# 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:** 1442
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28825 "2019-01-04T16:09:32Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Donny Two-scoops is trying to pass himself as the head of that house, protecting the land from the [del]Russian[/del] ice heathens. “I knew Ned Stark and you, sir, are no Stark!” Considering Ned’s eventual fate, the video Kathy Griffin got in trouble for now becomes rather prescient. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28826 "2019-01-04T16:09:59Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh no, that’s still a cluster. Webb is not a stable person. Considering how few people seem to be interested in posts in the administration, you may have to make do. Would you rather work for Bo Gritz? ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28827 "2019-01-04T16:11:53Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh no, that’s still a cluster. Webb is not a stable person. He’s probably stable enough, but seriously, what does he expect to achieve that Mattis and others have not? The secret sauce of getting Trump to listen to an advisor for more than 3 seconds is to be a fastidious boot-licker. Webb actually knows stuff about the military. He actually has knowledge and he just might try to share some of it with the Orangochump in Chief. I don’t see how this works. But maybe that’s the point. Trump’s Republican loyalists are probably telling him that he needs to have someone - anyone - cover and take the fall for his idiocy - he can’t just be identified as the one making all the decisions. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28828 "2019-01-04T16:13:34Z")
His thinking might be “I can outlast this motherfucker…”. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28829 "2019-01-04T16:22:28Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It gets even deeper into theater of the absurd: > > Now, I’ve forgotten a lot of the calculus and advanced statistics and whatnot from college, but I’m pretty sure that somebody who was born in 1950 would have turned 18 in 1968. Likewise, my historical knowledge is missing some of the details of the XYZ Affair and Jay’s Treaty, but I have a pretty good recollection that the draft was something of a Big Deal in 1968. I too have forgotten the details, but it was a big deal and my WW2 veteran father would have reminded me. I suspect that at 18, I signed up at the Post Office. Alternatively, I might have gotten mail from my local draft board with the registration paperwork. My high school would have had all the contact info. The next year in college, I think I had to give them my draft registration so the could let the board know I should get a deferment. It certainly was (and still is) required for financial support. I also remember that every job I applied for prior to 1973 wanted to know my draft status. No idea if they wanted to see my card, but it was in my wallet. Failing to register would have been a pretty bold act for an 18 year old in 1968. This [period article](https://clickamericana.com/topics/war-topics/20-questions-about-the-draft-answered-1967) about the 1967 draft legislation points out that if you were found to be unregistered, you were immediately put at the top of the list to be drafted! > [@](#): > > **3. Who is first in line to be drafted, under the new law?** > > Answer: Youths who fail to register, or keep their draft boards informed as to their whereabouts, or otherwise become delinquent. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28830 "2019-01-04T16:51:54Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > His thinking might be “I can outlast this motherfucker…”. Some other person may think that, but Webb is a notorious quitter. For any particular position he takes, he lasts as long as the typical Donald Trump business venture (though maybe that’s a selling point for him). He quit as Secretary of the Navy after a year. He quit the Senate (well, didn’t run for re-election, but really he called it quits). He quit his presidential campaign. He quit the Republican and Democratic parties. On the plus side, he said he wanted to slug GWB for asking how Webb’s son was doing. (His son was a Marine deployed to Iraq.) Webb took great offense at the question. Perhaps Trump would say something in one of those terrible cabinet meetings that would cause a fistfight, and the nation would get to see Trump get pounded like a cheap steak. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28831 "2019-01-04T16:59:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > On the plus side, he said he wanted to slug GWB for asking how Webb’s son was doing. (His son was a Marine deployed to Iraq.) Webb took great offense at the question. **Perhaps Trump would say something in one of those terrible cabinet meetings that would cause a fistfight, and the nation would get to see Trump get pounded like a cheap steak.** While the Secret Service agents “accidentally” get in each others’ way trying to reach the combatants. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28832 "2019-01-04T17:51:08Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Perhaps Trump would say something in one of those terrible cabinet meetings that would cause a fistfight, and the nation would get to see Trump get pounded like a cheap steak. The association of Trump with cheap steak does trip off the tongue. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28833 "2019-01-04T18:07:46Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The association of Trump with cheap steak does trip off the tongue. “Cheap steak” AND “cheapskate.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28834 "2019-01-04T18:22:00Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > 1. “I could be the most popular person in Europe. I could be – I could run for any office if I wanted to, but I don’t want to.” > (actually, with the growing far-right influence sweeping across Europe, maybe not so preposterous a quote.) Which European country is he a citizen of? He may be able to get Scottish citizenship if they don’t remove the possibility just to keep him out, but the paperwork wouldn’t be just a matter of claiming his golf club with the nice view of wind turbines is his primary place of residence. > [@JohnT](#): > > Having been there, reports of a wall encircling Vatican City comes as a surprise. We’ve heard and debunked them before. (See [post 7](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=824123) and following) ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28835 "2019-01-04T18:29:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Since 1940, all males over the age of 18 have had to register for the draft (with the exception of the period 1975-1980). 