# 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:** 1258
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25145 "2018-09-07T17:53:47Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > He broke the norms that no longer existed. GOOD! We all need to drop the pretense. All the old norms are gone. …what the fuck are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25146 "2018-09-07T18:15:17Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Man, I can’t _wait_ to see the Fox News segment on this! They will rip her a new asshole! How dare she disrespect our flag – and our troops! – like that!! She was just smelling it. There was a strong odor of bullshit in the air, and she was worried. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25147 "2018-09-07T18:19:00Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …he broke all the norms of what a former President is supposed to do: retire gracefully, don’t mention politics, don’t mention Trump by name, and threw it all out the fucking window. He’s injected himself back into the political arena. He’s called out all of the bullshit gas-lighting thats been going on. He called out Trump directly and he called out the Republican Party. He’s sent out the rallying call. America is in fucking trouble and the only people who can fix it is the American people. > > Its a pretty fucking important speech. Even Fox news covered it. THERE IS SO MUCH FUCKING NEWS. TOO MUCH NOISE. TOO MUCH STUFF HAPPENING. Obama speech cuts through the bullshit. Gives people a path: a goal, a way out. Acknowledges that “no, we are not crazy, everything that is happening around you right now is BATSHIT INSANE, if you want to stop the insanity, you need to get out and vote.” Oh. Okay. Color me dense. What he said was so sensible that I just accepted it. Thanks for highlighting the importance of his comments. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25148 "2018-09-07T18:40:52Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > He broke the norms that no longer existed. GOOD! We all need to drop the pretense. All the old norms are gone. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …what the fuck are you talking about? I think he may be saying that Trump has already broken all norms for presidential behavior, so complaining about Obama doing it doesn’t wash. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25149 "2018-09-07T18:41:18Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the propaganda machine at work. > > Watch the crowd in the background in these two clips. > > [https://twitter.com/TheViewFromLL2/status/1037915598418784257](https://twitter.com/TheViewFromLL2/status/1037915598418784257) > > [https://twitter.com/IndivisibleNet/status/1037900103044849664](https://twitter.com/IndivisibleNet/status/1037900103044849664) > > For those that don’t want to click through: at the Trump rally it appears that the people directly behind the President weren’t sufficently “peppy” enough. So they were replaced. I strongly suspect (but of course cannot prove) that everyone in that group were paid actors: which is why they moved on without much fuss. Ha! I was watching a bit of that Trump rally on live TV and remarked to my father that the guy with the beard/white t-shirt didn’t seem that gung ho. I said it must be getting bad if even the people they use for optics and put directly behind Trump are just passively clapping and looking disinterested. I’d like to see crowd shots of these rallies. I imagine they’re getting smaller with each one. Eventually, Trump with have one in a coffee shop, because haven’t they already been downsized to high school gyms? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25150 "2018-09-07T18:51:23Z")
Suppose we scrambled his speaking so we couldn’t get what he was saying, but left the crowd response. Maybe just track volume and intensity. Got a nickel says that over the past year, the intensity, the adoration that he feeds on has gradually diminished. He still pauses for the overwhelming response…you know, he wants to speak more, but can’t because the crowd just drowns him out with their worship…but there’s a gap, he waits longer to get back in because he’s expecting more. And it just trails away, and people check their watches. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25151 "2018-09-07T19:36:13Z")
Trump wants Jeff Sessions to investigate the New York Times over crimes committed by printing an anonymous op-ed. > **[Trump wants Sessions to investigate New York Times op-ed | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/)** > > President Donald Trump said Friday he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate and uncover the identity of the senior administration official who penned an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times this week. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25152 "2018-09-07T19:45:08Z")
Under normal circumstances I might feel sorry for a guy in Sessions’ shoes. But these aren’t ordinary times, and he’s Jeff Sessions. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25153 "2018-09-07T19:50:36Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …what the fuck are you talking about? That bit about Obama breaking norms. Trump already broke them all, set them on fire, and buried them. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25154 "2018-09-07T19:52:26Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump wants Jeff Sessions to investigate the New York Times over crimes committed by printing an anonymous op-ed. > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/) the First Amendment says “Fuck what Trump wants”. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25155 "2018-09-07T20:07:37Z")
