# 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:** 1239
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24765 "2018-08-30T23:04:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ll keep an eye peeled for a user name of Benedict Arnold. Even in St. Petersburg, the American History books don’t say Arnold was a hero. (Actually this reminds me that long ago I read something about what Russians are taught in school about the American Revolution, and how the content of that teaching evolved from Czarist times, through Lenin, then through Stalin, and so on. I must look for that article, again; it was interesting.) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24766 "2018-08-30T23:34:32Z")
> [@Chip\_Dundas](#): > > Seems unlikely. Good god, man, you are fucking brilliant. Would that the rest of these wankers could rise to your pedigree. Simply awe inspiring. ---
**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 30, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24767 "2018-08-30T23:42:07Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Cancelling workers’ raises just in time for Labor Day! To hammer home to us (as if we didn’t already know) what Trump thinks of the working man. Yeah. _Government_ workers. Buncha freeloaders spending YOUR tax dollars on luxury goods like microwaves and gas, when they’re not busy making gay marriage mandatory and regulating everything. Why do they they have real jobs, like “coal miner” or “Instagram star” or “Kardashian”? Serves them right. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24768 "2018-08-30T23:50:06Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Maybe something got lost in translation, but I was saying that Trumps performance in Helsinki was NOT treason. > My point was that the fact that “it wasn’t technically an act of treason” is a really low bar to set when it comes to excusing the behavior of the POTUS. We have the right to expect moral integrity. I thought that you were dismissing the fact that Trump has not committed treason as a ‘technicality’, the way people did when it was pointed out that, no, Bill Clinton never committed perjury in sworn testimony. Drove me nuts. And I think we slithered under the lowest bar available when we elected someone who bragged about sexually assaulting people, including children. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, we can TELL them to STFU, but we can’t really make ‘em. Yeah, but STFU doesn’t have the same raw nastiness as, “Shut up”, with go make me a sandwich implied. > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > But some words have multiple meanings. You are insisting that the legal definition of treason is the only one that exists, but Ann is using the vernacular definition which is simply the act of betraying ones country. Since the straight dope message board isn’t actually a court of law she is perfectly justified in doing so. Most words aren’t defined in the Constitution (see “misdemeanor”), though, and it a thread about US government, I think we should use the word correctly. > [@Chip\_Dundas](#): > > Seems unlikely. Have you heard of Valerie Plame? ---
**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 31, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24769 "2018-08-31T00:18:22Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Yeah. _Government_ workers. Buncha freeloaders spending YOUR tax dollars on luxury goods like microwaves and gas, when they’re not busy making gay marriage mandatory and regulating everything. Why do they they have real jobs, like “coal miner” or “Instagram star” or “Kardashian”? > > Serves them right. G-d damn freeloaders! ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24770 "2018-08-31T01:14:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > G-d damn freeloaders! Stick it to the Deep State, man. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24771 "2018-08-31T02:16:21Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This. He cancelled a raise for federal workers, so that when he backtracks and restores the raises he can take credit and proclaim “what a good boy am I.” We’ve seen this pattern over and over. He’s also saying that when he admitted firing Comey over “the Russia thing” on video, that he didn’t say that and it’s the Bad Media “fudging the video” … > **[Trump accuses NBC News' Lester Holt of 'fudging' tape of interview about...](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/30/trump-accuses-nbc-host-of-fudging-tape-about-comey-firing.html)** > > The president's social media fusillade Thursday dovetailed with recent news reports suggesting that Trump and his attorneys are adopting a siege mentality, as the potential legal challenges from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe loom,... … and that he did a great job with Puerto Rico after the hurricane (lies) and they didn’t have any power before the storm anyway (lies). [https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/trump-puerto-rico-fantastic/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/trump-puerto-rico-fantastic/index.html) The goat felching mother fucker disgusts me in so many ways. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24772 "2018-08-31T02:29:35Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It’s no surprise that they’re NAMBLA members, but what were you doing there? I was going to make a comment about Nazi boards, but your comment is far better. > [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > Trump is now stripping citizenship from people who where born via midwife close to the border. When will it end? > > [Trump administration trying to strip citizenship from Americans born near Mexico border.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/trump-administration-trying-to-strip-citizenship-from-americans-born-near-mexico-border.html?via=homepage_taps_top) Ever hear of “disparate impact”? Trump is pulling this stunt because he is convinced only white people can be real Americans. When he finally figures out that there are road and rail links connecting the rest of [del]the fourth reich[/del] the USA to the border area, he will expand this stupid policy of his so fast gods will blink. And don’t kid yourself that it has nothing to do with him being proven so incredibly wrong the last time he went public with racist birtherism. > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > [Trump just canceled a raise for federal workers](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/30/politics/trump-cancels-federal-employee-pay-raises/index.html). No word on who exactly this impacts. Is it Congress? Rank and File? The liitle guy, of course, You know, the guy he doesn’t care about at all. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Rank and File. The President (until we actually get a full-fledged Duce) can’t cancel Congressional raises. > > I do wonder why he feels the economic crisis is so severe that he has to cancel pay raises, if it’s do as great as he says it is. He ought to know how bad it is, After all, it’s his creation. > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Trump found $6-billion to bail out the farmers he fucked over, I’m sure he can dig around and find some loose change for government workers. I bet he’s miffed the employees of the courts aren’t under his ugly orange thumb. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > Stick it to the Deep State, man. Yeah, of course the dotard and his supporters believe that deep state nonsese. It’s yet another racist CT. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24773 "2018-08-31T02:33:01Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > He’s also saying that when he admitted firing Comey over “the Russia thing” on video, that he didn’t say that and it’s the Bad Media “fudging the video” … > [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/30/trump-accuses-nbc-host-of-fudging-tape-about-comey-firing.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/30/trump-accuses-nbc-host-of-fudging-tape-about-comey-firing.html) > … and that he did a great job with Puerto Rico after the hurricane (lies) and they didn’t have any power before the storm anyway (lies). > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/trump-puerto-rico-fantastic/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/29/politics/trump-puerto-rico-fantastic/index.html) > The goat felching mother fucker disgusts me in so many ways. You know full well he did not even know Puerto Rico is America. No doubt he thinks it’s one of those “shithole countries” with no modern conveniences at all, just waiting for him and the other two amigos to rescue the town. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24774 "2018-08-31T02:49:50Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Yeah, of course the dotard and his supporters believe that deep state nonsese. It’s yet another racist CT. How is the deep state a racist conspiracy theory? I kind of get the conspiracy theory part though I think it normally refers to bureaucratic inertia rather than a true shadow cabal that runs things. With either definition I don’t see how race is a part of it. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24775 "2018-08-31T03:38:47Z")
> [@Chip\_Dundas](#): > > You successfully called someone an asshole, a dipshit and stupid all in one post. A quality pit poster. From here it looks like they called someone an asshole, and someone else a dipshit and stupid. Unless you and Favreco are the same person? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24776 "2018-08-31T05:08:12Z")
Here’s the thing that the Magabot shit stains on this country don’t seem to get through their thick fucking craniums: The work of the federal government needs to be done. If the DoD needs janitors to clean the Pentagon, they need janitors to clean the Pentagon. If the federal government needs cybersecurity gurus, it needs cybersecurity gurus. If it needs foreign linguists or translators, the work needs to be done. It can be done by hiring federal workers directly on the cheap, or they can outsource it to contractors who will then, most likely, charge whatever the going rate is for a translator, cybersecurity specialist, translator, etc - and then some because the contractor has to be profitable. Conservatives, just shut the bloody fuck up now and never talk again about economics. Stop getting fist fucked by Fox News, and go to your local library and check out some books. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24777 "2018-08-31T05:21:45Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > How is the deep state a racist conspiracy theory? I kind of get the conspiracy theory part though I think it normally refers to bureaucratic inertia rather than a true shadow cabal that runs things. With either definition I don’t see how race is a part of it. Because it’s supposed to be the Jews. But you know, not “our Jews”, those other Jews; the libruls and the bankers. Really, how did you miss that bit? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24778 "2018-08-31T05:37:21Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I was going to make a comment about Nazi boards, but your comment is far better. > > Ever hear of “disparate impact”? Trump is pulling this stunt because he is convinced only white people can be real Americans. When he finally figures out that there are road and rail links connecting the rest of [del]the fourth reich[/del] the USA to the border area, he will expand this stupid policy of his so fast gods will blink. And don’t kid yourself that it has nothing to do with him being proven so incredibly wrong the last time he went public with racist birtherism. > > The liitle guy, of course, You know, the guy he doesn’t care about at all. > > He ought to know how bad it is, After all, it’s his creation. > > I bet he’s miffed the employees of the courts aren’t under his ugly orange thumb. > > Yeah, of course the dotard and his supporters believe that deep state nonsese. It’s yet another racist CT. I said it a long time ago: Trump is a wounded, cornered, rabid animal. He’s fighting for his survival and the survival of his family. It’s a full-on gladiator match between him and the law, him and our institutions, him and our Constitution, him and our liberties. Only problem is, it’s not just Trump we have to worry about. It’s obvious that the entire Republican party is now beholden to oligarch money - much of it Russian. There’s no going back. The Republican party is anti-democracy. Trump is pro-criminal, anti-law enforcement, anti-rule of law. He is at war with the entire criminal justice system and he’s being enabled by the United States Senate and the House of Representatives – and the ideologically driven judiciary that Republicans have been able to create. ---
**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24779 "2018-08-31T16:39:45Z")
Okay, so, ongoing NAFTA negotiations. Turns out that in his Bloomberg interview yesterday, Trump said a bunch of derogatory stuff about how he’s not compromising and how he’s going to make Canada his bitch. Which was supposed to be off the record, but the Toronto Star got hold of it somehow and [published.](https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/08/31/bombshell-leak-to-toronto-star-upends-nafta-talks-in-secret-so-insulting-remarks-trump-says-he-isnt-compromising-at-all-with-canada.html) The Star has this to say about a sitting American President: > [@](#): > > Trump, of course, is known for both dishonesty and for bragging about his own greatness, and he regularly makes dubious claims about how he is supposedly dominating the begging people on the other side of the bargaining table from him. When he claimed to have made no compromises, it is distinctly possible he was making a false claim to impress the Bloomberg journalists. Naturally, this has thrown the trade talks into disarray. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24780 "2018-08-31T16:46:53Z")
The administration should sign a long-term lease on Disarray; they spend all their time there. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24781 "2018-08-31T18:02:03Z")
Well, there goes the neighborhood! ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24782 "2018-08-31T20:32:44Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Because it’s supposed to be the Jews. But you know, not “our Jews”, those other Jews; the libruls and the bankers. Really, how did you miss that bit? No idea but I think this is the first time I’ve read Deep State is the Jews running the US. Good to know, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24783 "2018-08-31T20:38:24Z")
> [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](#): > > Okay, so, ongoing NAFTA negotiations. Turns out that in his Bloomberg interview yesterday, Trump said a bunch of derogatory stuff about how he’s not compromising and how he’s going to make Canada his bitch. Which was supposed to be off the record, but the Toronto Star got hold of it somehow and [published.](https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/08/31/bombshell-leak-to-toronto-star-upends-nafta-talks-in-secret-so-insulting-remarks-trump-says-he-isnt-compromising-at-all-with-canada.html) The Star has this to say about a sitting American President: > > Naturally, this has thrown the trade talks into disarray. He just confirmed it in [Tweet](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1035597354395680774?s=21). > [@Donald J. Trump](#): > > Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand! So, what is journalistic convention? In the middle of an on-the-record interview can you switch to off-the-record? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/24784 "2018-08-31T20:44:41Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > So, what is journalistic convention? In the middle of an on-the-record interview can you switch to off-the-record? Only by [dropping a hint, or a glint, of the truth that the boys cannot print](https://genius.com/Rodgers-and-hart-off-the-record-lyrics). 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1238) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1240)