sympathy statement that was issued. I could not care less about McCain, but that’s pretty cold. Completely within character though. Were he a normal person, I would say he was embarrassed about his previous comments…no, a normal person would have apologized while McCain was alive. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24550 "2018-08-27T01:11:34Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Were he a normal person, I would say he was embarrassed about his previous comments…no, a normal person would have apologized while McCain was alive. A normal person would never have said that to begin with. ---
**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 27, 2018, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24551 "2018-08-27T01:15:12Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > A normal person would never have said that to begin with. Indeed. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24552 "2018-08-27T03:32:00Z")
As far as I can tell, he’s playing to his base-- the right-wingers who hate McCain for turning his thumb down on the Senate floor and saying not-so-nice things about Palin and ultimately not toeing the Trumpian line. I know more than a handful of “Republicans” who absolutely loathe McCain, and there’s a large overlap in the Venn Diagram between them and those who are shitbird racist deplorables. You know, his base. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24553 "2018-08-27T04:06:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > _The Washington Post_ is now reporting that Chump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain’s military and political service and instead ordered the bland sympathy statement that was issued. I could not care less about McCain, but that’s pretty cold. Completely within character though. The interesting/hilarious part is that the WH staff is taking care to distance themselves from the decision. WAPO article: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-rejected-plans-for-a-white-house-statement-praising-mccain/2018/08/26/0d0478e4-a967-11e8-8f4b-aee063e14538\_story.html?utm\_term=.0ccac7d17acd](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-rejected-plans-for-a-white-house-statement-praising-mccain/2018/08/26/0d0478e4-a967-11e8-8f4b-aee063e14538_story.html?utm_term=.0ccac7d17acd) In other news, Trump met with a leading QAnon promoter and Infowars regular on Thursday. They didn’t discuss Q’s claims, which is just as well as Trump isn’t going to want to admit that he and Mueller are secret friends jointly investigating a global pedo conspiracy. [http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/403549-trump-meets-with-promoter-of-qanon-conspiracy-theory-in-oval?rnd=1535151221](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/403549-trump-meets-with-promoter-of-qanon-conspiracy-theory-in-oval?rnd=1535151221) ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24554 "2018-08-27T07:04:00Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > As far as I can tell, he’s playing to his base-- the right-wingers who hate McCain for turning his thumb down on the Senate floor and saying not-so-nice things about Palin and ultimately not toeing the Trumpian line. You think Loser Donald’s hatred is that _nuanced_? Nah. He hates McCain because McCain lost to Obama. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24555 "2018-08-27T12:04:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You think Loser Donald’s hatred is that _nuanced_? > > Nah. He hates McCain because McCain lost to Obama. That’s still too nuanced for Donny. Trump’s criteria for supporting _anybody_ is unquestioned one-way loyalty to him personally and how much they suck up to him (e.g. Mike Pence, Devin Nunes), or in the case of foreign autocrats to “say nice things about him” (e.g. Putin). ---
**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 27, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24556 "2018-08-27T12:23:22Z")
> [@robby](#): > > That’s still too nuanced for Donny. > > Trump’s criteria for supporting _anybody_ is unquestioned one-way loyalty to him personally and how much they suck up to him (e.g. Mike Pence, Devin Nunes), or in the case of foreign autocrats to “say nice things about him” (e.g. Putin). This. Once upon a time, for a moment, DJTknew enough about McCain to insult him, but right now, I"m guessing he doesn’t have a clear idea of who John McCain actually _was_, except that McCain wasn’t personally loyal to him and now he’s getting a lot of coverage just for dying. _“Why is that? Losers die. Why should they be in the headlines for that?”_ Wait and see-- a couple more days of _all McCain all the time_, and thump will do something really big and stupid to get back on the front page above the fold. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24557 "2018-08-27T13:03:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He hates McCain because McCain lost to Obama. Simple petty, juvenile jealousy. Cadet Bone Spurs knows he was never nearly the man the POW hero was, and he has seen enough about integrity and principle in others to realize he doesn’t have them himself. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24558 "2018-08-27T14:01:37Z")
