# 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:** 1346
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26905 "2018-11-06T08:53:51Z")
You know I happened to be in Cairo on holiday a few weeks before the FLOTUS and I think I know where the money went. Camels. Spend more than 1 second near the pyramids and you’ll be accosted by vendors offering camel rides, photo opportunities with a camel, camel petting, and myriad other camel based services. Oh sure they’ll start by saying its only a couple bucks per ride but that is the cost to get on the camel, getting down again is fifty dollars. That’ll add up quickly if you have any kind of entourage. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26906 "2018-11-06T09:03:45Z")
Apparently a guy known best as a Big Fat Idiot was at a rally, [introducing the president](https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/05/rush-limbaugh-clinton-rigged-election/) when he said _Hillary Clinton colluded with Russia. Hillary Clinton rigged that election._ ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26907 "2018-11-06T09:10:13Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Apparently a guy known best as a Big Fat Idiot was at a rally, [introducing the president](https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/05/rush-limbaugh-clinton-rigged-election/) when he said > _Hillary Clinton colluded with Russia. Hillary Clinton rigged that election._ Well, she was pretty bad at it, then, wasn’t she? If she were any good at rigging it, she’d’ve won! Oh, wait. She did win the popular vote. Hmm. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26908 "2018-11-06T11:49:06Z")
[Trump tells AP he won’t accept blame if GOP loses House](https://apnews.com/8f4baf7aaddc442dad0a726f3ebe7fff). When has he accepted blame for _anything?_ [Ivanka Trump wins 16 Chinese trademarks despite shutting down her business](https://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-won-16-chinese-trademarks-despite-closing-her-business-2018-11); [around the same time, President Trump vowed to find a way to prevent a major Chinese telecommunications company from going bust, even though the company has a history of violating American limits on doing business with countries like Iran and North Korea.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/business/ivanka-trump-china-trademarks.html) Can you say “conflicts of interest”? ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26909 "2018-11-06T11:57:21Z")
Just noticed the third link is from May. _They’re still giving her trademarks!_ ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26910 "2018-11-06T15:15:14Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > I think you may be on to it. My first thought was something to do with bourbon, but since Trump doesn’t drink, that’s probably not it. That would seem to leave “sex” as the wink-wink reason you’d cross state lines. > > Strangely, he was in Cleveland when he made the remark. Cleveland rocks, but it’s not all that close to Kentucky. Perhaps Trump thought he was in Cincinnati. A quick google shows the age of consent in Kentucky as 16. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26911 "2018-11-06T16:38:20Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Quick lesson: > > There are three things to remember about Government contracting: Commitments, Obligations, and Disbursements. Commitments are the estimated costs pre-contract or during negotiations; it is usually higher than the cost, but gives one a ceiling. Obligations (what we are talking here) means there is a contract and the money has been made available to honor that contract of an official funding document. Disbursement is actually paying out the money once the service has been completed and the bill paid (maybe everybody already knew this, but thought it worht mentioning). > > It was also a Firm-Fixed Price contract, which means the US Government told the Cairo folks what they wanted and the Hotel said "we need $95,000 to do what you want) and the US contracted for that amount exactly. If the hotel had higher costs, then they ate it. > > What we don’t have is the Statement of Work, or Request for Proposal; in other words, we don’t know what the hotel was asked to do. Maybe they had to shut off access to parts of the hotel or dining areas that cost them money, or close sections for Security reasons that cost them money; we simply don’t know. > > And without that knowledge, we can’t say if this was a farcial expense or not. > > End of line. Makes sense, but still it’s a bit rich when it comes from the party that complained about [Obama’s $16.00 Muffins](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/justice-dept-muffins-werent-16-after-all/2011/10/28/gIQAdnB4PM_story.html?utm_term=.c2a77f522169). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26912 "2018-11-06T17:53:54Z")
IOKIARDI eh ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26913 "2018-11-06T19:21:09Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > [Trump tells AP he won’t accept blame if GOP loses House](https://apnews.com/8f4baf7aaddc442dad0a726f3ebe7fff). When has he accepted blame for _anything?_ > > [Ivanka Trump wins 16 Chinese trademarks despite shutting down her business](https://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-won-16-chinese-trademarks-despite-closing-her-business-2018-11); [around the same time, President Trump vowed to find a way to prevent a major Chinese telecommunications company from going bust, even though the company has a history of violating American limits on doing business with countries like Iran and North Korea.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/business/ivanka-trump-china-trademarks.html) Can you say “conflicts of interest”? One of those trademarks is for voting machines. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26914 "2018-11-06T19:46:20Z")
Border Patrol decided to cancel a planned “border patrol exercise” today in El Paso after people complained it might suppress voter turnout. I cam just imagine all of those brown skinned US citizens staying in their houses afraid that ICE is going to do sweeps, regardless of their citizenship status. > **[Border Patrol cancels El Paso crowd-control exercise amid concerns about...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/border-patrol-to-conduct-a-crowd-control-exercise-in-el-paso-on-election-day/2018/11/06/147dd678-e18f-11e8-8f5f-a55347f48762_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2aRx-yDRdBzWfKrMCb9-36NNB7ZcMPSwX_egtTbEW7OLAphHAmponiua8&noredirect=on&utm_term=.cfd1f2e0f876)** > > The timing and location of the event — near a Hispanic neighborhood — drew criticism. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26915 "2018-11-06T20:41:46Z")
