# 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:** 1398
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27945 "2018-12-11T01:44:14Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I don’t really see how it matters who the Chief of Staff is with this guy. You could put the reincarnated U Thant in there or you could put Tom Sizemore and a pile of meth in there and Trump will just do and say any stupid thing he thinks of. Plus, he’d sell the meth and pocket the proceeds. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27946 "2018-12-11T01:58:37Z")
> [@TheMysteryWriter](#): > > Thanks for sharing. I laughed muchly. 😃 Here is their latest - [We’re Beginning To Hear About Indictments](https://youtu.be/x2IN9fCFmQQ). (They have a YouTube channel full of these) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27947 "2018-12-11T15:44:08Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > [Trump administration has quietly barred NIH scientists from acquiring fetal tissue](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/12/trump-administration-has-quietly-barred-nih-scientists-acquiring-fetal-tissue) Oh I see - it’s because they’re acquiring human fetal tissue from \:eek:selective abortions:eek: I like how the NIH try to foist this clampdown as a “pause”. Fortunately there are other independent bodies not under NIH’s purview that can go on with their AIDS research. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27948 "2018-12-11T15:52:46Z")
Okay! I’ve finally found something I like and approve of in our President (I even decided to give him a capital letter for the occasion): My emphasis. > [@](#): > > **Donald Trump can’t stop telling on himself.** > > Just two years into his presidency, the New York real-estate mogul turned politician faces at least two separate criminal investigations, while half a dozen former advisers, including his former campaign chair, deputy campaign chair, national-security adviser, foreign-policy adviser, and personal attorney have all pleaded guilty to or been convicted of serious crimes. That’s even more remarkable when you consider that the American legal system makes white-collar crimes difficult to prove, by making guilt conditional on a defendant’s state of mind, a notoriously high standard. > > Nevertheless, Trump has done his best to ensure that we all know what he’s thinking, even as his legal peril grows. Last Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York claimed in a filing that Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, had been directed during the campaign to pay hush money to women who claimed to have had affairs with the president. Those payments, according to the filing, were laundered through shell corporations and reimbursed by the president’s private company. Effectively, the president’s own Justice Department accused him of ordering his personal attorney to commit a felony. > > The standard for criminal violations of campaign-finance laws, though, turns on “knowing and willful” violations of those laws. So the president would have had to know that it was illegal, and ordered Cohen to make the payments anyway. > > “It is a big deal that prosecutors concluded that Trump directed Cohen to commit crimes. The one note of caution is that if prosecutors wanted to charge Trump—and we can’t draw any conclusions from this sentencing memo about whether they will—they would also likely have to show that he knew what the laws were, and willfully violated them anyway,” said Brendan Fischer of the Campaign Legal Center. “Demonstrating Trump’s knowledge of anything could be a challenge.” > > \*\*Fortunately, Trump is here to help. \*\*On Monday morning, the president said on Twitter that the payments were “a simple private transaction,” and that it was his “lawyer’s liability if he made a mistake, not me.” If the president took this view of the law at the time he made the payments, he might be guilty of a felony. > … > > [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/trump-cant-stop-confessing/577837/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Fee*d%29) Other qualities of his that I’m now finding delightful, charming, and _please-do-it-some-more!_: [ul] [li]He doesn’t know the meaning of an unexpressed thought. [/li][li]He thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.[/li][li]He doesn’t know when to keep his yap shut.[/li][li]He has to have the last word. [/li][li]He can’t let anyone else speak for him.[/li][li]He just opens his mouth and whatever is right in front spills out onto Twitter. No (hypothetical) brain engagement.[/li][li]He has the judgment of a dim two-year old (apologies to all toddlers). He just keeps sticking his fork in the socket over and over (hmmm…that \*\*has \*\*been his practice, for sure).[/li][li]He cannot listen to any advice.[/li][li]He knows better than anyone else.[/li][li]He is ignorant, not just of spelling and language, but of all history-- recent, modern, and ancient. [/li][/ul]\*\<\*\*ThelmaLou \*_is hyperventilating\>_ The list of DJT qualities that I’ve come to appreciate late in the game (VERY late, I hope) just grows and grows… One thing I’m quite gratified to see is that the media and pundits (FOX excepted, of course) have _finally_ stopped trying to analyze-- or even to discern-- the content of thump’s statements. For a long while, commentators treated his tweets as though they were _something_, when in fact, they’ve been \*nothing \*all along. There never was “policy” in them. They were as much “policy” as _Why Cats Paint_ is like the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. In reality, his tweets are the unqualified equivalent of the hairball a cat throws up. Now commentators are addressing the fact of DJT’s comments, not the nonexistent content. All I can say is, **'What took you so fucking long??"** ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27949 "2018-12-11T16:21:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Okay! I’ve finally found something I like and approve of in our President (I even decided to give him a capital letter for the occasion): The best line in the piece you quoted: “Demonstrating Trump’s knowledge of anything could be a challenge.” Ain’t that the truth! The only question that I can think of that I know Trump could answer correctly is “Mr. Trump, a moron says ‘what’?” ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27950 "2018-12-11T16:22:24Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Oh I see - it’s because they’re acquiring human fetal tissue from \:eek:selective abortions:eek: > I like how the NIH try to foist this clampdown as a “pause”. > Fortunately there are other independent bodies not under NIH’s purview that can go on with their AIDS research. It’s _elective_ abortions. And can those other independent bodies use fetal tissue from abortions for research? I don’t know, do you? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27951 "2018-12-11T16:35:04Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > It’s _elective_ abortions. > > And can those other independent bodies use fetal tissue from abortions for research? I don’t know, do you? If this is similar to Bush’s ban on new stem cell lines it might be that federal labs and money (intramural and extramural) may not be used for research, but research can be funded from other sources. With Bush, I believe California moved to fund research in the state (say, at universities and research organizations) after the federal ban. But I’m going from memory, here. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27952 "2018-12-11T17:23:45Z")
