# 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:** 1955
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39085 "2019-11-26T20:47:14Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 says he wants the war criminals he pardoned to campaign with him. Quid pro quo. > [Trump Tells Allies He Wants Absolved War Criminals to Campaign for Him](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-tells-allies-he-wants-absolved-war-criminals-to-campaign-for-him)? Just like Trump is a poor man’s idea of a rich man…Gallagher is a weak man’s (ie, Trump’s) idea of a warrior. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39086 "2019-11-26T21:45:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You can lead a horse’s arse to water, but you can’t make him think. You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think. Parker or Benchley. Can’t remember which. On edit: I watched a bit of the video of Trump with Conan the dog, and it was interesting (and really obvious) how far away Melania was standing from the rest of the group. Also, how awkwardly she was standing. No wonder she was a wash-out as a model. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39087 "2019-11-26T21:55:13Z")
Individual 1 thinks Conan the Dog is a boy, and therefore, according to the White House, Conan is a boy, even though the Pentagon says Conan is a girl. > **['Cannot make this sh\*t up’: Battle erupts over gender of military dog Conan](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/cannot-make-this-sh-t-up-battle-erupts-over-gender-of-military-dog-conan)** > > The gender of the military canine who participated in the raid that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has become a controversial topic since it has been labeled as both a male and female. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39088 "2019-11-26T21:57:10Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > On edit: I watched a bit of the video of Trump with Conan the dog, and it was interesting (and really obvious) how far away Melania was standing from the rest of the group. Also, how awkwardly she was standing. No wonder she was a wash-out as a model. Models have to like dogs? Why? ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39089 "2019-11-26T22:00:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Apparently, the White House and Pentagon are arguing over whether the dog that caught al-Baghdadi is male or female. > > Based on the photo here: > > [https://images.app.goo.gl/6NeCT8Met6U3q3FY7](https://images.app.goo.gl/6NeCT8Met6U3q3FY7) > > I vote girl. > > Which means, basically, that Trump called her a boy so now the White House has to call her a boy. I don’t know, it looks like the dog has a weenie. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39090 "2019-11-26T22:20:47Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I don’t know, it looks like the dog has a weenie. Let’s start a meme where we show him with Conan and “We congratulate our President on his open-mindedness regarding Trans members of the armed forces”. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39091 "2019-11-26T22:26:16Z")
> [@margin](#): > > People forget that the _R_NC was hacked at the same time as the _D_NC. _That_ material was not publicly released. > > Lindsay Graham was a huge critic of Trump until October of 2016, when he went golfing with Trump. Since then, he’s treated Trump the way Trump treats Putin. > > Considering that the Repubs had no problem defending Roy Moore, what on earth are they like in private? It’s the entire Republican party, which has become the party of Putin: > **[How Putin's oligarchs funneled millions into GOP campaigns](https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/05/08/how-putin-s-oligarchs-funneled-millions-into-gop-campaigns/)** > > As special counsel Robert Mueller's team probes deeper into potential collusion between Trump officials and representatives of the Russian... > [@](#): > > Data from the Federal Election Commission show that Blavatnik’s campaign contributions dating back to 2009-10 were fairly balanced across party lines and relatively modest for a billionaire. During that season he contributed $53,400. His contributions increased to $135,552 in 2011-12 and to $273,600 in 2013-14, still bipartisan. > > In 2015-16, everything changed. Blavatnik’s political contributions soared and made a hard right turn as he pumped $6.35 million into GOP political action committees, with millions of dollars going to top Republican leaders including Sens. Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham. > > In 2017, donations continued, with $41,000 going to both Republican and Democrat candidates, along with $1 million to McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund. > **[Major GOP donor Len Blavatnik had business ties to a Russian official](https://qz.com/1521847/major-gop-donor-len-blavatnik-had-business-ties-to-a-russian-official)** > > Blavatnik has given nearly $9 million to Republican causes since 2015, including $1 million to Donald Trump's inaugural committee. > [@](#): > > Quartz’s reporting shows that, during at least part of the time Blavatnik was stepping up his GOP donations, one of his many companies was partnered with a firm that was reportedly part-owned by a then-official in the Russian government. He also was in business with two other oligarchs now sanctioned by the US government. (Blavatnik’s contributions are legal—he became a naturalized US citizen in 1984.) > **[Surely It's a Coincidence That a Firm Tied to a Russian Oligarch Is Pouring...](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a27259438/oleg-deripaska-kentucky-aluminum-mitch-mcconnell-rand-paul/)** > > Surely. > [@](#): > > It