# 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:** 1872
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37425 "2019-10-06T18:25:14Z")
> [@Fentoine\_Lum](#): > > Don’t you think that the liberal class has undermined itself over the past 4-5 decades? Do we really need another Russian troll? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37426 "2019-10-06T18:29:52Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Do we really need another Russian troll? It’s the season of Russian Troll Dolls! The hottest holiday gift! You crack one, and there’s another inside! If you go deep enough, you find a Kentucky Swamp Turtle! ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37427 "2019-10-06T18:33:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > **Sorry, this content isn’t available right now** > > The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you’re not in. Whoops, sorry. [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story)? ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37428 "2019-10-06T18:35:00Z")
> [@Fentoine\_Lum](#): > > Don’t you think that the liberal class has undermined itself over the past 4-5 decades? Welcome, tovarishch ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37429 "2019-10-06T19:00:44Z")
> [@fentoine lum](#): > > don’t you think that the liberal class has undermined itself over the past 4-5 decades? ебать тебя ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37430 "2019-10-06T19:00:53Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Thanks; I’ve been wondering about this outfit as for the past several months about 60% of the YouTube advertising targeting me seems to be _Epoch Times_ crap. Guess I need to study up a bit. The Epoch Times has been distributed on the streets of Melbourne for years, by Falun Gong people, who I’ve always considered to be somewhere on the “harmless hippy woo” -\> “cult” spectrum, but didn’t really care enough to properly investigate. Probably no worse than people who are into homeopathy or crystals. I first started paying proper attention to them when the paper was full of stuff about how the Chinese Government was executing Falun Gong practitioners in concentration camps to harvest their organs and sell them to wealthy people in need of organ donation. Clearly a nutty conspiracy theory that couldn’t possibly be something that even the oppressive Chinese government would be able to get away with without international protest … but which [has a decent probability of being actually true](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_practitioners_in_China) :eek:☹ I suspect their thinking wrt QAnon/pro-Trump stuff is probably something along the lines of “Trump is trying to kick the Chinese Communist Party in the nuts; we hate the CCP since they tend to put us in concentration camps and kill us; we will therefore blat-out any old pro-Trump anything, in the hope that it will facilitate the possibility that Trump will kick the CCP in the nuts harder”. IOW, they’re nutters, but they’re not _stupid_. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37431 "2019-10-06T19:03:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Whoops, sorry. > [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story)? [How about this one?](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story?id=66092396&cid=clicksource_77_null_bsq_hed)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37432 "2019-10-06T19:03:18Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Whoops, sorry. > [https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story)? “Oops! Page Unavailable” Here’s a link to the story on the NPR page: > **[2nd Whistleblower With Direct Knowledge Of Ukraine Call Steps Forward, Lawyer...](https://www.npr.org/2019/10/06/767675638/second-whistleblower-with-direct-knowledge-of-ukraine-call-steps-forward-lawyer-)** > > Attorney Mark Zaid, who is also part of the initial whistleblower's legal team, tells NPR that a new whistleblower has talked to the inspector general of the intelligence community. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37433 "2019-10-06T19:51:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [How about this one?](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2nd-whistleblower-forward-speaking-ig-attorney/story?id=66092396&cid=clicksource_77_null_bsq_hed)😉 Dammit ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37434 "2019-10-06T20:08:19Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > It’s the season of Russian Troll Dolls! The hottest holiday gift! You crack one, and there’s another inside! If you go deep enough, you find a Kentucky Swamp Turtle! Kentucky Swamp Turtles all the way down? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37435 "2019-10-06T20:22:35Z")
A lot of people express doubt as to the origin of the recurring trolls. Can those people kindly explain the timing? Recurring amateur trolls got their fee fees hurt by Ukraine Clown Posse and are so insecure that they need to swoop in here to defend their leader? I think at this point Occam’s Razor says that coordination is more likely. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37436 "2019-10-06T22:10:19Z")
Absolutely agree. There is a coordinated effort, and I would not be at all surprised if it was being done by overseas operators. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37437 "2019-10-06T22:36:50Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Kentucky Swamp Turtles all the way down? All supporting an Orange Post Turtle. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37438 "2019-10-06T23:41:53Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A lot of people express doubt as to the origin of the recurring trolls. Can those people kindly explain the timing? Recurring amateur trolls got their fee fees hurt by Ukraine Clown Posse and are so insecure that they need to swoop in here to defend their leader? I think at this point Occam’s Razor says that coordination is more likely. Yes. And also, these guys (and possibly gals) need to _learn how to do it_. Case in point: our latest guest, who is singularly inept at this propaganda stuff. A board like this is actually a pretty good place to learn. We ridicule the inept stuff and reply seriously to anything less-inept that the person may, over time, learn how to produce. After enough progress, the happy operative can move on to more widely-seen venues, secure in the knowledge that they are now successfully influencing foolish Americans en masse. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37439 "2019-10-07T00:22:12Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > The Epoch Times has been distributed on the streets of Melbourne for years, by Falun Gong people … By contrast, _The Washington Times_ is run by the Unification Church of the late Rev. Moon. Two data points that suggest that Asian religious devotion and journalism may not be the best mix. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37440 "2019-10-07T00:36:09Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Do we really need another Russian troll? “Fentoine Lum” is an anagram for “Eminent Foul”. (Also “Linemen Tofu.”) ---
**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:** [October 7, 2019, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37441 "2019-10-07T00:55:06Z")
So I heard a rumor that we should all prepare to order a pizza for delivery to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on the 10th of December. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37442 "2019-10-07T01:49:27Z")
> [@Fentoine\_Lum](#): > > Don’t you think that the liberal class has undermined itself over the past 4-5 decades? Without question. One day in that first decade, I looked in the mirror and saw a pants-wetting liberal. Then I pressed a daisy that went _squeaky-squeak_ and turned a wheel that went _click-clack-click_. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37443 "2019-10-07T03:40:04Z")
Why he is on track to win again In rural communities. “In the Land of Self-Defeat” _What a fight over the local library in my hometown in rural Arkansas taught me about my neighbors’ go-it-alone mythology — and Donald Trump’s unbeatable appeal._ > **[Opinion | In the Land of Self-Defeat (Published 2019)](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/opinion/sunday/trump-arkansas.html)** > > What a fight over the local library in my hometown in rural Arkansas taught me about my neighbors’ go-it-alone mythology — and Donald Trump’s unbeatable appeal. Long article with over 3,000 reader comments. The punch line: > [@](#): > > …Economic appeals are not going to sway any Trump voters, who view anyone who is trying to increase government spending, especially to help other people, with disdain, even if it ultimately helps them, too. And Trump voters are carrying the day here in Van Buren County [Arkansas]. They see Mr. Trump’s slashing of the national safety net and withdrawal from the international stage as necessities — these things reflect their own impulse writ large. > > They believe every tax dollar spent now is wasteful and foolish and they will have to pay for it later. It is as if there will be a nationwide scramble to cover the shortfall just as there was here with the library. As long as Democrats make promises to make their lives better with free college and Medicare for all sound like they include government spending, these voters will turn to Trump again — and it won’t matter how many scandals he’s been tarnished by. > … ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/37444 "2019-10-07T03:51:55Z")
[NBC](https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1181043719497293824): > [@](#): > > BREAKING: In an extraordinary Sunday night statement, the White House announces that the US “will no longer be in the immediate area” of Northern Syria, allow Turkey to launch an invasion in the region and give Turkey responsibility for captured ISIS fighters in the area. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1871) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1873)