# 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:** 1377
**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 26, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27525 "2018-11-26T22:14:33Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Out of curiosity, why would you think they would do that? They have the Senate, the Supreme Court, the Presidency. Economy is doing good. Unemployment is down. What would make you believe that their party is fucked for good? > > I’m not a Republican, but if I was, I could look at the country and just say “Hey, we are doing pretty well, why change anything?” Mia Love’s Republican party is fucked for good, but I agree that the Republican party in its current form could continue indefinitely. If she doesn’t like the Trumpster fire, she needs to remove some of its oxygen. ---
**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 26, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27526 "2018-11-26T22:31:41Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Out of curiosity, why would you think they would do that? They have the Senate, the Supreme Court, the Presidency. **Economy is doing good.** Unemployment is down. What would make you believe that their party is fucked for good? > > I’m not a Republican, but if I was, I could look at the country and just say “Hey, we are doing pretty well, why change anything?” Tell GM, Ford, and the farmers whose crops are rotting in the silos and in the fields about how good the economy is. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27527 "2018-11-26T23:02:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Tell GM, Ford, and the farmers whose crops are rotting in the silos and in the fields about how good the economy is. The stock market has been doing terrible all year long. I don’t get it when people say the economy is doing great. ---
**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 26, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27528 "2018-11-26T23:16:31Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > The stock market has been doing terrible all year long. I don’t get it when people say the economy is doing great. In many cases what they’re _really_ saying is “I voted for the guy and I will NEVER NEVER EVER admit that I made a bad call.” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27529 "2018-11-26T23:45:49Z")
Like Bill Maher, I actually wish we would have a recession to blame on Trump. But a reasonable person cannot deny the strength of the economy right now. (The stock market is not a good measure, in either direction.) The extremely low unemployment rate is not just a statistic: I drive for Uber, and over and over I hear from people who are working massive overtime because their companies simply cannot find enough warm bodies to fill positions. And they also complain about incompetent or unbearable coworkers who keep their jobs for the same reason. I believe presidents have relatively little impact on the economy, and whatever credit is dished out should go more to Obama than Trump. But facts are facts. We can comfort ourselves with the fact that Democrats had a wave election (oh yes they did—don’t let anyone tell you different!) despite low gas prices and low unemployment. This shows how truly repulsive Trump and the congressional GOP are to a majority of Americans, regardless of the traditional factors that bias voters for or against the party in power. If there’s a recession, the wave will become a tsunami. ---
**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 27, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27530 "2018-11-27T00:16:45Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > The stock market has been doing terrible all year long. I don’t get it when people say the economy is doing great. It’s not doing great. True, the employment situation is as good as it’s been in decades and there has been some modest wage growth, but what good is that for low-wage workers in California who would be struggling to find affordable housing even if you doubled their wages? I think Trump will eventually come to his senses on the trade war. There will probably come a point at which Javanka will step in and show Navarro and other trade hawks the door, but when that happens and how much damage will have been sustained is anyone’s guess. But the real bind that Trump finds himself in now is how to balance the budget. The deficit is going to be a major issue in 2019 because it’s going to be too big not to notice, and that will force the president and the congress into a political confrontation. We can cut the military, cut entitlements, or raise taxes. We already know they won’t raise taxes, so it looks like cutting defense spending or social security and medicare will be the great debate of 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27531 "2018-11-27T00:22:14Z")
The usual Republican strategy is to let the Democrats dig the country out of the Republican spending. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27532 "2018-11-27T00:29:01Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > While I am grateful for Romney’s advocacy of MassHealth, he’s only anti-Trump as long as his voters are. Oh, I suspect there’s some personal animosity there too, stemming not only from general revulsion at the short-fingered vulgarian, but from the humiliation he went through when auditioning for Secretary of State. Romney did show a wide streak of personal spite when he was MA Governor, yanno - he spent the first half of his term trying to get rid of a Turnpike Authority commissioner he didn’t like, and the second half trying to keep gays from getting married while he campaigned for President on the platform of hating how liberal his state was. He was elected to get the Big Dig finances under control, but did absolutely nothing about it. It does illustrate how fucked the Executive Branch is that such a spite-driven man would be seen as one of its potential adults. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How many personnel, including troops, did Trump send to the border? Imagine what we could have accomplished if he’d sent the same number of people down there to process asylum claims, and to separate gang members and terrorists (if any) from those truly seeking safety and security. Who named it “Operation Faithful Patriot”, and why was the name dropped right after Election Day? Never mind that second part; we all know. > [@Muffin](#): > > The usual Republican strategy is to let the Democrats dig the country out of the Republican spending. And blame them for not doing it fast enough, while taking every possible step to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27533 "2018-11-27T00:32:38Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > The usual Republican strategy is to let the Democrats dig the country out of the Republican spending. Yep, and if the fix hurts even a little, Republicans blame Democrats for their horrible policy that has absolutely nothing to do with the problem they didn’t cause. Oh. And it’s not Republican spending unless you consider entitlements for the rich to be spending. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27534 "2018-11-27T00:49:30Z")
Entitlements for the rich? No, those are incentives for the job creators. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27535 "2018-11-27T02:02:21Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Trump is scum, and his demagoguery about the caravan has been despicable, even for him. But we cannot allow gate-crashing. Those tear-gassed people were not in Mexico if they had already climbed one fence. That article even says the Mexican government is deporting the fence-rushers for being “violent”. Last I checked, the Mexican government does not carry water for Trump, so that means something. I don’t give a flying fuck WHAT they were doing. They used tear gas on _infants and toddlers_. If the fucktard in chief had shipped as many agents who could process asylum applications to the border stations as he shipped soldiers who cannot legally be used to enforce the law (not that that seems to be stopping the administration) and not closed the ports down to single lanes, this situation would not have happened. He’s not interested in being just, though, he’s interested in looking tough at the expense of desperate people. They used tear gas on _infants and toddlers_. There is no excuse for that. There is no justification sufficient for that. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27536 "2018-11-27T02:19:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Oh, I suspect there’s some personal animosity there too, stemming not only from general revulsion at the short-fingered vulgarian, but from the humiliation he went through when auditioning for Secretary of State. Romney did show a wide streak of personal spite when he was MA Governor, yanno - he spent the first half of his term trying to get rid of a Turnpike Authority commissioner he didn’t like, and the second half trying to keep gays from getting married while he campaigned for President on the platform of hating how liberal his state was. He was elected to get the Big Dig finances under control, but did absolutely nothing about it. It does illustrate how fucked the Executive Branch is that such a spite-driven man would be seen as one of its potential adults. Oh, I hate him. HATE him. I don’t know how he was elected in MA. It’s disgraceful. And while he’s better than Trump, I don’t give him a lot of credit for being \*much \*better than Trump. He’s dead behind his eyes. The lights are on but no one’s home. He might be mad at Trump for that dinner (and it’s actually one of the only things I don’t dislike Romney for; having an exploratory meal isn’t that big of a deal), but had Trump offered him a position and had he accepted it, would Romney at any point have resigned in protest? I doubt it unless he had a long-term plan that Trump’s agenda was interfering with. A personal agenda, as he has no actual guiding philosophy or moral backbone. And to his credit, he can at least spell those words. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27537 "2018-11-27T02:41:31Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Tell GM, Ford, and the farmers whose crops are rotting in the silos and in the fields about how good the economy is. And if I said “The American economy is not just GM and Ford”. What would you say? ---
