# 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:** 1847
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36925 "2019-09-24T20:04:28Z")
I guess it’s customary, when investigating a possible crime, that if the police find out that there is actual recorded evidence of the possible crime… …That they they politely ask the prime suspect for a transcript of what he said. And then the police just take that transcript at face value, believe the prime suspect and don’t bother looking into anything further. Trump is probably thinking that after he gives them the sharpie-infested “transcript”, then it’s all over. ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36926 "2019-09-24T20:06:12Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Just what I was thinking. One sentence. Straightforward. Of course, the Republicans will try to Obfuscate and throw mud… but just keep repeating: > > The President of the United States extorted the head of a sovereign state by withholding Congressionally-allocated taxpayer funds to force that state to generate compromising evidence against a political opponent. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Suggested Edit: Strike “[DEL]generate[/DEL]”; substitute “concoct” (emphasizing the point that there ain’t no “there” there). “Concoct” is, indeed, a better word here. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36927 "2019-09-24T20:07:31Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I would bet (actually, I don’t bet except in casinos) that it is Coats and Gordon. I will further bet, that if Gordon is involved, Trump will pivot, and take back what he said about her (she “is a great professional with a long and distinguished career.”) and Trump will then call her “A nasty women, former employee with a grudge, I hardly know her”. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36928 "2019-09-24T20:36:28Z")
Lucy. Football. Former President Trump\* isn’t going to release a goddamn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36929 "2019-09-24T20:45:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Lucy. Football. > > Former President Trump\* isn’t going to release a goddamn thing. He may well release a “transcript” of some sort. The Great Trump: "I hereby order you to look after that bad corruption in your country Foriegn Guy: “Yes sir, that is a good idea sir.” The Great Trump: “Alright then, have a good day” Foriegn Guy: “Thank you sir. May i have an autographed photo for my desk?” ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36930 "2019-09-24T20:54:43Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > He may well release a “transcript” of some sort. > The Great Trump: "I hereby order you to look after that bad corruption in your country > > Foriegn Guy: “Yes sir, that is a good idea sir.” > > The Great Trump: “Alright then, have a good day” > > Foriegn Guy: “Thank you sir. May i have an autographed photo for my desk?” - 1 on this The real meat will be to see the whistleblower complaint ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36931 "2019-09-24T21:20:31Z")
The entire Senate has [unanimously called on Trump to release the whistleblower complaint](https://www.axios.com/senate-whistleblower-complaint-ukraine-38249a7e-83e9-4467-944b-8496df3157de.html) to the Senate Intelligence committee. It passed by unanimous consent. Even MoscowMitch voted for it. :eek::eek::eek: ---
**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:** [September 24, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36932 "2019-09-24T21:22:30Z")
I’m wondering if maybe Moscow Mitch see the Ukraine thing as a way to rid himself of Trump before his own transgressions can come to light. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36933 "2019-09-24T21:23:27Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > The entire Senate has [unanimously called on Trump to release the whistleblower complaint](https://www.axios.com/senate-whistleblower-complaint-ukraine-38249a7e-83e9-4467-944b-8496df3157de.html) to the Senate Intelligence committee. It passed by unanimous consent. Even MoscowMitch voted for it. :eek::eek::eek: At this point, I feel that things are either black/white. Either: - Moscow Mitch has some dirty tricks up his sleeve for the Democrats. Or - Moscow Mitch has some dirty tricks up his sleeve for Trump. Neither one would surprise me, but I’m rather heavily thinking it’s the first option. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36934 "2019-09-24T21:35:19Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > At this point, I feel that things are either black/white. > > Either: > > - Moscow Mitch has some dirty tricks up his sleeve for the Democrats. > > Or > > - Moscow Mitch has some dirty tricks up his sleeve for Trump. > Neither one would surprise me, but I’m rather heavily thinking it’s the first option. I suspect he voted for it because otherwise he’d be the only one who voted against or abstained, and that’s a bit visible. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36935 "2019-09-24T21:42:14Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > No, people who want to hurt as many people as possible and cheer on rapists and murderers are monsters. And thankfully these are very, very rare indeed. Hardly, there are tens of millions of them in the US alone; enough to elect Trump and his fellow Republicans to power. It’s been decades since the Republicans were about anything other than greed, cruelty, bigotry, tyranny, and killing. And even the greed has degenerated into less self interest and more a desire to impoverish everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36936 "2019-09-24T22:09:41Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > So apparently she is both human and mammalian. You’re making a lot of assumptions about what those little bumps are. My money’s on “eyes.” ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36937 "2019-09-24T22:48:06Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > So it’s possible that the transcript release is _not_ a trap – that it is incriminating. But Trump doesn’t realize it, because he thinks everything is OK because he’s the President and he can do whatever he wants. > > He’s just that stupid…it might be true. Is it possible that Trump is such a dick to the dumb asses that work for him that they aren’t advising him anymore. I can almost see it. “Fuck him, he never listens to me anyway.” Wishful thinking. This will probably come to naught like the rest of his crap. