# 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:** 1582
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31625 "2019-04-03T23:08:42Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Because they, and we, have learned it just doesn’t work. As long as Shit Gibbon is saying what his little fascists want to hear, he can, will, and does lie hourly and they simply don’t give a fuck. But they are hung up on the far, far, far fewer instances when the opposition does it. So now, many non-Fox news outlets simply state that Shit Gibbon said yet another falsehood and move on. Those with more than 2 working brain cells and a moral core will know, and his backers won’t care. I don’t mean “inform the public that this, too, is yet another lie”. I mean interrupt him when he speaks. Corner him. Badger him. Make him own up to his bullshit. Don’t let him leave, or speak, unless he answers direct fucking questions about his lies. And the same to each and every one of his pack of habitual liars. Don’t write a word they say unless they answer to their own bullshit. Don’t let them Gish gallop any further. This should be a permanent barrage, as insistent and ubiquitous as their bullshit is. From every single news outlet (save for the propaganda wing of the GOP of course). And if that gets reporters kicked out of the room ? FINE ! FILM THAT ! Show you have a spine, you fucks ! Let Donnie petulantly kick out everyone who won’t eat his shit and thank him for the meal. Let him speak exclusively to Fox News, Infowars and Breitbart - nobody with a brain watches that shit. Meanwhile every other network can loop clips of him floundering to answer simple questions about his lies. Just like the Dutch did to his stupid ambassador, who claimed fake news and “I never said that” to stupid racist shit he’d said. They immediately fired back by showing him the video. And then they kept on showing him the video, and asking him why he lied. Every journalist at his next PR event. And the next. And the next. Until he admitted, on camera, that he’d made it all up to pander to his crowd. THAT’S what journalism with integrity looks like. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31626 "2019-04-03T23:10:59Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Or, it doesn’t work because opposing him would mean siding with people who think Republicans are ‘little fascists’. > > Democrats had a great chance to pick up support from the people who don’t like Trump but vote Republican. All they had to do was find a moderate candidate, have a welcoming attitude, and separate their attacks on Trump from attacks on anyone on the right. This attempt to blame Democrats for Trump is just another desperate attempt by people who identify with the Republican party to shift blame for what they know is an unmitigated disaster. Trump is yours. You nominated him. You elected him. You own him. He’s cut your taxes, he’s gutted your consumer protections, he’s loaded the judiciary: all things you’ve been having wet dreams about for decades. But it sucks for you, because now you see the Republican party for what it really is. You see the white nationalism, the hatred for minorities, the decisions based on fear and tribalism and not rationality, and the abject hatred of all things even passably liberal. All the things you’ve spent decades convincing yourselves were just a tiny percentage of the Republican base; you now realize is what your party is all about. So you have to change the rules. You have to pretend that somehow this administration is the Democrats fault. It’s fucking pathetic, post hoc rationalization. And, to anyone who knows you or your ilk, absolutely no surprise at all. ---
**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 3, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31627 "2019-04-03T23:28:40Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Trump is yours. You nominated him. You elected him. You own him. He’s cut your taxes, he’s gutted your consumer protections, he’s loaded the judiciary: all things you’ve been having wet dreams about for decades. **Sam Stone** is Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31628 "2019-04-03T23:31:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Or, it doesn’t work because opposing him would mean siding with people who think Republicans are ‘little fascists’. > > Democrats had a great chance to pick up support from the people who don’t like Trump but vote Republican. All they had to do was find a moderate candidate, have a welcoming attitude, and separate their attacks on Trump from attacks on anyone on the right. > > Instead, the Democrats are moving hard to the left, and amping up the rhetoric against Republicans and Conservatives. Thereby blowing the best chance they’ve had to expand their coalition in decades. > > A year ago I thought there was no way in hell Trump could possibly be re-elected. Now, I’m trying to come up with a reason why he won’t, and failing. Bernie Sanders against Trump? Trump wins in a landslide. A socialist who supports the Green New Deal against Trump? Trump wins in a landslide. There are a couple of moderate who might be able to give Trump a run for his money, but I don’t think any of them will survive a primary process in a party full of activists who want a hard left President. The ones responsible for Trump are those who voted for someone who spent years spreading a baseless, racist conspiracy theory, bragged about violating the consent of women on multiple occasions, and has generally been buffoonish, offensive, and incoherent for many years. That’s not the Democrats. It’s not my fault that so many Americans are capable of voting for someone like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31629 "2019-04-03T23:31:40Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A year ago I thought there was no way in hell Trump could possibly be re-elected. Nonsense. You have been consistently concern trolling for years about the Democrats becoming what you call too “far left” and allegedly risking their political chances by it. Please show us even one statement of yours from a year ago declaring that you thought there was no way in hell Trump could possibly be re-elected. Rather, it’s been a constant [litany](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21064413&postcount=22) from you about why “Democrats should be worried”. