# 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:** 1446
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28905 "2019-01-05T16:00:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So men with low lottery numbers were likely to be drafted in that year? Yes. Essentially, the military filled its ranks starting with Lotto pick #1 and kept going until they had what they needed. My birthday was No. 140 for the 1971 lottery. A while later I received a card with the status of “1-H” on it. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28906 "2019-01-05T16:04:18Z")
I’ve thought of a brilliant way out of the shutdown. “Chuck and Nancy” (I hate the disrespect shown by Trump) say: “Mr President, how about this: we pass a continuing resolution with no funding for the wall, and government re-opens. You then invoke your emergency powers to get the $5.6B for the wall. Everyone declares victory.” The sucker falls for it. As soon as he issues his “emergency” order, a judge slaps it down as violating the 1976 Emergency Powers act. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28907 "2019-01-05T16:10:53Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > And seriously delayed income tax refund checks? Won’t that unsettle his base? It is going to unsettle just about everyone who works. Plus people who inherited huge dividend-paying portfolios I suppose.[Trump claimed most furloughed workers are Democrats](http://fortune.com/2018/12/27/trump-claims-most-furloughed-government-workers-are-democrats/) as a way of downplaying the consequences. If they weren’t before, they probably are now! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28908 "2019-01-05T16:17:42Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Does this mean he’s going to attempt spinning this as a worker-organized work stoppage? Or is he just too stupid to know what a strike is? People are expected to work without getting paid. I mean, it’s literally the opposite of a strike. > [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > It is going to unsettle just about everyone who works. Plus people who inherited huge dividend-paying portfolios I suppose.[Trump claimed most furloughed workers are Democrats](http://fortune.com/2018/12/27/trump-claims-most-furloughed-government-workers-are-democrats/) as a way of downplaying the consequences. If they weren’t before, they probably are now! This is a Republican president. Making an argument that as long as the Americans that are harmed are from the opposing party, that it’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28909 "2019-01-05T16:19:01Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > If they weren’t before, they probably are now! I can identify with that. 😃 ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28910 "2019-01-05T16:38:19Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Yes. Essentially, the military filled its ranks starting with Lotto pick #1 and kept going until they had what they needed. > > My birthday was No. 140 for the 1971 lottery. A while later I received a card with the status of “1-H” on it. Thanks for the explanation. ---
**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 5, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28911 "2019-01-05T16:54:06Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > It is going to unsettle just about everyone who works. Plus people who inherited huge dividend-paying portfolios I suppose. If you inherited a huge dividend-paying portfolio and are getting a tax refund, you should fire your CPA. If she’s doing her job, you should be writing a check for $100 or so every April 15th. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28912 "2019-01-05T17:15:59Z")
Yah well if I had inherited a huge dividend-paying portfolio I would have known that. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28913 "2019-01-05T18:02:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I registered in 1974. Never got a number, but my classification was 1H, which, in hindsight, I presume meant _“Stand by. If we decide to hold another lottery, we’ll let you know.”_ > > Or something. Huh. Just for shits and giggles I decided to see if a lottery was held for my birth year, 1956. Turns out it was, and my number was 329. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28914 "2019-01-05T18:38:49Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Huh. > > Just for shits and giggles I decided to see if a lottery was held for my birth year, 1956. Turns out it was, and my number was 329. I was born in 1956. We registered but weren’t subject to the draft. I didn’t know there was a lottery, but I knew darn well there was an unsigned bill in Ford’s bottom right hand drawer with my name on it to go to boot camp. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28915 "2019-01-05T18:40:37Z")
My number was 003. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28916 "2019-01-05T18:49:36Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Interesting stat: In 1989, there were 29 women in congress, with 16 Democrats and 13 Republicans, while today there are 102, with 89 Democrats, and still 13 Republicans. At [35:28.](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/january-4-2019-pbs-newshour-full-episode) > Not even…_one_ more, since then? I didn’t realize it was quite that lopsided. For the sake of accuracy, those numbers are for the House. From the Senate, there’s an additional 17 Democrats and 8 Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28917 "2019-01-05T18:53:50Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > My number was 003. So, how did you enjoy your time working for our Uncle? 😉 ---