Somebody pretending to be Ryan Zinke, Secretary of Interior, called Park Police (which are under Zinke’s jurisdiction) and not DC police, on Zinke’s neighbors because the neighbors were complaining about this anonymous person’s car being parked and idling in front of Zinke’s house taking up three parking spaces. > **[Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke called police on his neighbors Monday night in...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/11/06/ryan-zinkes-house-guest-impersonated-secretary-monday-night-then-he-called-park-police-neighbors/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e6740a452745)** > > Neighbors say a man came out of Zinke’s house during a parking dispute and impersonated him. “Dude, you’re not Zinke. Who are you?” one neighbor asked the man. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26916 "2018-11-06T23:52:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > …As unbelievable as it is that the so-called president of the United States would spout this bullshit, it is even more insane that so many people actually buy it. And I personally know some of them. :smack: What the fuck is wrong with them? “Take away your health benefits and give them to illegal aliens”?? Are you shitting me? … Not as epic as “raid your Medicare to fund socialism,” you have to admit. But insane claims seem to be the Republicans’ closing message. I heard an excerpt from a Ted Cruz speech on the radio yesterday (which doesn’t seem to be online anywhere, or not yet) in which he claimed that ‘Democrats are coming for your jobs and coming for your liberty!!!11!’-----as if he expected that to make sense to anyone. The case the Democrats are making is basically ‘_Republicans are making bad decisions that hurt you_.’ But the case the Republicans seem to be making is ‘_Democrats are mustache-twirling villains who delight in wrecking your lives for no reason whatsoever_.’ We’ll know shortly which message voters found to be more plausible. ---
**Author:** ![JB99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@JB99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JB99)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26917 "2018-11-07T00:33:48Z")
> [@](#): > > “He doesn’t like fake news. Why would he say things that are not true?” asked Barbara Guzman, who owns a label-making business in nearby Cape Coral. Because he thinks you’re you’re an unbelievable dumbshit. > [@](#): > > “Most of the things he says I agree with, and I believe.” And this proves it. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26918 "2018-11-07T01:43:53Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > “He doesn’t like fake news. Why would he say things that are not true?” asked Barbara Guzman, who owns a label-making business in nearby Cape Coral. > > Because he thinks you’re you’re an unbelievable dumbshit. > > > [@](#): > > > > “Most of the things he says I agree with, and I believe.” > > And this proves it. Years ago, I joked about Southern evangelist-type preachers being unable to have a conversation if the word “saved” was in it and you had their hands tied to their belts. This is what Guzman is like. As long as what she hears has the magic words, she believes it. She is incapable of forming a thought on her own. For those SETPs of way back when, that magic word was “saved”. For Guzman and her ilk (and yes, that’s the perfect word to describe her and her and those who think (word used rather loosely) like her), the magic words are all the scare words Trump and his ilk (see earlier comment about this word) are using now. Those scare words are keeping her mind tied to her fears, no matter how groundless those fears are. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26919 "2018-11-07T02:25:43Z")
Mueller’s investigation…is dead meat. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26920 "2018-11-07T02:27:01Z")
Wait, why? ---
**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:** [November 7, 2018, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26921 "2018-11-07T02:36:52Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Wait, why? Watch the election results, my friend. And when you do, remember that Americans by the millions are voting for the shit show over the past 2 years. It’s no longer an experiment, a gamble on a guy they don’t know. They know Donald Trump. And the message we’re sending is, he can do whatever the fuck he wants - no consequences. As my ole buddy, Dandy Don woulda said, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A23snMkbZ1I/hqdefault.jpg "Turn out the lights, the party's over") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A23snMkbZ1I) ---
**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:** [November 7, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26922 "2018-11-07T03:00:25Z")
Oooooh. I just tuned in for the doom speech! 😃 The house is turning, my friend. It’s something! And go, Beto!! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26923 "2018-11-07T03:23:45Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Oooooh. I just tuned in for the doom speech! 😃 > > The house is turning, my friend. It’s something! And go, Beto!! MSNBC is reporting that Dems are projected to have control of the House. Senate would have been nice. But we KNOW there would never be enough for impeachment. So. Mueller, what ya got? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/26924 "2018-11-07T03:39:39Z")
[quote=“asahi, post:26921, topic:774070”] Watch the election results, my friend. And when you do, remember that Americans by the millions are voting for the shit show over the past 2 years. It’s no longer an experiment, a gamble on a guy they don’t know. They know Donald Trump. And the message we’re sending is, he can do whatever the fuck he wants - no consequences. As my ole buddy, Dandy Don woulda said, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.” [/QUOTE] Nope, you are wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1345) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1347)