A sorta ray of hope post… As long as the Dems take the majority this Nov., Elijah Cummings (D - Md) will be able to [launch multiple investigations](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-elijah-cummings-trump_us_5b805b25e4b0cd327dfc9502) into the various malfeasances of President Burning Shitbag’s administration. > [@](#): > > If Democrats retake the majority in November, Cummings will no longer have to rely on Trey Gowdy to call hearings, summon witnesses and subpoena documents. He will have the authority to pursue answers to all of his questions. To call hearings on any topic he sees fit. To depose any administration official he wants to question. There’s no question in my mind that White House chief of staff John Kelly will be the focal point of a hearing about White House security clearance procedures. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner will be asked to explain the questionable intersection of his government job and his business enterprises. Veterans Affairs chief Robert Wilkie will be called to testify about the relationship between officials at the department and members of Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club. > > The Trump administration will be put on trial and the full scope of its corruption will be exposed. Congressional hearings will be covered wall-to-wall on cable news, dominating news cycle after news cycle. Trump, more than any president in history, evaluates his success based on how the media covers the day. A barrage of hearings and subpoenas will have a deteriorating effect on Trump and completely stall the White House’s agenda. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24559 "2018-08-27T14:14:58Z")
Yeah, but Benghazi. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24560 "2018-08-27T14:15:12Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You think Loser Donald’s hatred is that _nuanced_? In some cases, I think it is. He tosses stuff out to the rabid shit-monkeys at his rallies and sees what plays best. Shitting on McCain plays well, so he knows he needs to keep his distance on giving him any praise. Trump is a showman, he understands his base and knows just how deplorable he needs to be to keep their support. Offering any praise of McCain now would make him look weak, and it doesn’t earn him any supporters. Sure, there’s a base-level hatred he has of McCain that drives him, but he knows that his McCain hatred also satisfies his horde of rabid shit-monkeys, so he plays it up publicly, like scrapping the White House’s public statement honoring McCain. Or raising White House flags to full-staff less than 48 hours after McCain died. So while I wouldn’t call Trump nuanced, per se, he definitely knows what appeals to his base, and what doesn’t. Praising McCain in death wouldn’t play well. I think snubbing McCain in death is totally calculated. JMO. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24561 "2018-08-27T14:35:12Z")
He could change today. He could pretend that he and John were besties forever, pour buckets of praise over his head, while standing close enough to ensure that most of it splashes onto himself. Il Douche doesn’t contradict himself, he simply ignores any such minor problems. If his base reacts negatively to all this, that is precisely what he will do. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24562 "2018-08-27T14:50:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > He could change today. He could pretend that he and John were besties forever, pour buckets of praise over his head, while standing close enough to ensure that most of it splashes onto himself. Il Douche doesn’t contradict himself, he simply ignores any such minor problems. > > If his base reacts negatively to all this, that is precisely what he will do. I’m willing to bet that sometime this week he manages to get in a back-handed insult on McCain with mentioning his name-- maybe a reference to “traitors that give a thumbs down at 2AM.” ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24563 "2018-08-27T16:53:59Z")
Since this is related to the clusterfuck, I thought I’d put this right here. [Second Fox News reporter leaves amid objections to network](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/23/fox-news-reporters-opinion-network-adam-housley-795278) > [@](#): > > Another on-air reporter is leaving Fox News over frustrations with the direction and tone of the network, the second in the last three weeks to defect for those reasons. (Interesting choice of words …) The article references Adam Housley, who had worked for Fox since 2001. Apparently the first reporter to leave for the same reasons is Conor Powell, and I wonder if there may be more come: > [@](#): > > Housley’s objections to the Trump-era Fox News are widely shared within the network’s reporting corps, according to current and former employees of the network. Conor Powell, the former Fox News Jerusalem bureau reporter, left the network earlier this month for similar reasons, according to a person close to him. > > “People are losing their minds,” one current Fox News personality said, adding that reporters have relayed in conversation that the climate for them is worse than ever before. ---
**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 27, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24564 "2018-08-27T17:39:36Z")
Perhaps he will make enough money at another job to buy a razor. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1227) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1229)