# 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:** 123
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2441 "2017-03-14T04:39:50Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! Brilliant! Jesus, really? Stranger ---
**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 14, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2442 "2017-03-14T17:39:52Z")
[NY attorney general: Tillerson used ‘alias’ email to discuss climate at Exxon](http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/323776-ny-attorney-general-tillerson-used-alias-email-account-to-discuss) > [@](#): > > Secretary of State Rex Tillerson used an “alias email account” while CEO of Exxon Mobil Corp. to discuss climate change issues, the New York attorney general’s office alleged on Monday. > > In a letter to a state judge, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office said an investigation into the company’s climate science revealed Tillerson used an email account under the name “Wayne Tracker” between at least 2008 and 2015. > > Schneiderman’s office had issued a subpoena for internal Exxon documents related to its investigation into the company’s knowledge of climate change. > > Officials told the judge that Exxon had not included emails from the “Wayne Tracker” account in its reply to the subpoena and that company officials hadn’t even acknowledged that the account existed. > > “Tillerson used this secondary email address to send and receive materials regarding important matters, including those concerning to the risk-management issues related to climate change that are the focus of [the] investigation,” John Oleske, the senior enforcement counsel in the attorney general’s office, wrote. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2443 "2017-03-14T17:54:39Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [NY attorney general: Tillerson used ‘alias’ email to discuss climate at Exxon](http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/323776-ny-attorney-general-tillerson-used-alias-email-account-to-discuss) I’m sure there was a perfectly good reason why he did this; and that everything “Wayne Tracker” said was something that Exxon would be proud to have made public. And monkeys may fly out of my butt. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2444 "2017-03-14T18:33:49Z")
Wayne Tracker sounds like a Max Power kind of name. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2445 "2017-03-14T18:38:39Z")
It ain’t no Carlos Danger. Better than John Barron, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2446 "2017-03-14T18:58:48Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Wayne Tracker sounds like a Max Power kind of name. You don’t subpoena Wayne Tracker: you strap yourself in and feel the C°’s! ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2447 "2017-03-14T18:59:28Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Sean Spicer doesn’t think the President meant wiretapping when he said “How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones” > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w) See, everyone thinks that ‘tapp’ was a typo. It wasn’t - it is Trump speech for, well, for something else that I’m not currently clever enough to think up a funny definition for. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2448 "2017-03-14T21:18:57Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > It ain’t no Carlos Danger. Better than John Barron, though. Nothing will surpass Carlos Danger. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2449 "2017-03-14T21:29:43Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > Nothing will surpass Carlos Danger. [Not even Ron Mexico](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/who-heck-ron-mexico/312971/). ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2450 "2017-03-15T00:05:58Z")
But on Rachel Maddow’s twitter feed ( @maddow ), this just appeared: > [@](#): > > BREAKING: We’ve got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC. > > (Seriously). Obviously, I can’t evaluate this at this time. I’m not even sure if she has a habit of doing “clickbait” headlines; I do know she is a liberal commentator, but that’s about it. I don’t know if they are recent-ish, or even if her account has been hacked. I will be tuning in then, though. [Link to tweet.](https://twitter.com/maddow/status/841795163664089089) ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2451 "2017-03-15T00:33:24Z")
:[…and a follow-up tweet from @maddow](https://twitter.com/maddow/status/841807273513107456) > [@](#): > > What we’ve got is from 2005… the President’s 1040 form… details to come tonight 9PM ET, MSNBC. If true, not as juicy as I’d hoped, but we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2452 "2017-03-15T00:34:31Z")
