# 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:** 1802
**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 29, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36025 "2019-08-29T17:48:28Z")
Shit, they’d be happy if millions of certain Americans that were born here “went back”. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36026 "2019-08-29T18:03:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Good article here](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-man-who-couldnt-take-it-anymore/ar-AAGv20j?ocid=spartanntp) about how Mattis decided he couldn’t “hold the line” anymore. Mattis can shut it. He’s complicit. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36027 "2019-08-29T18:14:13Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Mattis can shut it. He’s complicit. He’s complicit, and continuing to be complicit, until he explicitly **doesn’t** shut it. That he was complicit in the past doesn’t absolve him of the responsibility to speak out now and in the future. ---
**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 29, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36028 "2019-08-29T18:51:07Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > He’s complicit, and continuing to be complicit, until he explicitly **doesn’t** shut it. That he was complicit in the past doesn’t absolve him of the responsibility to speak out now and in the future. He definitely should but it probably wouldn’t make much difference anyway. Trumpophants would just declare that Mattis is really a Democrat just like Mueller and Comey! As if it’s a crime to be a Democrat, even if they actually were, and that being one automatically equals treason1111! ---
**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:** [August 29, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36029 "2019-08-29T19:05:00Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > He definitely should but it probably wouldn’t make much difference anyway. Trumpophants would just declare that Mattis is really a Democrat just like Mueller and Comey! As if it’s a crime to be a Democrat, even if they actually were, and that being one automatically equals treason1111! Probably, but that doesn’t excuse him of the moral responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36030 "2019-08-29T19:14:42Z")
> [@Skypist](#): > > As if it’s a crime to be a Democrat, even if they actually were, and that being one automatically equals treason1111! To some Trumpsters, that may be true. You might remember the “I’d Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat” t-shirts worn at a Trump rally: [Are These ‘I’d Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat’ Shirts Real?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/russian-than-democrat-shirts/) \*A photograph of two men wearing “I’d Rather Be a Russian Than a Democrat” t-shirts was taken at a rally for President Trump in Ohio. \* I’ve seen many a Trumpster post on social media that being a Democrat _is_ treasonous. (And a sign of mental deficiency; the irony of that statement escaping them.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36031 "2019-08-29T19:50:01Z")
I’ve \*seen \*bumper stickers reading “Against All Enemies, Foreign and Democrat”. So I’d bet Yes. ---
**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 29, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36032 "2019-08-29T19:50:39Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Mattis can shut it. He’s complicit. Your use of “complicit” just inspired me to remember Jefferson’s resignation rap in “Hamilton,” and notice how well it fits Mattis’s situation. _I’m in the Cabinet I am complicit in Watching him grabbing at power and dissin’ it Washington ain’t gonna listen to disciplined dissidents This is the difference: THIS KID IS OUT!_ ---
**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 30, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36033 "2019-08-30T01:14:00Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The second story blew up last night on Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC show.\* Trump threatened to sue. But Trump did not prove the story false by showing the loan documents. One would think that if Trump _could_ show up O’Donnell as a liar, he would greatly enjoy doing so. > > But he hasn’t done so. > \*Very controversial as NBC hadn’t verified the story with a second source; all O’Donnell had was one source. Supposedly he’ll be talking about this/apologizing tonight. > [https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/media/msnbc-lawrence-odonnell-deutsche-bank/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/28/media/msnbc-lawrence-odonnell-deutsche-bank/index.html) On the one hand, every president in history has been quick to rain lawsuits down upon those bastards that pester them. It is tradition. Look it up. On the other hand, if he were to sue Larry, there might be issues relating to burden-of-proof and, uh, [discovery](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-threat-to-sue-lawrence-odonnell-could-backfire-by-making-deutsche-bank-docs-part-of-discovery/). I mean, I would hate to see his legal flirtations impaired by, like reality, justice and fairness. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36034 "2019-08-30T01:30:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On the one hand, every president in history has been quick to rain lawsuits down upon those bastards that pester them. It is tradition. Look it up. > On the other hand, if he were to sue Larry, there might be issues relating to burden-of-proof and, uh, [discovery](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-threat-to-sue-lawrence-odonnell-could-backfire-by-making-deutsche-bank-docs-part-of-discovery/). I mean, I would hate to see his legal flirtations impaired by, like reality, justice and fairness. Oh, it would be delightful to see Trump follow through on the ‘I’LL SUE’ threat. But I think he learned that lesson back in 2006, when his lawsuit against then-NYT reporter Tim O’Brien led to the exposure of lots of stuff Trump would have preferred remain private.\* \*[In lawsuit deposition, Donald Trump repeatedly called out for exaggerating wealth - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elections-2016-donald-trump-worth-reveals-in-deposition-tim-obrien-lawsuit-2006/) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36035 "2019-08-30T01:39:30Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > So at that point Cuomo ended the interview and laughed McEnany out of the room, right? > > Because at that point what’s been said is, “I am a propagandist with no interest in the truth or informing anyone.” What possible benefit to the public is there in continuing that interview, or starting it to begin with? CNN has a really bad habit of giving such propagandists air time. Cuomo is particularly prone to this—‘conflict brings high ratings’ appears to be the principle to which he adheres. So he will bring on people who are nothing but disinformation-machines, like the McEnany golem. It never does anything to shed one particle of light on the issue under discussion; it’s discord for the sake of discord. ---
**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 30, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36036 "2019-08-30T01:48:31Z")
Hail Eris! All hail Discordia! ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36037 "2019-08-30T02:24:22Z")
I suspect Trump is both: [US spies say Trump’s G7 performance suggests he’s either a ‘Russian asset’ or a ‘useful idiot’ for Putin](https://www.insider.com/spies-react-trump-g7-summit-russian-asset-2019-8) > [@](#): > > \*Current and former spies are floored by President Donald Trump’s fervent defense of Russia at this year’s G7 summit in Biarritz, France. > > \*“It’s hard to see the bar anymore since it’s been pushed so far down the last few years, but President Trump’s behavior over the weekend was a new low,” one FBI agent who works in counterintelligence told Insider. > > \*At the summit, Trump aggressively lobbied for Russia to be readmitted into the G7, refused to hold it accountable for violating international law, blamed former President Barack Obama for Russia’s annexation of Crimea, and expressed sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin. > > \*One former senior Justice Department official, who worked closely with the former special counsel Robert Mueller when he was the FBI director, told Insider Trump’s behavior was “directly out of the Putin playbook. We have a Russian asset sitting in the Oval Office.” > > \*A former CIA operative told Insider the evidence is “overwhelming” that Trump is a Russian agent, but another CIA and NSA veteran said it was more likely Trump was currying favor with Putin for future business deals. > > \*Meanwhile, a recently retired FBI special agent told Insider that Trump’s freewheeling and often unfounded statements make it more likely that he’s a “useful idiot” for the Russians. But “it would not surprise me in the least if the Russians had at least one asset in Trump’s inner circle.” ---
**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:** [August 30, 2019, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36038 "2019-08-30T03:14:48Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > CNN has a really bad habit of giving such propagandists air time. Cuomo is particularly prone to this—‘conflict brings high ratings’ appears to be the principle to which he adheres. So he will bring on people who are nothing but disinformation-machines, like the McEnany golem. > > It never does anything to shed one particle of light on the issue under discussion; it’s discord for the sake of discord. It’s why I stopped watching CNN some years ago. They offer this thin veneer of “reasonable arguments on both sides,” while anyone armed with actual facts understands that all they are doing is allowing one side to propagandize without penalty. I wouldn’t mind so much if the anchors ever actually challenged the propaganda diarrhea with those facts, but they seldom do. They just let the vacuous Trump dipshits – and McEnany is one of the worst – spew their lying rhetoric unchallenged. Heard from a friend yesterday about another Cuomo interview with Patrick Byrne, recently-resigned CEO of [Overstock.com](http://Overstock.com), wherein Byrne claimed he’d been encouraged by the FBI as part of their “Deep State” machinations (at the direct behest of James Comey, no less) to have a romantic relationship with Maria Butina. The whole thing is right out of Nutsville, but Cuomo gave Byrne a soapbox to make his unsubstantiated statements while Cuomo tut-tutted a bit but did little else. I see now that RT has [picked up the story](https://www.rt.com/usa/467136-butina-byrne-fbi-informant-russia/) as part of their own propaganda campaign about the “Deep State.” Way to go, Cuomo. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2019, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36039 "2019-08-30T04:35:41Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I suspect Trump is both: > > [US spies say Trump’s G7 performance suggests he’s either a ‘Russian asset’ or a ‘useful idiot’ for Putin](https://www.insider.com/spies-react-trump-g7-summit-russian-asset-2019-8) Trump hates global arrangements and deals, like G7, thinking that they just limit the freedom of the US to do what it wants and would likely pull out if his aides would allow him to. So you have to be particularly curious that he’s trying to be a cheerleader for G7 in this instance. Someone thinks that G7 is worthwhile, so…if it’s not Trump then who is it? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36040 "2019-08-30T06:37:34Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I suspect Trump is both: > > > [@d's quote](#): > > > > Trump (…) blamed former President Barack Obama for Russia’s annexation of Crimea Oooooh, look what you made me do, look what you made me do, look what you just made me do… Until now I considered “treating SuperRonnie as the single-handed ender of Communism” some sort of peak (or maybe trench) of perceptional distortion of US-Russian relations. The cited part isn’t even excused by a funeral. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36041 "2019-08-30T17:04:31Z")
Compared with torturing or killing brown-skins because “Trump wanted me to,” or deporting foreigners who have a Facebook Friend who doesn’t like Trump, or willfully sacrificing the future of America and the world, science may seem small-potatoes. But I’m a sentimentalist and have nostalgia for the days when the U.S. Government was a science leader. But, though a sentimentalist, I don’t miss the Planet Pluto. If the big boys want to demote it to a “dwarf planet” I’ll respect their science. Not so one of the U.S.G.'s top scientists, Jim Bridenstine. He’s not only the first NASA Administrator to lack a relevant PhD, he doesn’t have any PhD at all. (He doesn’t even have a BA or BS in a hard science — did he study physics in high school?) Bridenstine is just a Republican hack who thought climate change was a hoax when he was appointed (though he’s changed his mind on that). NASA admin Jim Bridenstine proclaimed “In my view, Pluto is a planet. I’m sticking by it. It’s the way I learned it, and I’m committed to it.” ```auto [quote="enipla, post:35969, topic:774070"] ... But there is a big problem with his opinion. Reasonable people knew all of this about Trump before he was elected. Reasonable people have been sick and tired of him for longer than 3 years. Those that elected him are not reasonable people, and love his bullshit and lies. Do they know they are lies? Many of them do. They don't care as long as it pisses off people that are working to help them, the so called "opposition". [/QUOTE] Don't forget that Scaramucci, probably Geraghty, and some of the other vermin to recently denounce Trump were on-board for the racism and hatred, on-board with filling Scotus witth rapists and misogynists, on-board with egregious tax cuts for the rich at the expense of American families, on-board with all the electoral cheating and other crimes, and on-board with all the lies and corruption. They haven't suddenly found a bit of morality: they've just gotten tired of the childish and lunatic tantrums of this flatulent brat. ``` ---
**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:** [August 30, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36042 "2019-08-30T20:37:51Z")
The new TRUMP/PENCE 2020 campaign logo is taken DIRECTLY from white supremacist sites VDARE and Lion Guard. > **[Trump promotes new video, complete with white supremacist symbol](https://thinkprogress.org/trump-campaign-launches-new-video-complete-with-white-supremacist-symbol-56e7353a7a62/)** > > It's the latest in the long line of far-right interactions that Trump has had. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36043 "2019-08-30T20:54:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The new TRUMP/PENCE 2020 campaign logo is taken DIRECTLY from white supremacist sites VDARE and Lion Guard. > [Trump promotes new video, complete with white supremacist symbol – ThinkProgress](https://thinkprogress.org/trump-campaign-launches-new-video-complete-with-white-supremacist-symbol-56e7353a7a62/) That’s actually pretty clever of them - they’re straight-up announcing “we’re aligned with your racist as fuck group, and will oppress non-whites for you!” - but in a way that any non-racist republicans and undecideds won’t even recognize, much less be bothered by. Aside from the racists who invented the symbol the only people who will understand its meaning are those who do research and/or read the news - and people like that already vote liberal. ---
**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 31, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36044 "2019-08-31T01:39:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The new TRUMP/PENCE 2020 campaign logo is taken DIRECTLY from white supremacist sites VDARE and Lion Guard. > [Trump promotes new video, complete with white supremacist symbol – ThinkProgress](https://thinkprogress.org/trump-campaign-launches-new-video-complete-with-white-supremacist-symbol-56e7353a7a62/) They’re not even trying to hide their real selves, are they? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1801) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1803)