# 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:** 1791
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35805 "2019-08-24T06:33:27Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I don’t know if you stroked out while writing that, or I had an aneurysm reading it, but at least one of us could probably get a prescription for it now. What’s starting to scare me is that it’s beginning to get fun writing à la Tan the Conman’s “stream of consciousness”. > [@](#): > > Successfully using impeachment or the 25th would mean that public sentiment had gone pretty strongly against Trump, and what’s left of the base would disapprove of Pence for collaborating with the govt that performed a coup on their chosen one. The 25th Amendment is a paper kitten. It’s completely meaningless. So long as the twerp (a) stays alive and (b) keeps his business interests, those toadies he has put on the Cabinet will never remove him from office. They will remain in fear of the monetary retribution he will exact. There are only two ways for this disaster to end before the next election: (1) impeachment or (2) TTC’s death (which, given his diet should be on the radar by now). > [@k9bfriender](#): > > My only objection to removing Trump is the practicality of it. That’s a hard thing to do, and for good reason. We shouldn’t be removing presidents just because they are unpopular, but though there will always be true believers, with every breakdown of sanity that Trump throws into the public, some are becoming more and more aware that this is not a person who should be in this job. > > The deplorables will form a couple of cults and compounds, realize that it sucks and slink their way back into society. Removing a dangerous person from the office is self-defense. He’s dangerous and he’s destroying the country. There is literally nothing he has done while in office that is not one of the following: illegal, unconstitutional, detrimental to the country and/or our allies, or abjectly self-serving and profitable to himself. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > No, not at all. I’m not saying that he doesn’t hate minorities and treat them with contempt, I’m just saying that he hates everyone and treats everyone with contempt. That minorities are an easy target for him to lash out at is convenient, and reflexive. Nope. He’s racist and this is one of the few things he’s come by honestly. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > ]I’m not defending him, and I’m not saying that he does not do racist things. I am saying that he worse than a racist. A racist at least looks out “for his own”, Trump looks out for no one but himself. If enabling racists gives him an advantage, he will enable racists. If for some reason enabling racists actually did not reward him, and by reward, I do not mean that it works out in the net positive as any attention is a reward unto itself, then he would object to it. But, he gets rewarded for doing racist things, so he continues doing them. You are wrong. His attempts at establishing racist and bigoted policies have launched him into very public embarrassments that have not always worked out for him. Yes, he’s gotten attention, but that’s not the only thing TTC craves. He craves thanks, nay, worship. He will always do racist shit because he is a racist. Look at the racist shit he’s pulled when awarding minority members of law enforcement and/or the military. If he had the idea that mouthing that nonsense would make him look bad, then he wouldn’t do it. He does racist shit because he is a racist shit. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’m not saying that calling Trump a racist is wrong, I’m just saying that it’s like calling Jeffery Dahmer hungry. Well, that just shows that TTC’s a fucking racist, doesn’t it? He lives, breathes, and spits racist shit because, again, he is a racist shit. Oh, and that’s not a bad line you have there. But I think it’d be better to say "Calling Trump racist is like calling Dahmer a Nouveau Cuisine chef. He’s cooking natural stuff; the problem is the natural stuff he’s using. ---
**Author:** ![Skypist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skypist/32/169_2.png) [@Skypist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skypist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35806 "2019-08-24T06:54:44Z")
Apparently he tweeted from the presidential toilet that he can use the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Wow, was that really his Twitter account? I’ve avoided it all this time because not only does he sicken me but also I don’t get how Twitter works. Message boards are so much easier to understand. Anyway, awful lot of idiots on there declaring that “Americans” stand with him and other barf-inducing comments. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35807 "2019-08-24T07:13:07Z")