**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:** [November 27, 2018, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27538 "2018-11-27T02:42:48Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I don’t give a flying fuck WHAT they were doing. They used tear gas on _infants and toddlers_. > > If the fucktard in chief had shipped as many agents who could process asylum applications to the border stations as he shipped soldiers who cannot legally be used to enforce the law (not that that seems to be stopping the administration) and not closed the ports down to single lanes, this situation would not have happened. He’s not interested in being just, though, he’s interested in looking tough at the expense of desperate people. > > They used tear gas on _infants and toddlers_. There is no excuse for that. There is no justification sufficient for that. B-b-b-but it couldn’t have happened, 'cause the Prez says it _didn’t_ happen! [**Trump denies tear gas was used on child migrants despite pictures, video**](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/customs-border-protection-tear-gas-san-diego-tijuana-san-ysidro/index.html) > [@](#): > > …The President later also denied that the tear gas was used against children. However, video and images of the scene also showed a cloud of tear gas that sent people running and screaming, including families with young children. > > “Is it OK to use tear gas on children?” a reporter asked. > > The President responded, “We didn’t. We don’t use it on children.” > … Who ya gonna believe?? Our Prez or lying, fake CNN video? :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [November 27, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27539 "2018-11-27T02:43:46Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I don’t give a flying fuck WHAT they were doing. They used tear gas on _infants and toddlers_. They used tear gas on guys breaching the fence. They should have realized that the wind would carry it to children. They are idiots; stupid but not evil. My oft mentioned example: In Der Ring Das Nibelungenleid, Wotan asks Albreich, “Are you malicious, or merely insane?” The border guards are merely insane. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27540 "2018-11-27T02:49:07Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > B-b-b-but it couldn’t have happened, 'cause the Prez says it _didn’t_ happen! > > [**Trump denies tear gas was used on child migrants despite pictures, video**](https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/customs-border-protection-tear-gas-san-diego-tijuana-san-ysidro/index.html) > Who ya gonna believe?? Our Prez or lying, fake CNN video? :rolleyes: He went on to say - “Why are they there?” and that the gas was a “a very minor form of the tear gas” and described it as “very safe.” ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27541 "2018-11-27T03:02:10Z")
I am not trying to convince everybody that Mitt Romney is a fantastic guy. I do think he understands how money works though, and I do think the financial wrecking ball aspect of the Trump Administration is going to chap his hide (yeah, I know things are going OK now, except for that $1 trillion deficit, rising interest rates and what appear to be looming headwinds). He is going to be critical of Trump for that, and his Mormon supporters will surely prod him to attack Trump over his many other failings. And wait until the investigations start! ---
**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 27, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27542 "2018-11-27T03:05:29Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > And if I said “The American economy is not just GM and Ford”. What would you say? I don’t disagree, but trillion dollar deficits most definitely impact every single sector of the US economy. With regard to GM and Ford, as much as I’d love to pile on Trump, I really don’t know if we can attribute GM and Ford’s woes to Trumponomics. This seems more like the auto industry having its retail moment. American consumers aren’t buying sedans anymore - that’s definitely a problem for American labor, but that has nothing to do with Trump. The piles of grain and the decline in marine activity in the ports along the mouth of the Mississippi? Yeah, that’s pretty much a Trump-induced headache. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27543 "2018-11-27T03:06:39Z")
I think some people are also forgetting Romney’s anti-Trump speech where he correctly predicted Trump would never release his taxes, talked about Trump University as a huge scam, etc. It was pretty great, whatever else you think of the guy. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27544 "2018-11-27T03:06:47Z")
[Trump suggests the US should form a state-run, global news network to counter CNN’s ‘unfair’ coverage](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-us-should-form-state-run-global-news-network-2018-11?fbclid=IwAR014hAuCGMuPHCXuMo9B93DeC64iG3gmpOCrsUzm109cBAbkx33rEK2cW0) > [@](#): > > “While CNN doesn’t do great in the United States based on ratings, outside of the U.S. they have very little competition,” Trump said via Twitter. “Throughout the world, CNN has a powerful voice portraying the United States in an unfair and false way.” > > The president added, “Something has to be done, including the possibility of the United States starting our own Worldwide Network to show the World the way we really are, GREAT!” … > > The concept of state-run news outlet is controversial in democratic societies because of its association with authoritarian regimes and propaganda. In countries like North Korea and China, media is strictly controlled and monitored by the government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1376) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1378)