seems that Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin was hot to build a new aluminum milling plant, but that the proposed location was not suitable for such a large operation. The cost of finding a new location drained the project’s funds. And along came the Volga Bagmen to the rescue. > > \*\ ***Quoting from Louisville Courier:** Enter Rusal, a Russian aluminum company that until just three months ago was barred from doing business in the United States in part because of its ties to Deripaska. The Trump administration lifted the sanctions in January after Deripaska agreed to reduce his ownership stake in the Moscow-based company, the world’s second-largest aluminum manufacturer, from 70% to less than 45%. Aaaaannd, we get to McConnell, another Senate prostitute paying off his Russian pimps. > [@](#): > > Two of the three votes needed to maintain the sanctions against goons like Deripaska came from senators representing a state into which his company was pumping money he’d obtained god knows where or how, and one of whom is the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate into whose PAC Deripaska’s partner dumped $3.5 million between 2015 and 2017. Oddly, one of the stories that has sunk like a stone over the past few years is the story of how much Russian ratfcking money went into Republican campaigns generally over the past few cycles. Not only are Republicans acting as pro-Russian prostitutes, but they are also now trying to use their control of the FEC to turn off the lights so the rest of us can’t see. > **[FEC Republicans block efforts to investigate NRA’s financial ties to Russia](https://thinkprogress.org/fec-republicans-block-efforts-to-investigate-nras-financial-ties-to-russia-a916adcc7015/)** > > It's the latest roadblock in trying to untangle the NRA's links with a sanctioned Russian figure. > [@](#): > > FEC Republicans block efforts to investigate NRA’s financial ties to Russia > It’s the latest roadblock in trying to untangle the NRA’s links with a sanctioned Russian figure. It’s not just Republicans defending Trump; they’re defending Russia. They’re defending Russian interests, and the interests of Russian oligarchs. Russia has infiltrated the Republican party. White House connections are obviously concerning enough in their own right, as the Russians can infiltrate agencies on a much grander scale than they would if they just had some spies. But by hacking the political system the way they have, they’ve actually done far greater damage to American democracy and our political system than people realize; they’ve achieved considerable damage to the concept of oversight, which is at the heart of separation of powers and co-equal branches. Worse, through their connections with influences in right wing circles, the Russians have been able to present themselves as having coequal legitimacy, and perhaps even more legitimacy than the political opposition (democrats). This isn’t paranoid ranting by Asahi; this is happening right now – has happened, as evidenced by the testimony we heard from career civil servants last week. In short, Russia is actively destroying our political system, and the damage they can do is long-lasting. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39092 "2019-11-26T22:48:57Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Models have to like dogs? Why? It wasn’t so much the not liking the dog as being so awkward about it. A _good_ model wouldn’t have been so obvious. And if she doesn’t like dogs why is she even in this photo op? She brings nothing to it. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39093 "2019-11-26T22:55:16Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > It wasn’t so much the not liking the dog as being so awkward about it. A _good_ model wouldn’t have been so obvious. And if she doesn’t like dogs why is she even in this photo op? She brings nothing to it. She probably realizes that the dog is going to replace her. And won’t need a prenup. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39094 "2019-11-26T23:08:02Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I don’t know, it looks like the dog has a weenie. And that weenie is named Donald J. Trump. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39095 "2019-11-27T19:14:05Z")
Individual 1 vows to fight the War on Thanksgiving. So, apparently, HuffPo ran an article about how to lower your carbon footprint during the Thanksgiving travel time, and Fox & Friends naturally claimed that that meant that people want to do away with Thanksgiving. And now Individual 1 claims that he will keep people celebrating Thanksgiving, just like he has bravely fought the War on Christmas. [Fowl Play: Trump Bravely Vows To Fight Utterly Fabricated War On Thanksgiving - TPM – Talking Points Memo](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fowl-play-trump-bravely-vows-to-fight-utterly-fabricated-war-on-thanksgiving)? ---
**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:** [November 27, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39096 "2019-11-27T19:16:23Z")
So thanks to Trump, we’re allowed to say Merry Thanksgiving? MERRY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39097 "2019-11-27T19:59:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So thanks to Trump, we’re allowed to say Merry Thanksgiving? > > MERRY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! 6 weeks late, but I guess I’ll take what I can get. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39098 "2019-11-28T01:14:27Z")
