# 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:** 1674
**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:** [June 10, 2019, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33465 "2019-06-10T11:56:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m no fan of Trump obviously, but fuck Michael Wolffe. He’s the Michael Avenatti of biographers (i.e. capitalistic attention whore) The question isn’t whether Michael Wolff is a nice person. The question is whether he’s accurately reporting events and statements made. I mean, I’ve met Carl Bernstein and he’s an asshole. Didn’t make him wrong about Nixon. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33466 "2019-06-10T17:55:39Z")
So we are stuck watching the Game of Assholes play out. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33467 "2019-06-10T18:07:26Z")
The Game of Assholes is my favorite TV show – for me to POOP ON! ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33468 "2019-06-10T21:19:20Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The Game of Assholes is my favorite TV show – for me to POOP ON! When you play the game of assholes, you poop or you die. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33469 "2019-06-10T22:24:16Z")
So do y’all think that [Kavanaugh learned this from watching Trump](https://apnews.com/6d04c4f10b7e4071b4e3223fb39a510c), or is it just endemic to jackasses like them? > [@](#): > > The daughter of Yale Law School professor and “tiger mom” Amy Chua, who praised Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a mentor to women after his nomination to the Supreme Court, is going to work for Kavanaugh this summer. > > Yale Law graduate Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld will serve as a law clerk to Kavanaugh for a year, beginning this summer, the court confirmed Monday. Chua-Rubenfeld had planned to work for Kavanaugh when he served as a federal appeals court judge, but his Supreme Court nomination intervened. > > Shortly after the nomination, Chua penned a Wall Street Journal essay extolling Kavanaugh “as a mentor for young lawyers, particularly women.” > [@](#): > > Chua faced criticism that her essay was self-serving and that her daughter was virtually guaranteed a Supreme Court job with Kavanaugh. Chua-Rubenfeld responded on Twitter last year that she wouldn’t be applying for a Supreme Court clerkship “anytime soon” because she had to fulfill her military service obligation after attending college on an ROTC scholarship. > > Neither Chua nor Chua-Rubenfeld responded to emails seeking comment Monday. This may be the most back-scratching-est administration in US history! #MAGA! ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33470 "2019-06-11T01:02:36Z")
And don’t forget Kavanaugh had a lot of debt mysteriously paid off (thousands of dollars on baseball tickets? Please) and while I don’t want to go full CT and don’t generally dislike Justice Kennedy, his son’s involvement in Deutchse Bank is concerning. Truly, this all could have innocent explanations. Maybe they have been revealed and I just missed the stories. But there’s a lot of quacking and a lot of feathers about Kavanaugh’s ascension so I don’t feel it’s out of bounds to at least think about ducks. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33471 "2019-06-11T01:05:11Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > So do y’all think that [Kavanaugh learned this from watching Trump](https://apnews.com/6d04c4f10b7e4071b4e3223fb39a510c), or is it just endemic to jackasses like them?This may be the most back-scratching-est administration in US history! #MAGA! Isn’t this a case of “It’s who you know”? ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33472 "2019-06-11T01:25:58Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > Truly, this all could have innocent explanations. Maybe they have been revealed and I just missed the stories. But there’s a lot of quacking and a lot of feathers about Kavanaugh’s ascension so I don’t feel it’s out of bounds to at least think about ducks. Kavanaugh Has a history of hiring women…but only very good-looking women. Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld is a remarkably attractive young woman. The whole situation gives me the creeps. “I am a big big mentor to young lawyers, especially women lawyers. No fatties or uggos, please.” ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33473 "2019-06-11T02:06:26Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Isn’t this a case of “It’s who you know”? Well, of course it’s not. The correct version is: _It’s whom you know_. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33474 "2019-06-11T02:33:14Z")
Christ a-mighty. Chau-Rubenfeld’s MOTHER, the original “tiger mom” and Yale Law School prof, supposedly told students that Kavanaugh hired female clerks who “looked like models,” and offered privately to give them advice on how to tart themselves up for him. Is this some weird daughter-pimping thing? ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33475 "2019-06-11T04:35:18Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Kavanaugh Has a history of hiring women…but only very good-looking women. Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld is a remarkably attractive young woman. The whole situation gives me the creeps. > > “I am a big big mentor to young lawyers, especially women lawyers. No fatties or uggos, please.” Kavanaugh has a history of hiring women whom Amy Chua has groomed by telling them how to dress and act sexy to appeal to him. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33476 "2019-06-11T05:19:14Z")