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31630 "2019-04-03T23:32:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > **Sam Stone** is Canadian. And? Does his Canadian-ism disallow him from having an opinion on American politics? Opinions that he’s made perfectly clear over the last decade? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31631 "2019-04-03T23:34:03Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > **Sam Stone** is Canadian. A Canadian who can’t persuade his own government to fuck up their society in the ways he advocates, so he devotes his energies to cheerleading for the fucking up of ours. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31632 "2019-04-03T23:34:04Z")
And the funny/sad thing is that the thing **Sam Stone** is complaining about most, ISTM – that Democrats have demonized conservatives (which is certainly true, to some degree) – Trump takes way up past 11. There were no Democratic candidates chanting anything equivalent to “Lock her up!”. Or spreading Birtherism. Or calling immigrants rapists. Or anything at all close to that. Trump is much, much worse than anything prominent Democrats have ever done in this regard. Orders of magnitude worse. And for some reason **Sam Stone** is spending his time blaming the Democrats for what Trump has done more than anyone. ---
**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 3, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31633 "2019-04-03T23:37:10Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Well, the last moderate candidate we tried was Hillary Clinton, and we all know how _that_ turned out. Oh, you mean she won the election by 3 million votes but was prevented from taking office due to a technicality? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31634 "2019-04-03T23:40:34Z")
My argument was more pragmatic than an attack. The Republicans elected a lying buffoon with a lot of liabilities. That gave Democrats an opportunity, and in my opinion they squandered it. This is just a tactical argument, not a normative one about which side is better. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31635 "2019-04-03T23:43:29Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > My argument was more pragmatic than an attack. The Republicans elected a lying buffoon with a lot of liabilities. That gave Democrats an opportunity, and in my opinion they squandered it. This is just a tactical argument, not a normative one about which side is better. Yes, I wish the Democrats had done everything better in 2016, but they didn’t. They ddin’t realize how many Americans were constitutionally and morally capable of voting for such a person. They did, however, do very well in 2018, and I see no reason to believe that 2020 is looking poorly for them (I won’t make any predictions, at least not until Nate Silver does so I can copy him). But the ones to blame for Trump are the ones who voted for Trump. ---
**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 3, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31636 "2019-04-03T23:47:29Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > A Canadian who can’t persuade his own government to fuck up their society in the ways he advocates, so he devotes his energies to cheerleading for the fucking up of ours. Well said. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31637 "2019-04-03T23:47:36Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > My argument was more pragmatic than an attack. The Republicans elected a lying buffoon with a lot of liabilities. That gave Democrats an opportunity, and in my opinion they squandered it. If a gain of 40 House seats in the midterm elections is what you call “squandering”, that kind of calls into question the “pragmatism” of your “argument”. ---
**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:** [April 4, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31638 "2019-04-04T00:08:38Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Or, it doesn’t work because opposing him would mean siding with people who think Republicans are ‘little fascists’. > > Democrats had a great chance to pick up support from the people who don’t like Trump but vote Republican. All they had to do was find a moderate candidate, have a welcoming attitude, and separate their attacks on Trump from attacks on anyone on the right. > [@Hamlet](#): > > This attempt to blame Democrats for Trump is just another desperate attempt by people who identify with the Republican party to shift blame for what they know is an unmitigated disaster. > > Trump is yours. You nominated him. You elected him. You own him. He’s cut your taxes, he’s gutted your consumer protections, he’s loaded the judiciary: all things you’ve been having wet dreams about for decades. Just a reminder; not **Sam Stone** specifically. He’s a Canadian, and as such gets to hate America all he wants to without me calling him a fuckstick for it. He has no responsibility to love America (or even to not hate her). You might even want to add that to your .sig, **Sam**. _Certified by **kaylasdad99** as eligible to hate America without being a fuckstick._ It’s got a nice ring to it. > [@](#): > > But it sucks for you, because now you see the Republican party for what it really is. You see the white nationalism, the hatred for minorities, the decisions based on fear and tribalism and not rationality, and the abject hatred of all things even passably liberal. All the things you’ve spent decades convincing yourselves were just a tiny percentage of the Republican base; you now realize is what your party is all