**Bolding** mine. > [@elucidator](#): > > More than zero, the number of desperate parents who have gotten their children over the border, and then “abandoned” them to the care and comfort of America. Which is better than MS-13 pimps and gangs. How many more than zero, when one is too many? > > **Cry, the beloved country.** I was wondering who else was using that term to lament the current disaster in the White House. Turns out, it was [this guy who started using it on this board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19876506&postcount=158). To bring more tears, the administration is whining that they don’t need to vaccinate children in their custody because they expect the incarceration to last just a few days, while at the same time, Trump and his flacks are saying that they’ll keep the kids indefinitely. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35808 "2019-08-24T07:42:46Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > > [@zoid](#): > > > > > [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > > > > > The difference between a cult and a religion is that, in a cult there is a person at the top who knows it’s all bullshit, and in a religion that person is dead. > > > > I love this > > Thanks. I stole it from someone. Maybe someone here. I suspect it is one of those syllogisms that will get stolen around. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35809 "2019-08-24T13:53:09Z")
I missed a turn somewhere, I’m confused. Trump announces he will hold off on imposing more tariffs until after the Christmas season. The Grinch who postponed stealing Christmas. But then I read he’s threatening to raise tariffs five to ten percent in the next couple of months. So, is that extra crunchy goodness on tariffs he isn’t gong to impose until later? Like, the tariff of twenty five percent he’s going to stick later becomes the thirty-five percent he will impose later? Or is it a ten percent tariff he’s going to go ahead and impose _now_ and not wait till later? And if we decide to hang stockings for Christmas this year, where can I get some clear coal to put in them? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35810 "2019-08-24T14:05:17Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > Apparently he tweeted from the presidential toilet that he can use the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Yep. He’s threatening to use it to force US companies to leave China. Surely Congressional Republicans will be up in arms at the prospect of the President centrally managing the economy by fiat. > **[Trump Asserts He Can Force U.S. Companies to Leave China (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/world/europe/trump-g7-summit.html)** > > The president cited a national security law from 1977 that has never before been used to cut economic ties with a major power in a trade dispute. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35811 "2019-08-24T14:10:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I missed a turn somewhere, I’m confused. Trump announces he will hold off on imposing more tariffs until after the Christmas season. The Grinch who postponed stealing Christmas. But then I read he’s threatening to raise tariffs five to ten percent in the next couple of months. So, is that extra crunchy goodness on tariffs he isn’t gong to impose until later? Like, the tariff of twenty five percent he’s going to stick later becomes the thirty-five percent he will impose later? Or is it a ten percent tariff he’s going to go ahead and impose _now_ and not wait till later? Don’t worry about it. In 15 minutes there will be a new set of orders from the orange buffoon to sort through and ignore. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35812 "2019-08-24T14:11:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I missed a turn somewhere, I’m confused. Trump announces he will hold off on imposing more tariffs until after the Christmas season. The Grinch who postponed stealing Christmas. But then I read he’s threatening to raise tariffs five to ten percent in the next couple of months. So, is that extra crunchy goodness on tariffs he isn’t gong to impose until later? Like, the tariff of twenty five percent he’s going to stick later becomes the thirty-five percent he will impose later? Or is it a ten percent tariff he’s going to go ahead and impose _now_ and not wait till later? > > … Oh, it’s elementary, see, one of those things he said on one day, and some other things were said on the following, or otherwise other day. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35813 "2019-08-24T14:12:50Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Yep. He’s threatening to use it to force US companies to leave China. > > Surely Congressional Republicans will be up in arms at the prospect of the President centrally managing the economy by fiat. > > [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/world/europe/trump-g7-summit.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/24/world/europe/trump-g7-summit.html) Republicans today? Trump bootlicker Republicans? Not publicly, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35814 "2019-08-24T14:21:08Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > …And if we decide to hang stockings for Christmas this year, where can I get some clear coal to put in them? Sorry, my bad, I meant “clean” coal. Everybody knows there’s no such thing as “clear” coal. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35815 "2019-08-24T14:28:42Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Is there any chance that this trade war could eventually benefit the US and cause China to make some concessions? I don’t know anything about economics, but I’ve read that it is hurting China. Is there an historical precendent for this working? The only thing I know historically about tarrifs were Hoover’s after the crash, which were a disaster and made things much worse. > > If it could work, how long might it take and how much would it hurt the US consumer? > > If it can’t work, what should we should we doing about the trade imbalance with China? On public radio yesterday, someone pointed out that the US has an election coming up, in fifteen months. Meanwhile, in China, no such election is coming up so the US might cave earlier than China. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35816 "2019-08-24T14:40:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Everybody knows there’s no such thing as “clear” coal. Are you sure Trump does? After all, it seems like he thinks “clean” coal has been physically washed after mining. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35817 "2019-08-24T14:41:00Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And if we decide to hang stockings for Christmas this year, where can I get some clear coal to put in them? Clear coal can be found in any jewelry store - ask to see their diamonds. Clean coal has to be requested from Santa; only a magical being can provide a magical fossil fuel. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35818 "2019-08-24T14:57:17Z")
The discussion between k9bfriender and Blank Slate and Monty is making me smile this morning. (Dialog paraphrased) k9: Trump is a hateful, horrible, narcissistic misanthrope. BS: No, Trump is a hateful, horrible racist. k9: Yes, but even more so, he is a hateful, horrible, narcissistic misanthrope. M: No, he’s a hateful, horrible racist. A nice, pedantic debate about what _kind_ of hateful, horrible bigot the president is. Everything must be labeled properly before the discussion is put away. That is so dope. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35819 "2019-08-24T15:52:48Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > A nice, pedantic debate about what _kind_ of hateful, horrible bigot the president is. Everything must be labeled properly before the discussion is put away. That is so dope. Only here, of course. And I would’ve capitalized the last word. I mean put it in upper class, not what Trump means when people say capitalize. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35820 "2019-08-24T16:10:29Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Surely Congressional Republicans will be up in arms at the prospect of the President centrally managing the economy by fiat. Maybe none of them heard the siren call of the 850 Spider in college, or could afford something more reliable, like an English sports car. :eek: But not prettier, the Spider having been designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, a demigod of Italian design. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35821 "2019-08-24T16:25:24Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What’s starting to scare me is that it’s beginning to get fun writing à la Tan the Conman’s “stream of consciousness”. It’ll be more fun when you can write them from the perspective of him sitting on his toilet in his jail cell while being under suicide watch. They won’t let him have a phone, so we will just have to fill in for him. > [@](#): > > The 25th Amendment is a paper kitten. It’s completely meaningless. So long as the twerp (a) stays alive and (b) keeps his business interests, those toadies he has put on the Cabinet will never remove him from office. They will remain in fear of the monetary retribution he will exact. There are only two ways for this disaster to end before the next election: (1) impeachment or (2) TTC’s death (which, given his diet should be on the radar by now). Yeah, 25 is really meant for when the President is actually incapable of performing duties, like he’s severely disabled or in a coma. It’s harder to justify it just because he’s dangerously insane. It’s technically harder than impeachment if he contests it at all. I only bring it up as it is one of very few legal methods of removal, and in a rational world, being dangerously insane _should_ invoke the 25th. His death concerns me a bit too. He needs to be brought down first, otherwise, he’s a martyr. Pretty sure it wasn’t long ago in this thread that someone mentioned that cults have a living leader, religions have a dead leader. We don’t need Trumpism to turn into a religion. We just have to keep on working on changing public perception. Congress is not going to lead on this one, they are going to follow. As soon as it seems likely that an impeachment will be confirmed in the senate, the articles will be passed, but until then, I think that Pelosi et al. see it as too much of a gamble with too much potential for blowback. > [@](#): > > Removing a dangerous person from the office is self-defense. He’s dangerous and he’s destroying the country. There is literally nothing he has done while in office that is not one of the following: illegal, unconstitutional, detrimental to the country and/or our allies, or abjectly self-serving and profitable to himself. No, I agree and want him out. I just am not sure that we can get him out through the legal avenues that are made available to us. The impeachment process is meant