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36938 "2019-09-24T22:51:57Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > Is it possible that Trump is such a dick to the dumb asses that work for him that they aren’t advising him anymore. I can almost see it. “Fuck him, he never listens to me anyway.” > > Wishful thinking. This will probably come to naught like the rest of his crap. I don’t think there’s anyone left to tell him “no, that’s not a good idea.” Anyone who might has been forced to resign or fired. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36939 "2019-09-24T23:26:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You’re making a lot of assumptions about what those little bumps are. > > My money’s on “eyes.” Russian microphones. In stereo. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36940 "2019-09-24T23:29:58Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > i recommend a small change to your wall. > > Make it circular, a mile in diameter. Take him in and show that it no one can get around the ends - then leave him there. > > Yeah, it will be 3.14x more money but only the best will do… iswydt. ---
**Author:** ![mjmlabs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mjmlabs/32/69_2.png) [@mjmlabs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmlabs)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36941 "2019-09-25T01:16:36Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I recommend a small change to your wall. > > Make it circular, a mile in diameter. Take him in and show that it no one can get around the ends - then leave him there. > > Yeah, it will be 3.14x more money but only the best will do… A mile in circumference should be good enough. It’s not like his golf cart has Tesla-sized batteries. But siting will be crucial. I nominate Groom (Dry) Lake. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36942 "2019-09-25T01:21:37Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I see two problems that will keep Ukraine from gaining any traction: > > First: is that it’s kind of an academic issue. Basically, Trump used public funds for campaign-related activities (extorting opposition research from the government of Ukraine). So it’s an accounting scandal (and also pissing all over the Constitution, of course.) But it doesn’t grab the public at an emotional level. > > Second: and this is larger and broader and covers everything that’s wrong with America…people who only watch Fox News will never know. During Watergate, when everyone got their news from Uncle Walter and the NY Times, we worked from the same set of facts and only differed on our response to those facts. Now we’re divided into two alternate realities. > [@steronz](#): > > …I was talking to a coworker a few months ago about the Republican tax cuts. … he literally told me “I don’t care as long as my taxes go down.” It’s not that deficits are “academic” for him, it’s that he’s happy to ignore reality. He will vote for Trump in 2020. > > Likewise, “I don’t care if Trump is using the Ukrainian government to go after a political opponent while thumbing his nose at congress as long as my taxes go down” will play well to the Fox News crowd. No, if this ends up in an impeachment it won’t be because of popular outcry, it will be because congress on their own finally decides to give a shit about the constitution. > [@enipla](#): > > Shit, there are people that are happy Russia interfered in the election. All the while Trump cozied up to them. > Trump supporters will see Trump trying to extort the Ukraine into getting dirt on Biden as ‘good persidenten’. Yes, Trump’s fans will have no trouble dismissing the reason for the House moving to impeachment proceedings. They will “know” it’s a nothingburger and a partisan hack job. They won’t even question. The vast un-involved mass of ‘checked-out’ Americans might be more likely to see this as not being to Trump’s credit—if they ever hear about it. Pelosi had to do this, of course: the Dem activists were transitioning fast into forgiving Trump anything, and declaring Pelosi the Font Of All Evil. But the only hope, now, of escaping Trump-for-Life is to hold off the vote–hold off sending this to the Senate. Because once the vote is taken and the Senate acquits, there will be no more investigation. There will be no more chance to ‘explain to the American people’ Trump’s crimes. It will be over. The pressure to hold the vote NOW will be relentless. “_Don’t you have enough information to vote articles of impeachment? What’s wrong with you? What more do you need?_” this is the new drumbeat. It will be inescapable. It will play without ceasing, day and night, for months to come. Hold the line, Democrats. Keep on with the hearings; let us know about your court filings; go on calling for more investigation. It’s our only hope. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36943 "2019-09-25T02:14:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes, Trump’s fans will have no trouble dismissing the reason for the House moving to impeachment proceedings. They will “know” it’s a nothingburger and a partisan hack job. They won’t even question. > > The vast un-involved mass of ‘checked-out’ Americans might be more likely to see this as not being to Trump’s credit—if they ever hear about it. > > Pelosi had to do this, of course: the Dem activists were transitioning fast into forgiving Trump anything, and declaring Pelosi the Font Of All Evil. > > But the only hope, now, of escaping Trump-for-Life is to hold off the vote–hold off sending this to the Senate. Because once the vote is taken and the Senate acquits, there will be no more investigation. There will be no more chance to ‘explain to the American people’ Trump’s crimes. It will be over. > > The pressure to hold the vote NOW will be relentless. “_Don’t you have enough information to vote articles of impeachment? What’s wrong with you? What more do you need?_” this is the new drumbeat. It will be inescapable. It will play without ceasing, day and night, for months to come. > > Hold the line, Democrats. Keep on with the hearings; let us know about your court filings; go on calling for more investigation. It’s our only hope. Yesyesyes! ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/36944 "2019-09-25T02:16:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You’re making a lot of assumptions about what those little bumps are. > > My money’s on “eyes.” Good point. Do you remember the scene from one of the Pink Panther movies where the waitress has a bra that has spring loaded knives coming out of it? They could be something like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1846) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1848)