# 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:** 1644
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32865 "2019-05-24T11:29:04Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Republicans are aristocrats, oligarchs, plutocrats, kleptocrats, religious ideologues. As well as racists, anti semites, the uneducated, the ignorant, future lottery winners and a myriad of other deplorable. It’s a big tent. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32866 "2019-05-24T11:34:31Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > He totally understands the admission – he and other republicans defend by saying that unqualified and undeserving people shouldn’t vote. The question to ask is, who is “unqualified” and “undeserving”? > > Well, in their minds, minorities, women, working class people. This isn’t even a secret. Republicans are aristocrats, oligarchs, plutocrats, kleptocrats, religious ideologues. And Democrats! Especially Democrats. They shouldn’t be voting, 'cause they LIKE all those people you mentioned. And some of them ARE those people you mentioned. :eek: > [@](#): > > **[Trump’s $2T tantrum – He needs to put on big boy pants and get to work](https://a.msn.com/r/2/AABNls5?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare)** > Jon Summers - FOX News - Thursday, May 23, 2019 > > This isn’t the first time we’ve seen President Trump have a temper tantrum. But Wednesday’s was one of epic proportions. Because it didn’t just play out in the Rose Garden where the cameras were, it started inside the White House where, just moments before, the president stormed out of a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In doing so, Trump blew up a plan to put Americans to work by investing $2 trillion in America’s infrastructure including roads, bridges, and airports. > > Remember the last time Trump walked out of a meeting with these same people? The government shut down, small businesses were hurt, and 800,000 federal workers went without pay for more than a month. And while it probably felt good at the time, Trump came out the biggest political loser because he wanted credit for shutting down the government. > > So, here we are again. This time Trump has decided he is not going to work with Congressional Democrats unless they cease all investigations of him. In other words, only if they stop doing their constitutionally mandated job of conducting oversight. > > Unbelievable. > … Unbelievable that this is from FAUX News. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32867 "2019-05-24T12:02:29Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > And Democrats! Especially Democrats. They shouldn’t be voting, 'cause they LIKE all those people you mentioned. And some of them ARE those people you mentioned. :eek: > > Unbelievable that this is from FAUX News. Sort of. An opinion column from one of their token Dem contributors, i.e. clickbait. Whatever the opposite of red meat is, to their readership. Blue tofu? ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32868 "2019-05-24T12:04:59Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Trump also just ordered the intelligence community to cooperate with Barr’s “investigate the investigators” investigation. So that investigation can be ramped up and Trump’ll almost certainly be directly be involved with that in the future. In fact, I’m sure Trump will be much more consumed with this than he is in doing his actual job. > > One of the TV talking heads speculated that since Barr has been at this for a while, the intelligence community must have been saying “No” to whatever Barr wants and so Barr went running to Trump to tell them to give him what he wants. I’ve wondered whether or not the true underlying purpose behind this is to justify using the national security apparatus against Joe Biden’s campaign. He’ll simply order spying on anyone involved in Biden’s campaign, harass them, threaten them, threaten their families. And he’ll use his pit bull attorney general to file criminal complaints for “crimes” that aren’t but could nevertheless be filed on technical grounds. Trump is laying the groundwork for weaponizing the entire executive branch, with all of its massive technological, legal, and financial resources, including but not limited to the armed services, DHS, and the DoJ against his enemies. What I’ve been preaching like a crazed street preacher over the past few years is that this is how authoritarianism works. This is how democracy crumbles into the authoritarian abyss. ANd now you’re seeing it. The average person who simply hates republicans has nothing to fear because we don’t matter. Life will continue as it always has, because the average malcontent isn’t worth the trouble of policing. But start running for office, start filing lawsuits against the administration, and you’ll become a target, and so will people near them. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32869 "2019-05-24T13:59:20Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’ve wondered whether or not the true underlying purpose behind this is to justify using the national security apparatus against Joe Biden’s campaign. He’ll simply order spying on anyone involved in Biden’s campaign, harass them, threaten them, threaten their families. And he’ll use his pit bull attorney general to file criminal complaints for “crimes” that aren’t but could nevertheless be filed on technical grounds. Trump is laying the groundwork for weaponizing the entire executive branch, with all of its massive technological, legal, and financial resources, including but not limited to the armed services, DHS, and the DoJ against his enemies. Another talking head this morning said one of the things Barr has been asking about is the CIA’s human assets in Russia. I suppose his justification could be that this could be related to sources used by Steele’s dossier or something along those lines. If I was a whack-a-doodle conspiracy theorist, though, I’d wonder how long it would take this information to go from Barr to Trump to Uncle Vlad. Scenario 1: Trump during one of their late-night phone calls: “Vlad, Vlad! You’ll never guess who we have spying on you!” Scenario 2: Putin: “Tell me, my old (age) apprentice, all that you have learned.” Trump: “Yes, my master.” The other issue is that Trump has given Barr the authority to declassify anything he wants (AIUI). Gee, what are the chances that anything Barr declassifies is pro-Trump, anti-FBI, and just outright partisan, and that what he keeps hidden is unfavorable to Trump and his clown posse? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32870 "2019-05-24T14:15:13Z")
The breaking news on CNN is that Trump has approved the deployment of troops to the Middle East. Hard to say what’s in the Swiss cheese that passes for his brain. He needs another distraction? Bolton’s convinced him to do this by showing him a shiny object? ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32871 "2019-05-24T14:27:23Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Sort of. An opinion column from one of their token Dem contributors, i.e. clickbait. > > Whatever the opposite of red meat is, to their readership. Blue tofu? [Blue meat.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=820624&highlight=Blue+Meat) ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32872 "2019-05-24T14:47:22Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > The breaking news on CNN is that Trump has approved the deployment of troops to the Middle East. > > Hard to say what’s in the Swiss cheese that passes for his brain. He needs another distraction? Bolton’s convinced him to do this by showing him a shiny object? Trump has no plan or values. He’s an imbecile. He has no clue whether he should send troops to the Middle East or not, and what they will do once hey get there. My guess is that Bolton told him a show of military force will make him look strong, and he lapped it up. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32873 "2019-05-24T15:14:10Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > The breaking news on CNN is that Trump has approved the deployment of troops to the Middle East. > > Hard to say what’s in the Swiss cheese that passes for his brain. He needs another distraction? Bolton’s convinced him to do this by showing him a shiny object? [Trump approves additional deployment to Mideast to counter Iran](https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/24/politics/us-troops-mideast-pentagon-plans/index.html) > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump has given his approval to Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan to deploy additional military resources to the Persian Gulf region to deter Iranian threats, according a senior US official. > > The new deployment includes Patriot missile batteries, reconnaissance aircraft and accompanying necessary forces to provide further deterrence against what the Pentagon believes is a rising Iranian threat against US troops in the region, according to the official and another US official directly familiar with the deployment proposal. > … > > The Trump administration is also considering using a pre-existing rule that would allow it to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional foe, as part of its effort to counter Iran, according to two US officials. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32874 "2019-05-24T15:23:04Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It would be pretty easy to do the same in return. Not worried. Oh, heavens to Betsy! You should know by now that when Republicans do something slimy, Democrats NEVER retaliate in kind! No, no…we take the HIGH ROAD. Incidentally, one of those people out there sharing the doctored video that makes Pelosi look like a drunk is “Mr. Integrity,” Rudy Giuliani. > **[WHOOPS: Giuliani Busted With Doctored Pelosi Video As He Tweets About Integrity](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-nancy-pelosi-video_n_5ce750afe4b0a2f9f28c4f44)** > > The former New York mayor shared a video that was altered to make the House speaker appear to be slurring her words. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32875 "2019-05-24T15:32:23Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Another talking head this morning said one of the things Barr has been asking about is the CIA’s human assets in Russia. I suppose his justification could be that this could be related to sources used by Steele’s dossier or something along those lines. Putin’s kleptocrats and the Republicans both want Steele, so there’s that. > [@dasmoocher](#): > > The other issue is that Trump has given Barr the authority to declassify anything he wants (AIUI). Gee, what are the chances that anything Barr declassifies is pro-Trump, anti-FBI, and just outright partisan, and that what he keeps hidden is unfavorable to Trump and his clown posse? Yep, exactly this. He can pick from the buffet. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32876 "2019-05-24T15:35:02Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Trump has no plan or values. He’s an imbecile. He has no clue whether he should send troops to the Middle East or not, and what they will do once hey get there. My guess is that Bolton told him a show of military force will make him look strong, and he lapped it up. Bolton told him that the Iranians are ignoring him, laughing at him, don’t take him seriously. “They don’t take you seriously. They won’t until you send carriers and hundreds of thousands of troops over there. They won’t until you invade. If they fight back we’ll claim self-defense.” ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32877 "2019-05-24T15:58:02Z")