[Newsweek is on it](https://www.newsweek.com/amy-chua-daughter-clerk-brett-kavanaugh-1443232). > [@](#): > > Chua-Rubenfeld’s appointment comes less than a year after her mother defended Kavanaugh in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that portrayed him as an “incredible” mentor. At that point Chua-Rubenfeld was scheduled to be an appellate clerk for Kavanaugh, and critics said that if he were confirmed to the high court, she would likely be chosen to clerk for him there—a hugely prestigious appointment. > > Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld denied that speculation, tweeting that she planned to join the military after law school. “Won’t be applying to SCOTUS anytime soon bc will be in the Army,” she wrote. > [@Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld](#): > > Hi! Daughter here. Just to clarify your post: I was college ROTC, attended YLS on Army Ed Delay, and am joining Active Duty JAG after circuit clerkship (wherever that will be!). Won’t be applying to SCOTUS anytime soon bc will be in the Army. Proud of my brave mom as always. Others were, um, skeptical. And now, less than a year later, the skeptics were proven right. Amy Chau has, and continues to deny any impropriety. > [@](#): > > Yale students told several news outlets that Chua was lying in her defense. “I personally heard her state that it’s not an accident that all his clerks look like models. So I personally know that for her to say the allegations are 100 percent false is a lie, because at least that one is definitely true,” one student said at the time. OMFG what a shock: someone associated with the Trump campaign sees nothing wrong with bending rules and taking unfair advantages, but somehow needs to lie about having done so… totally didn’t see that coming. :rolleyes:😉 ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33477 "2019-06-11T06:07:33Z")
Three posters in a row passing off unsubstantiated rumors as fact. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33478 "2019-06-11T09:00:51Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > Three posters in a row passing off unsubstantiated rumors as fact. What’s “unsubstantiated” about the report that Chua-Rubenfeld will be clerking for Kavanaugh? About the other parts of it, ISTM quite clear from these posts and the previous ones that everyone discussing them is aware that Kavanaugh’s reputation for bad behavior with women is based on multiple rumors but no definitive proof. Not sure why your panties are so bunched about people’s speculating about rumored bad behavior, in a Pit thread no less. Is there some reason you think it’s okay to spread unproven speculation about, for example, [why people don’t like Ocasio-Cortez](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21589567&postcount=11) but not about why people don’t like Kavanaugh? ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33479 "2019-06-11T13:20:45Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Well, of course it’s not. The correct version is: _It’s whom you know_. Oh, right :smack: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33480 "2019-06-11T15:41:29Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > Three posters in a row passing off unsubstantiated rumors as fact. So the fact that Sophia is now clerk for Kavanaugh after Amy vigorously defended him during his confirmation hearing does _not_ strike you as fishy at all? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33481 "2019-06-11T15:56:02Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > So the fact that Sophia is now clerk for Kavanaugh after Amy vigorously defended him during his confirmation hearing does _not_ strike you as fishy at all? The man’s far too busy trolling to worry about fish. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33482 "2019-06-11T16:25:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The man’s far too busy trolling to worry about fish. “Trawling”, amirite? Right? \ Is this thing on? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33483 "2019-06-11T17:13:44Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Newsweek is on it](https://www.newsweek.com/amy-chua-daughter-clerk-brett-kavanaugh-1443232).Others were, um, skeptical. And now, less than a year later, the skeptics were proven right. > > Amy Chau has, and continues to deny any impropriety.OMFG what a shock: someone associated with the Trump campaign sees nothing wrong with bending rules and taking unfair advantages, but somehow needs to lie about having done so… totally didn’t see that coming. :rolleyes:😉 Another person who will be convinced that she has succeeded in life on her own merits. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/33484 "2019-06-11T17:18:26Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > “Trawling”, amirite? Right? \ Is this thing on? [Trolling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolling_(fishing)) ‘is a method of fishing where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water.’ Hence, ‘internet troll’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1673) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1675)