I love the fact I can log onto my TV account and set a show to record w/o being at home. Thanks for the heads-up, **Galen**. We will see if this is anything… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2453 "2017-03-15T00:37:01Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [Not even Ron Mexico](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/07/who-heck-ron-mexico/312971/). Ha! Reminds me of some of [Sir Paul’s](http://itwas50yearsago.blogspot.mx/2012/06/pseudonyms-used-by-paul-mccartney.html?m=1) pseudonyms (when booking hotels and the like), such as Paul Ramon, or Apollo Vermouth. Sir Paul doesn’t sext, AFAIC. Just to make sure we’re clear. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2454 "2017-03-15T00:38:15Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I love the fact I can log onto my TV account and set a show to record w/o being at home. Thanks for the heads-up, **Galen**. We will see if this is anything… [There’s a thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=821594) started in Elections for this topic; see you over there! ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2455 "2017-03-15T18:46:45Z")
Defense Secretary Mad-Dog Mattis and Trump loyalist Mira Ricardel are clashing over Ricardel’s requirement that all Defense Department appointees prove their loyalty to Trump, thus making it impossible to fill empty jobs. Mattis is alleged to have said that if she didn’t leave, he would. > **[Sources: Mattis, Ricardel clashed over Pentagon appointees](https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2017/03/15/sources-mattis-ricardel-clashed-over-pentagon-appointees/)** > > What's holding up Pentagon nominees? Sources point to a Trump loyalist. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2456 "2017-03-15T19:15:18Z")
So the DOJ is sending out letters to land owners along the border telling them the government is taking their property to build the Wall. They are giving them a take it or leave it offer on their land, otherwise it will be condemned under imminent domain. Aren’t the Republicans opposed to imminent domain? > **[Texans Receive First Notices of Land Condemnation for Trump's Border Wall](https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-wall-mexico-condemnation-letter/)** > > The government offered $2,900 for 1.2 acres near the Rio Grande. If Flores chooses not to accept the offer, the land could be seized through eminent domain. The property in the article is covered by a treaty with Mexico preventing building on the land. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2457 "2017-03-15T19:18:47Z")
A woman who is alleged to be working as a front for the Chinese military has bought a penthouse in a Trump building. > **[Trump just got paid $15.8 million by a businesswoman connected to a Chinese...](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/exclusive-donald-trump-penthouse-buyer-has-ties-group-chinese-military-intelligence/)** > > The president's company won't explain the deal. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2458 "2017-03-15T19:29:13Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2459 "2017-03-15T20:05:58Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > So the DOJ is sending out letters to land owners along the border telling them the government is taking their property to build the Wall. **They are giving them a take it or leave it offer on their land, otherwise it will be condemned under imminent domain.** Aren’t the Republicans opposed to imminent domain? > [Texans Receive First Notices of Land Condemnation for Trump's Border Wall](https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-border-wall-mexico-condemnation-letter/) My emphasis. First, it’s eminent domain, not imminent. Second, you seem to be implying that their choice is either to accept the offer, or simply have the land taken away from them. But that’s not quite how eminent domain works. If they refuse the government offer, the government can still take their land, but it also still has to compensate them. Their refusal of the first government offer does not eliminate the property owners’ right to “just compensation” for the taking. To be honest, this is, for me, a minor issue in the whole debate over immigration policy. I believe in the principle of eminent domain, and whether or not you like the idea of a border wall, it would clearly qualify as “public use” under the Constitution, and under a whole raft of court rulings. The much more important issue here is whether we should have a wall at all, and, if we should, how the hell it will be paid for. I think the wall is a stupid idea, a multi-billion dollar boondoggle for private contractors, and a sop to bigots and xenophobes. But the eminent domain question, in this case, is small potatoes. And no, Republicans are not generally opposed to eminent domain. Eminent domain has long been accepted as a necessary power of government. While there are significant debates over the definition of “public use” (see Kelo v. New London for a prime example), and over what should constitute just compensation, very few people, short of anarchists and a minority of radical libertarians, actually oppose the basic principle. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/2460 "2017-03-15T20:25:25Z")
Ted Cruz was against EMINENT domain during the primary. [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt4gXlEteTk&feature=youtu.be) The Club for Growth opposes eminent domain. [http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/07/club-growth/trump-supports-eminent-domain-abuse-says-conservat/](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/07/club-growth/trump-supports-eminent-domain-abuse-says-conservat/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=122) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=124)