to be hard, and it is made harder because there are a number of people who are also finding ways of profiting from having him in office, and as long as that is the case, it will not succeed in the senate. > [@](#): > > Nope. He’s racist and this is one of the few things he’s come by honestly. > > You are wrong. His attempts at establishing racist and bigoted policies have launched him into very public embarrassments that have not always worked out for him. Yes, he’s gotten attention, but that’s not the only thing TTC craves. He craves thanks, nay, worship. He will always do racist shit because he is a racist. Look at the racist shit he’s pulled when awarding minority members of law enforcement and/or the military. If he had the idea that mouthing that nonsense would make him look bad, then he wouldn’t do it. He does racist shit because he is a racist shit. He’s rewarded for racist behavior, so he continues with racist behavior. He’s a sociopath, he doesn’t hate black people any more than he hates white people, he just sees more reward in being public with his hate towards minorities. A racist hates minorities because he believes that somehow or other, those minorities cause him harm by existing. Trump talks about his hatred towards minorities because his followers like it. > [@](#): > > Well, that just shows that TTC’s a fucking racist, doesn’t it? He lives, breathes, and spits racist shit because, again, he is a racist shit. It’s just that calling him a racist risks dismissing his actions as simply motivated by racism, when they are much more dangerous, they are motivated by wanting to impress and ingratiate himself with racists. > [@](#): > > Oh, and that’s not a bad line you have there. But I think it’d be better to say "Calling Trump racist is like calling Dahmer a Nouveau Cuisine chef. He’s cooking natural stuff; the problem is the natural stuff he’s using. The point is is that he takes the same actions as a racist, but it is not motivated by racism, or at least, not solely by racism. I guess the reason that I make the distinction is because I see many racists who are willing to accept harm to themselves, so long as it results in harm to those they don’t like. Trump is not willing to accept harm to himself in order to harm others, but harms others in an attempt to satisfy his own greed. Not that that doesn’t cause him harm as well, but that is due to short sightedness and incompetence, rather than design. If Trump were motivated by mere racism, it would be easier to secure, contain, and protect. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35822 "2019-08-24T16:26:15Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Oh, it’s elementary, see, one of those things he said on one day, and some other things were said on the following, or otherwise other day. [del]Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.[/del] Nah. Too linear. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35823 "2019-08-24T16:26:42Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > The discussion between k9bfriender and Blank Slate and Monty is making me smile this morning. (Dialog paraphrased) > k9: Trump is a hateful, horrible, narcissistic misanthrope. > BS: No, Trump is a hateful, horrible racist. > k9: Yes, but even more so, he is a hateful, horrible, narcissistic misanthrope. > M: No, he’s a hateful, horrible racist. > > A nice, pedantic debate about what _kind_ of hateful, horrible bigot the president is. Everything must be labeled properly before the discussion is put away. That is so dope. I think we can all agree on piece of shit. Though, I’ve met pieces of shit that would be greatly diminished by the comparison. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/35824 "2019-08-24T16:56:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > On public radio yesterday, someone pointed out that the US has an election coming up, in fifteen months. Meanwhile, in China, no such election is coming up so the US might cave earlier than China. China also has time. The Chinese are savers more than they are consumers, so even if their economic growth slides down to near 2-3% (it’s currently around 5-7%), they can endure more pain. And politically, Trump is making it a lot easier on Xi because Xi’s opponents within the CCP and ordinary people on the street are going to be less inclined to suggest that Xi Jinping provoked Trump, but rather Trump is a deranged nutcase looking for a fight. Increasingly, from the Chinese vantage point, it doesn’t matter what they say or do - Trump wants a fight and he wants to embarrass the Chinese, and China’s not going to just sit back and take it. When the trade war started, Trump had the advantage - he still holds some advantages. The US was clearly set up to win a short to mid-range tactical trade war that could produce some concessions. No doubt, China is still very vulnerable. But increasingly, the advantage is shifting to China. Case in point, American farmers are in danger of losing the Chinese market not just for this year, but for a very, very long time. I would not expect the Chinese to just forgive and forget. They will punish those who voted for this idiot, and punish them good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1790) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1792)