Ponder this and weep: > [@](#): > > Bob Tyson is a retired database consultant who lives in Chapel Hill, N.C. He is a Trump supporter and says the president has helped change his thinking about the qualities needed for someone to hold the nation’s highest office. > > “Having that celebrity personality and projecting an image in the media is more important than traditional qualifications,” he said. “It’s made me think differently about what it takes to be elected president. The traditional path of being a state governor or U.S. senator doesn’t seem to count as much. It’s being able to manage your image in the media and galvanizing your base.” > … > > [Source](https://wapo.st/2Qdj5ON) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32878 "2019-05-24T16:04:40Z")
Since I was just posting about two different things, Barr and Iran, It struck me: does anyone have any idea how many clusters we have in this fuck-up of an administration? I was actually at a data visualization lecture yesterday, and there was a graph of nodes and edges depicting a social network that was easy to follow. I think a similar graph of clusters depicting this administration would just be a giant blob. What must be incomplete: [Category:Trump administration controversies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trump_administration_controversies) Looks like there are over 150 Wikipedia pages. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32879 "2019-05-24T16:07:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ponder this and weep: > :smack: It’s basically the truth. The important thing for the Trump platform is trolling the libs. People don’t actually like nor care about law. And that’s not a Republican-specific thing. The SDMB it’s not representative of the average Democrat. WWE is the natural state of democracy, all manufactured drama and silliness, created for pure entertainment. And it’s what the founders were trying to avoid with the electoral college and establishing republican, not democratic, systems. The popular vote pacts that states are making with each other are just a further progression towards this end state. WWE let’s he who brings the most drama control the nukes. It’s a path to success. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32880 "2019-05-24T16:14:30Z")
I’d like to hear Bob Tyson’s opinion if Oprah Winfrey gets elected. I’m guessing it will rapidly reverse. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32881 "2019-05-24T16:47:46Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I, for one, was totally reassured about Trump’s sanity once he forced a parade of aides to talk about how sane he is. ‘Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.’ ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32882 "2019-05-24T16:56:58Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Incidentally, one of those people out there sharing the doctored video that makes Pelosi look like a drunk is “Mr. Integrity,” Rudy Giuliani. Whew. Hadn’t heard from ol’ Rudy for a while. Was wondering if something was wrong with him. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32883 "2019-05-24T17:04:15Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > ‘Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.’ ^ Like. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/32884 "2019-05-24T17:27:47Z")
> **[JP Morgan slashes second-quarter GDP forecast to just 1%](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/jp-morgan-slashes-second-quarter-gdp-forecast-to-just-1percent.html)** > > J.P. Morgan economists say they now see a much slower economy in the second quarter, with growth of just 1%. > [@](#): > > J.P. Morgan economists said they now see much slower second-quarter growth of just 1%, down from their prior forecast of 2.25% and way off the 3.2% reported in the first quarter. > **[US core capital goods orders tumble; shipments are flat](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/24/durable-goods-orders-april-2019.html)** > > New orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in April, further evidence that manufacturing and the broader economy were slowing. > [@](#): > > New orders for U.S.-made capital goods fell more than expected in April, further evidence that manufacturing and the broader economy were slowing after a growth spurt in the first quarter that was driven by exports and a buildup of inventories. YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!! BABY!!! 'Bout time for a good ole economic meltdown.🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1643) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1645)