Trump just signed into law a declaration and a provision to mint a commemorative coin to celebrate 2020 being the centennial of women’s suffrage. Of course Trump, being Trump, has to brag. Paraphrasing: “Nobody else did this, but they could of done it years ago…why wait 'till now for the centennial?..but they didn’t and they left it for me, and now I’m doing it, because this administration gets things done!” What, so we have to wait 100 years to celebrate a centennial? Thanks Obama! Next Trump plans to declare that everyone gets to have a Birthday in 2020. I wish I were making that up. I wonder if there will be a religious exception for JWs? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39099 "2019-11-28T01:17:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So thanks to Trump, we’re allowed to say Merry Thanksgiving? > > MERRY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! He was talking about me, ya know? Yes, I have been the one who has been crusading against the use of Thanksgiving. I prefer The Day for the Giving of the Thanks. Rolls off the tongue, don’t ya think? ---
**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:** [November 28, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39100 "2019-11-28T01:54:04Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > He was talking about me, ya know? > > Yes, I have been the one who has been crusading against the use of Thanksgiving. > > I prefer The Day for the Giving of the Thanks. > > Rolls off the tongue, don’t ya think? I thought it was “The Day When Half the Country Travels via [Planes, Trains, and Automobiles](https://www.iqiyi.com/v_19rrg57yt0.html?vfm=m_103_txsp) so They can Dine and Argue with the Half of the Country that Stayed Home to Provide a[del]n Arena[/del] Venue for the Aforementioned Dining and Arguing”. By the way, don’t you know “crusadiing” was Bush’s word? Today’s “Real American” uses the best words, of which there are only a [few](https://www.yourdictionary.com/slideshow/donald-trump-20-most-frequently-used-words.html), such as “terrific” and “tremendous”. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39101 "2019-11-28T02:55:45Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 says he wants the war criminals he pardoned to campaign with him. Quid pro quo. > [Trump Tells Allies He Wants Absolved War Criminals to Campaign for Him](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-tells-allies-he-wants-absolved-war-criminals-to-campaign-for-him)? > [@jsc1953](#): > > Just like Trump is a poor man’s idea of a rich man…Gallagher is a weak man’s (ie, Trump’s) idea of a warrior. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > If The Leader says that a murdering scum is a good man, and should remain a SEAL, then that is exactly what will happen, even if he has been convicted by a court. Yes. Trump is offering his followers the very-appealing-to-sociopaths prospect of being able to do _ **exactly as they like all the time—no matter how vicious or sadistic it may be** _. And so long as they offer him proper fealty, he will see that they are pardoned–and not only pardoned, but placed in a position of honor. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39102 "2019-11-28T07:26:13Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > 6 weeks late, but I guess I’ll take what I can get. 😉 Will they be sending pumpkin pie shipments north, do you think? I’m all out. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39103 "2019-11-28T13:58:48Z")
[_WaPo_](https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1200036625868378113): > [@](#): > > “Trump is a businessman. We can just pay him money and the problems will be solved,” said a politically connected person in Beijing. “As long as we have money, we can buy him. That’s the reason why we prefer him to Democrats.” ---
**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:** [November 28, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39104 "2019-11-28T14:00:58Z")
[ **The War-Crimes President** _When violence is directed at those Trump’s supporters hate and fear, they see such excesses not as crimes but as virtues._](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/11/trump-war-crimes/602731/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > [@](#): > > Donald Trump is a war-crimes enthusiast. > > This is not an exaggeration, a mischaracterization, or a misrepresentation. As a candidate, the president regaled his audiences with vivid tales of brutality, some apocryphal, and vowed to imitate them. > > On the campaign trail, Trump frequently invoked a false story about General John Pershing crushing a Muslim insurgency in the Philippines with bullets dipped in pig’s blood, declaring, “There was no more radical Islamic terror for 35 years!” He vowed to impose torture techniques “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.” Trump declared that he would “take out the families” of terrorist suspects, assuring skeptics that the military would not refuse his commands, even though service members have a duty to refuse orders that are manifestly illegal. “If I say do it, they’re going to do it.” > > Although Trump was talked out of authorizing torture by his advisers, the president’s ardor for violations of the laws of war has manifested itself in his decisions to intervene in war-crimes cases on behalf of the defendants. In four separate cases since the beginning of his presidency, and for the first time in the history of modern warfare, an American president has aided service members accused or convicted of war crimes, against the advice of his own military leadership. > … I’m guessing if he brought back public lynchings and heads on pikes, his supporters would love it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1954) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1956)