**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 5, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28918 "2019-01-05T19:07:20Z")
[ **The People vs. Donald J. Trump** _He is demonstrably unfit for office. What are we waiting for?_](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/opinion/sunday/trump-impeachment.html) This is truly the one thing I can’t figure out. 😕 > [@](#): > > … > The unrelenting chaos that Trump creates can sometimes obscure the big picture. But the big picture is simple: The United States has never had a president as demonstrably unfit for the office as Trump. And it’s becoming clear that 2019 is likely to be dominated by a single question: What are we going to do about it? > … > > The negligence and perfidy of President Trump — his high crimes and misdemeanors — can be separated into four categories. This list is conservative. It does not include the possibility that his campaign coordinated strategy with Russia, which remains uncertain. It also does not include his lazy approach to the job, like his refusal to read briefing books or the many empty hours on his schedule. It instead focuses on demonstrable ways that he has broken the law or violated his constitutional oath. > > **Trump has used the presidency for personal enrichment.** > … > > **Trump has violated campaign finance law.** > … > > **Trump has obstructed justice.** > … > > **Trump has subverted democracy.** > … > > **What now?** > > The most relevant precedent for the removal of Trump is Nixon, the only American president to be forced from office because of his conduct. And two aspects of Nixon’s departure tend to get overlooked today. One, he was never impeached. Two, most Republicans — both voters and elites — stuck by him until almost the very end. His approval rating among Republicans was still about 50 percent when, realizing in the summer of 1974 that he was doomed, he resigned. > > The current political dynamics have some similarities. Whether the House of Representatives, under Democratic control, impeaches Trump is not the big question. The question is whether he loses the support of a meaningful slice of Republicans. > … > > They know. They know he is unfit for office. They do not need to be persuaded of the truth. They need to be persuaded to act on it. > … > > Finally, there is the hope — naïve though it may seem — that some Republicans will choose to act on principle. There now exists a small club of former Trump administration officials who were widely respected before joining the administration and whom Trump has sullied, to greater or lesser degrees. It includes Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster and Jim Mattis. Imagine if one of them gave a television interview and told the truth about Trump. Doing so would be a service to their country at a time of national need. It would be an illustration of duty. (Emphasis in the original) ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28919 "2019-01-05T19:09:19Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > My number was 003. :eek: Good thing Gerry was successfully making do with volunteers that year. ---
**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 5, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28920 "2019-01-05T19:43:52Z")
My number was 130-something. I joined the Air Force. * * * Trump says that former Presidents told him that they wish they had built the wall. Those former Presidents say, '“Nope.” > **[Trump claims support from past presidents for the wall: Clinton, Bush and...](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/04/trump-former-presidents-border-wall-1082562)** > > Asked if Clinton told Trump that he should have built a border wall, Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said, “He did not. In fact, they’ve not talked since the inauguration.” ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28921 "2019-01-05T19:48:20Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Trump says that former Presidents told him that they wish they had built the wall. NAME THEM, you God-Damned Liar! DISCLAIMER: that retort was aimed, not at **Rick Kitchen** , but at the America-hating fuckstick ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28922 "2019-01-05T19:51:11Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > NAME THEM, you God-Damned Liar! > DISCLAIMER: that retort was aimed, not at **Rick Kitchen** , but at the America-hating fuckstick He got a call from his friend, the great Andrew Jackson, about it just the other day. Frederick Douglass, too. He was a president, right? ---
**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:** [January 5, 2019, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28923 "2019-01-05T20:10:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He got a call from his friend, the great Andrew Jackson, about it just the other day. > > Frederick Douglass, too. He was a president, right? Proof that the Kenyan born Obama was not the first Black President! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/28924 "2019-01-05T20:18:21Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [Trump refers to shutdown as a “strike”.](https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/1081379123786858499?s=19) > > Many people are working for free, quite the opposite definition of a “strike”. Clever framing, if he can make it work: “Strike” = worker walkouts = union thugs. One of the favorite right-wing boogeymen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1445) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1447)