[From CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/): > [@](#): > > “I don’t mind criticism, I handle it and I fight back,” he said, calling The New York Times’ publication of the piece “disgraceful.” “But here’s criticism where you can’t fight back. 'Cause you have somebody doing it anonymously.” It’s clear that Trump doesn’t even consider that fighting back might include refuting the \*content \*of the op-ed. His standard “fighting back” is limited to attacking the person who said it, and here he doesn’t know who to attack. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25156 "2018-09-07T20:10:27Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump wants Jeff Sessions to investigate the New York Times over crimes committed by printing an anonymous op-ed. > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/) Mikhail Khrushchev told a joke. (Ok, he may or may not have. Who knows.) > [@Maybe Khrushchev](#): > > A man was caught running through the streets of Moscow shouting, “Khrushchev is a fool! Khrushchev is a fool!” He was arrested and sentenced to 17 years in prison. 2 years for insulting the Premier and 15 years for revealing a state secret. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25157 "2018-09-07T20:39:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Failing Donnie supporter wipes her nose with the American flag](https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4748046/girl-wipes-nose-american-flag) God I feel bad for that girl. More than likely her parents’ 12+ years of brainwashing has her at a Trump rally, and she makes an idiotic mistake and now jagoffs are using her to score cheap political points. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25158 "2018-09-07T21:19:40Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > God I feel bad for that girl. More than likely her parents’ 12+ years of brainwashing has her at a Trump rally, and she makes an idiotic mistake and now jagoffs are using her to score cheap political points. I’m probably gonna get some flack for this but I honestly never understood the ‘flag worship’ that happens in this country. I mean, it’s a bunch of fabric, that’s all. Sure, it represents our country so to speak but…it’s not something to be revered. Wiping your nose with the flag, even intentionally, does no more to smudge America’s values than wearing flag patterned briefs. Honestly, the people in this country are doing a good enough job doing that with their own actions lol ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25159 "2018-09-07T21:27:42Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > God I feel bad for that girl. More than likely her parents’ 12+ years of brainwashing has her at a Trump rally, and she makes an idiotic mistake and now jagoffs are using her to score cheap political points. [_Daily Mail_](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6144281/President-Trump-staffers-eject-mocking-millennial-sullen-couple-block-nose-wiping-girl-rally.html) is saying she was trolling Trump. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25160 "2018-09-07T21:31:00Z")
Boogergate. It was bound to happen. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2018, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25161 "2018-09-07T21:42:07Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > [From CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-investigation/): > > It’s clear that Trump doesn’t even consider that fighting back might include refuting the \*content \*of the op-ed. His standard “fighting back” is limited to attacking the person who said it, and here he doesn’t know who to attack. “WHOM to attack.” Your argument is invalid. :dubious: ---
**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:** [September 7, 2018, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25162 "2018-09-07T22:07:18Z")
The attacks on Trump from within are savage and searing, and they’re probably doing at least minimal damage. If nothing else, they’re increasing the likelihood that he might end up saying or doing something so stupid and so outrageous that his poll numbers might dip even further. But understand that as the walls close in on Trump, he will become more unhinged, more unrestrained, more enraged, more vicious, and more dangerous than ever. And as long as this country’s economy is doing well and as long as he’s avoided a military disaster, he’ll be tough to stop. As bad as Trump’s Halloween presidency has been, I think we’re headed into a column of extreme turbulence. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25163 "2018-09-07T22:10:24Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > That is not the only reason he hires people. He also hires you if you say nice things about him. That _is_ his definition of friendship. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Trump tells supporters it’ll be ‘your fault’ if he gets impeached](https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/06/politics/trump-impeach-your-fault/index.html) Well, he finally got something correct. If his supporters had not voted for him, he could not get impeached. It’s their fault for getting him elected. > [@dasmoocher](#): > > Ha! I was watching a bit of that Trump rally on live TV and remarked to my father that the guy with the beard/white t-shirt didn’t seem that gung ho. I said it must be getting bad if even the people they use for optics and put directly behind Trump are just passively clapping and looking disinterested. > > I’d like to see crowd shots of these rallies. I imagine they’re getting smaller with each one. Eventually, Trump with have one in a coffee shop, because haven’t they already been downsized to high school gyms? Let’s hope that coffee shop is a Kanu. > [@SteveG1](#): > > the First Amendment says “Fuck what Trump wants”. The entire constitution says that, not that the twerp would ever know. It’s not like he’ll read it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/25164 "2018-09-07T22:33:28Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I’d like to see crowd shots of these rallies. I imagine they’re getting smaller with each one. I am tentatively expecting to see within the next few years the curious phenomenon of The Great Trump Voter Die-Off. No no, not talking about massive numbers of Trump voters actually kicking the bucket (although his supporters do skew older so that will happen to some extent). Rather, I think that the number of people who are willing to **admit** they voted for Trump will drastically decrease. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1257) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1259)