[quote=“ThelmaLou, post:27948, topic:774070”] [ul][li]He has the judgment of a dim two-year old (apologies to all toddlers)[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] [I’m not saying Trump is dense… … but his head has an event horizon.]([https://twitter.com/GordonHeliboy/status/1071533222641553408](https://twitter.com/GordonHeliboy/status/1071533222641553408)) ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27953 "2018-12-11T17:26:51Z")
Apparently, this mornings Oval Office pow-wow with Individual-1, Pelosi, and Schumer was a blast, with Trump flat out declaring: > [@Individual-1](#): > > “I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck…I will take the mantle, I will be the one to shut it down.” Can’t wait until I get home and see this. The GOP must be _thrilled_. > ETA: Bloody Hell! > [@Schumer](#): > > “When the president brags that he won North Dakota and Indiana, he’s in real trouble.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27954 "2018-12-11T17:27:40Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > And can those other independent bodies use fetal tissue from abortions for research? I don’t know, do you? Just as long as there are no human-animal hybrids. You know how Dubya gets. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27955 "2018-12-11T17:32:30Z")
LOL, this thing is still going on… > [@Individual-1 to Schumer/Pelosi](#): > > “Yes, if we don’t get what we want…I will shut down the government. … I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.” #Winning ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27956 "2018-12-11T17:51:39Z")
It’s very interesting how Nancy Pelosi, after that shitshow of an Oval Office meeting, is constantly trying to tie Trump to religious themes. Like how she suggested that they pray together, talking about King Solomon, etc. It has got to be just pure trolling. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27957 "2018-12-11T17:53:54Z")
So he’s going to shut down the government, and _then_ ask Mexico to pay for The Wall? Will they consider that much of a threat? ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27958 "2018-12-11T17:56:11Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [I’m not saying Trump is dense… > > … but his head has an event horizon.]([https://twitter.com/GordonHeliboy/status/1071533222641553408](https://twitter.com/GordonHeliboy/status/1071533222641553408)) Beautiful. Says it all. > [@](#): > > **e·vent ho·ri·zon** > nounAstronomy > noun: event horizon; plural noun: event horizons > > ``` > a theoretical boundary around a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape. > a point of no return. > "we're nearing the event horizon of the presidential election" > > ``` ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27959 "2018-12-11T18:03:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > LOL, this thing is still going on… > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Individual-1 to Schumer/Pelosi > > “Yes, if we don’t get what we want…I will shut down the government. … I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.” > > #Winning That right there is the money shot, so to speak. This is what will outlive the entire episode, when all the dust settles. Thank you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27960 "2018-12-11T18:08:14Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [ul] > [li]He is ignorant, not just of spelling and language, but of all history-- recent, modern, and ancient.[/li][/ul] I agree with your entire post, but I would modify this one point to read as follows: [ul] [li]He is ignorant, not just of spelling, language, and all history-- recent, modern, and ancient – but of [all science](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/15/itll-change-back-trump-says-climate-change-not-a-hoax-but-denies-lasting-impact), and, by extension, ignorant of pretty much the entirety of human knowledge.[/li][/ul] ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27961 "2018-12-11T18:24:44Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > It’s very interesting how Nancy Pelosi, after that shitshow of an Oval Office meeting, is constantly trying to tie Trump to religious themes. Like how she suggested that they pray together, talking about King Solomon, etc. > > It has got to be just pure trolling. You could almost call it… (•\_•) ( •\_•)\>⌐■-■ (⌐■\_■) … Biblical. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27962 "2018-12-11T18:49:04Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I agree with your entire post, but I would modify this one point to read as follows: > [ul] > [li]He is ignorant, not just of spelling, language, and all history-- recent, modern, and ancient – but of [all science](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/15/itll-change-back-trump-says-climate-change-not-a-hoax-but-denies-lasting-impact), and, by extension, ignorant of pretty much the entirety of human knowledge.[/li][/ul] Excellent edit! Thank you. “Ignorant of pretty much the entirety of human knowledge”-- what an accomplishment. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27963 "2018-12-11T19:03:04Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > It’s _elective_ abortions. :smack: ACK! > [@Railer13](#): > > And can those other independent bodies use fetal tissue from abortions for research? I don’t know, do you? According to this [NYT link,](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/health/fetal-tissue-from-abortions-for-research-is-traded-in-a-gray-zone.html)I’d say yeah. > [@](#): > > Scientists at major universities and government labs have quietly been using fetal tissue for decades. They say it is an invaluable tool for certain types of research, including the study of eye diseases, diabetes and muscular dystrophy. Nevertheless, some agree to talk about it only if their names and their universities’ names are withheld, because they have received threats of violence from abortion opponents. So really? President Not Too Good At His Job and his admin. are doing something actually commendable, [here,](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/11/trump-preparing-to-condemn-china-doj-to-announce-charges-report.html) for a change, by going after China’s thievery of trade secrets? Or, wait, I guess they’re only doing this in retaliation over the the whole Meng Wanzhou thing. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/27964 "2018-12-11T19:14:30Z")
Originally Posted by Schumer, to Individual-1 _"When the president brags that he won North Dakota and Indiana, he’s in real trouble_." Which was followed immediately by the President plaintively whining, “But I did, I did win North Dakota and Indiana…” Not “we.” Not “the Republicans.” “I won.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1397) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1399)