1978, not 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28836 "2019-01-04T18:40:28Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Not exactly. There are regular seasons with snow in the northern regions of the continent but every so often – the last time being so far in the past it has become legend – there is a super winter where everything freezes and ice-zombies come from the north. They were so bad a wall of ice 700 feet high was magicked across the entire continent the last time and staffed by an elite multi-kingdom force called the Night Watch. _Winter is Coming_ is the epithet of the northernmost of the seven great houses but their southern counterparts look at their sunny clime (the show was filmed in Malta) laugh it off. In Malta, Spain, Iceland, Spain, Croatia, Spain, Mali… 😛 GoT offers subtitles in Catalan on any platform and country as part of the deal which got them to turn Girona into a playground several times, including parts of Cersei’s Walk of Shame (that one was shared by several locations); it’s also been Braavos. They’ve recorded in Bardenas and Monegros as well (mainly with Dothraki). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28837 "2019-01-04T18:43:49Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > 1978, not 1980. Not sure why you say this. I have a pretty clear memory of not registering in 1980. [https://www.sss.gov/Registration-Info](https://www.sss.gov/Registration-Info) > [@](#): > > July 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed Proclamation 4771 which resumed registration under the Military Selective Service Act. It states men born on or after January 1, 1960, must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Late registrations are accepted, but not once a man reaches his 26th birthday. So, men who turned 18 in 1978 and 1979 would have to register, but not until 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28838 "2019-01-04T18:58:40Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > 1978, not 1980. I was wondering about that. My older (graduated HS 1973, 1974) and younger brothers (graduated HS 1978, 1980) all registered, but I am a ghost in the system (graduated HS 1977). ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28839 "2019-01-04T19:10:27Z")
[While federal workers go without pay, senior Trump administration officials are poised to get $10,000 raises](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/04/while-federal-workers-go-without-pay-senior-trump-administration-officials-are-poised-get-raises/) > [@](#): > > While many federal workers go without pay and the government is partially shut down, hundreds of senior Trump political appointees are poised to receive annual raises of about $10,000 a year. > > The pay raises for Cabinet secretaries, deputy secretaries, top administrators and even Vice President Pence are scheduled to go into effect beginning Jan. 5 without legislation to stop them, according to documents issued by the Office of Personnel Management and experts in federal pay. > > The raises appear to be an unintended consequence of the shutdown: When lawmakers failed to pass bills on Dec. 21 to fund multiple federal agencies, they allowed an existing pay freeze to lapse. Congress enacted a law capping pay for top federal executives in 2013 and renewed it each year. The raises will occur because that cap will expire without legislative action by Saturday, allowing raises to kick in that have accumulated over those years but never took effect, starting with paychecks that will be issued next week. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28840 "2019-01-04T19:14:43Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > The association of Trump with cheap steak does trip off the tongue. The expensive stuff is wasted on him. [He likes his steaks well-done. _With ketchup_.](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-presidents-eat-steak-2018-2) I mean, what sort of monster … ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28841 "2019-01-04T19:49:20Z")
Individual 1 just stepped out in front of the cameras to say he had had a productive meeting with Schumer and Pelosi and both sides were going to pick people to get together over the weekend to have further discussions. Schumer and Pelosi responded that nothing had changed and they didn’t know anything about further meetings. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28842 "2019-01-04T20:06:51Z")
Here is a bit more of the ongoing treasonous crazy, _**The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. [COLOR=“Black”]They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight.**_[/COLOR] ShitGibbon defending Commies. sigh ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28843 "2019-01-04T20:07:33Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 just stepped out in front of the cameras to say he had had a productive meeting with Schumer and Pelosi and both sides were going to pick people to get together over the weekend to have further discussions. Schumer and Pelosi responded that nothing had changed and they didn’t know anything about further meetings. Individual 1 is simply bullshitting again. Want to hear something different? Just wait two hours, and he will tweet something that directly contradicts this. And for the GOP, both statements will be simultaneously true. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28844 "2019-01-04T20:08:24Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I was wondering about that. My older (graduated HS 1973, 1974) and younger brothers (graduated HS 1978, 1980) all registered, but I am a ghost in the system (graduated HS 1977). I had to register (1979) but there was no threat of being drafted, so I have no idea what my number was, nor even if I even had a number. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1441) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1443)