about. Meh. Bug, feature. > [@](#): > > So you have to change the rules. You have to pretend that somehow this administration is the Democrats fault. > > It’s fucking pathetic, post hoc rationalization. And, to anyone who knows you or your ilk, absolutely no surprise at all. Cosigned. ---
**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 4, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31639 "2019-04-04T01:12:30Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I mean Christ the entire POINT of political campaigns is to discuss what you’re going to do when you’re elected, so that electors can make an informed vote and are motivated to come out and vote for you ! That’s the civics class answer for “What is the point of a political campaign?” The actual answer, contrary to your opinion and mine sadly, is “To get the rubes to vote for me because they hate the other person more”. ['quote]Why don’t Democrats and journalists rub his stupid face in his **stupid fucking lies** all the time goddamned FUCK ! [/quote] Because that won’t work. Lying works. > [@](#): > > This is making me angry for real, and I’m not even American ! I’m American and it definitely makes me mad, too! ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31640 "2019-04-04T01:17:03Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > My argument was more pragmatic than an attack. The Republicans elected a lying buffoon with a lot of liabilities. That gave Democrats an opportunity, and in my opinion they squandered it. This is just a tactical argument, not a normative one about which side is better. I love this tactic. "Although I’ve clearly shown my support for the Republican party over the last decade of posting, and though I’ve consistently and reactionarily degraded liberals, THIS TIME, I’m just being pragmatic. Despite the fact that the American political party I, without a smidgen of doubt, most clearly identify with, has nominated, elected, and now protect and support this administration, I will denounce the other party more. When you get around to offering a “pragmatic” criticism of what the Republican party has not just tolerated, but actually supported, with this administration, let me know. ---
**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 4, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31641 "2019-04-04T02:08:45Z")
I just saw a movie poster that made me think about referring to the ShitGibbon as “_Exaybachay_”. Something about that seems not quite right, though. ---
**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 4, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31642 "2019-04-04T02:11:14Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > My argument was more pragmatic than an attack. The Republicans elected a lying buffoon with a lot of liabilities. That gave Democrats an opportunity, and in my opinion they squandered it. This is just a tactical argument, not a normative one about which side is better. Look, you’re showing that you really don’t know what you’re talking about when you keep posting nonsense like that regarding American elections. The Democrats were not going to win any of the state-wide contests (which, if you actually knew how American presidential elections work you’d already know is 50 state-wide contests plus one district-wide contest) in the last election which voted Republican. The majority in each of the states which went Republican had already immunized themselves against going Democratic. And your whining about Ms. Clinton is asinine. The Democrats obviously put up a good candidate. I say obviously because she won THREE MILLION more votes than the conman. All the narrative surrounding Trump during the election in the Republican states was for no other reasons than the simple fact that those states’ populations were talking themselves into an excuse to not vote for the actual most competent person for the office at stake. Finally: the person chosen to hold the office of the President of the United States is not selected the way the Prime Minister of Canada is. Please just shut up until (a) you know what you’re talking about, and (b) you stop spewing counter-factual commentary. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31643 "2019-04-04T09:50:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > He campaigned on fixing education, and Betsy DeVos has been changing all kinds of things - the latest being the reform of title IX. There’s so much wrong with the rest of **Sam** ’s post, but this right here is conclusive proof how far away from reality his position is. DeVos is a freaking disaster for education. She couldn’t answer even the most basic questions about educational policy and practice during her confirmation hearing but was approved following substantial donations being funnelled to key members of the committee. Her previous attempts to implement educational reform [sic] were an unmitigated catastrophe, and everything she’s done as part of her role in the Trump administration has resulted in greater hardship for the vast majority of students and more money for people like her. She has “fixed” education in the same way I might say I “fixed” your house if I set it on fire, knocked it down, and then filled the hole with toxic waste. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/31644 "2019-04-04T10:46:41Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > She has “fixed” education in the same way I might say I “fixed” your house if I set it on fire, knocked it down, and then filled the hole with toxic waste. Only if you own major shares in a toxic waste dispocal corporation, of course. DeVos is not just abysmally incompetent and ill-suited to running a taco stand, let alone the DoE ; she might also be the most transparently corrupt and self-enrichment-driven-fuck-everything-else of the bunch now that Scott Pruit is out. And that’s no mean feat, considering… yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1581) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1583)