# 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:** 1577
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31525 "2019-04-01T21:25:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This will definitely play well with the MAGAts! Hell, let’s bring back lynch mobs! In days of old, lynchings were festive social events. People brought picnic lunches and watched while they ate their deviled eggs and macaroni salad. Frankly, nothing would surprise me now. ☹ Macaroni? That’s damned surprising for a hanging. Deviled eggs, pickles, potato salad…sure, but macaroni? :dubious: ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31526 "2019-04-01T21:38:14Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Macaroni? That’s damned surprising for a hanging. Deviled eggs, pickles, potato salad…sure, but macaroni? :dubious: Macaroni would have been a good thing to bring to watch the Sacco and Vanzetti electrocution. Make it a theme party! ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31527 "2019-04-01T21:45:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Macaroni? That’s damned surprising for a hanging. Deviled eggs, pickles, potato salad…sure, but macaroni? :dubious: Well, I was thinking of _“Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni (salad).”_ Isn’t that how it goes? ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31528 "2019-04-02T01:08:31Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This will definitely play well with the MAGAts! Hell, let’s bring back lynch mobs! In days of old, lynchings were festive social events. People brought picnic lunches and watched while they ate their deviled eggs and macaroni salad. Frankly, nothing would surprise me now. ☹ > [@MacCat](#): > > And don’t forget to bring the kids! > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > And buy souvenir photos of the dead body. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Macaroni would have been a good thing to bring to watch the Sacco and Vanzetti electrocution. Make it a theme party! And don’t forget to put on your costume, complete with a pointy hood! Hey, want to make it more fun? Get yourself a piñata, er, an Obummer peenyatta so the message isn’t lost on certain elements. Instead of a stick, you can use a cross. Instead of candy, Chickesque anti-immigrant tracts with Trump as the savior. And macaroni salad? I just had a horrible incarnation of that at the church “linger longer” this past Sunday. Just recalling it makes me feel like puking. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31529 "2019-04-02T01:14:05Z")
[ **The Worse Things Are, the Better They Are for Trump** _The president’s latest moves on immigration and health care suggest his goal is not to fix the system, but to exacerbate turmoil for political gain._](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/04/trumps-cynical-approach-immigration-and-health-care/586249/) _The Atlantic_, David A. Graham > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump has spent time recently attacking socialists, which makes it all the more peculiar how closely his recent moves on immigration and health care echo Vladimir Lenin. > > Not in their specifics, of course. The Bolshevik leader would have favored greater government control of health care, and in 1913 he delighted in that era’s equivalent of Latin American immigration to the United States: “American capitalism is tearing millions of workers of backward Eastern Europe out of their semi-feudal conditions and is putting them in the ranks of the advanced, international army of the proletariat.” > > But Trump and Lenin share a strategic instinct. Lenin reportedly said, “The worse, the better”—meaning that conditions that were more miserable for the people were likely to help his political aims. Trump’s approach to immigration and health care, both in the past few days and throughout his presidency, evince a similar **understanding** \* of power. My colleague Adam Serwer has argued that the cruelty of many of Trump’s policies is the point. In some cases, however, the point may be making things worse to his benefit. > … [My bold] \*Small deduction of points for implying that thump has an understanding of _anything_, let alone anything resembling something Lenin understood. But we know this, because thump has said it many times. He thrives on chaos and deliberately creates it. And no, it’s not because he \*understands \*[dialectical materialism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_materialism). It’s because he’s a narcissistic bully who has a gut instinct that favors destruction. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31530 "2019-04-02T01:52:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Trump’s pick for Federal Reserve owes more than $75,000 in back taxes. > > [Trump's pick for Federal Reserve owes more than $75,000 in taxes, court record shows](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/28/trumps-fed-pick-stephen-moore-owes-75000-in-taxes-government-says.html) > [@Railer13](#): > > Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but Moore was one of the clowns that designed the tax-cutting ‘experiment’ in Kansas that failed miserably. He then had the balls to defend it in an op-ed in the _Kansas City Star_, using dubious data. > > [https://archives.cjr.org/united\_states\_project/stephen\_moore\_heritage\_foundation\_paul\_krugman\_kansas\_city\_star.php](https://archives.cjr.org/united_states_project/stephen_moore_heritage_foundation_paul_krugman_kansas_city_star.php) Looks like this pick was [such bad dog’s vomit](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/business/economy/stephen-moore-divorce.html), even the Republicans can’t lap it up. Thank fuck. I can’t think of many I detest more than this clown… although Trump has managed to hire most of them. Apparently Trump is still “standing behind” this pick, but if he’s such a great choice, why does he need to prop him up? (Rhetorical question; no need to answer.) ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31531 "2019-04-02T02:03:17Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I can’t think of many I detest more than this clown… although Trump has managed to hire most of them. Now to find an even worse pick… ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31532 "2019-04-02T02:20:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [ **The Worse Things Are, the Better They Are for Trump** > _The president’s latest moves on immigration and health care suggest his goal is not to fix the system, but to exacerbate turmoil for political gain._](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/04/trumps-cynical-approach-immigration-and-health-care/586249/) > _The Atlantic_, David A. Graham > [My bold] \*Small deduction of points for implying that thump has an understanding of _anything_, let alone anything resembling something Lenin understood. > > But we know this, because thump has said it many times. He thrives on chaos and deliberately creates it. And no, it’s not because he \*understands \*[dialectical materialism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_materialism). It’s because he’s a narcissistic bully who has a gut instinct that favors destruction. Polarization is a strategy, and it’s the only way he can win re-election, which is also why I don’t think we’ve even come close to seeing the worst of what is to come. To be more specific, it will pay to polarize along racial, ethnic, and cultural lines, because it will divide everyone else. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31533 "2019-04-02T02:24:46Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > **[Whistle-Blower Claims Irregularities in WH Security Clearances](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBVuoXe?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare)** > [My bold.] Nah. This White House is impervious to any kind of pressure. > > Ms. Newbold better start looking for another job. Obviously, anyone who actually tries to DO their job is not welcome in this W.H. I think what she’s trying to see is that the White House - the Oval Office - has quite likely been infiltrated by organized crime. This is nothing short of a national emergency. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31534 "2019-04-02T02:30:57Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Now to find an even worse pick… It’s the one thing I’m confident he’ll manage to do. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31535 "2019-04-02T03:02:07Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s the one thing I’m confident he’ll manage to do. This is one thing at which thump excels. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31536 "2019-04-02T05:19:08Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Well, I was thinking of _“Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni (salad).”_ Isn’t that how it goes? I have serious reservations about that song. The chorus ends with the line “_And with the girls be handy_”. Now, I realize that the original sentiment _may have_ been relatively innocent, but to the modern ear, it just sounds so _off_. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31537 "2019-04-02T10:33:46Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have serious reservations about that song. The chorus ends with the line “_And with the girls be handy_”. Now, I realize that the original sentiment _may have_ been relatively innocent, but to the modern ear, it just sounds so _off_. It’s [about dancing](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4970266), though: “mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy”. That is, be skillful and smart (“handy”) in guiding the girls through the dance. I’m all in favor of calling out historical instances of normalizing sexual assault and harassment within culture, but trying to interpret “Yankee Doodle” that way is stretching a point, ISTM. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31538 "2019-04-02T10:44:50Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This is one thing at which thump excels. Ugh. Please stop with the motherfucking “thump”. Just-stop. It really just makes you look bad. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31539 "2019-04-02T10:51:08Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Ugh. Please stop with the motherfucking “thump”. Just-stop. It really just makes you look bad. Responsible opposing viewpoint: While I don’t find the use of “thump” for Trump particularly witty or clever, I don’t think it’s inappropriate in a specifically anti-Trump thread, and I certainly don’t think it makes the user “look bad”. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31540 "2019-04-02T10:54:45Z")
Of all the things to attack a poster for, criticizing someone for using the epithet “Thump” is pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31541 "2019-04-02T11:25:52Z")
Meh. Some people are just idiosyncratically driven crazy by some arbitrary petty thing and don’t realize that other people aren’t equally bugged by it. I have a hard time remembering that most people don’t get as annoyed about the use of “it’s” for “its” as I do, for example. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31542 "2019-04-02T11:30:26Z")
‘Thump’ doesn’t hold much meaning. Why not mix it up, **ThelmaLou**? You’ve got bump and chump and clump and dump and frump and Gump and grump and hump and lump and plump and slump and stump (fingers) and trumpup to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31543 "2019-04-02T12:09:32Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > It’s [about dancing](https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4970266), though: “mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy”. That is, be skillful and smart (“handy”) in guiding the girls through the dance. > > I’m all in favor of calling out historical instances of normalizing sexual assault and harassment within culture, but trying to interpret “Yankee Doodle” that way is stretching a point, ISTM. I took it as something in between the two - that “handy” means “well-skilled” and so to be handy with the girls would mean skilled at impressing them. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31544 "2019-04-02T12:15:06Z")
I’ll continue to use “thump” as long as I goddam well please, so just get off it. Do you think I give a fuck how “it makes me look”? Geez, Louise, go complain about something that matters, okay? Vote him out of office and I’ll quit-- how’s that? Or put me on Ignore if you just can’t stomach it until then. Holy crap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1576) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1578)