# 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:** 1959
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39165 "2019-12-04T21:55:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > MOOOOOOO. > > Signed, > Devin Nunes’ cow. rofl ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39166 "2019-12-05T01:44:15Z")
When do the Dems ask for the real, hidden away transcript? There’s a reason Trump’s flunkeys hid the fucking thing. 18 minutes of tape? ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39167 "2019-12-05T02:22:29Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > My guess is that the cloud of methane drifting about his fast-food-scarfing person, does indeed mark him as human. > [@Nava](#): > > MOOOOOOO. > Signed, > Devin Nunes’ cow. Yes, I should have said “mammalian” rather than “human.” The point was to counter speculation that he’s a mechanical doll constructed in the bowels of the Kremlin. (It took their scientists years to get one to work on the breakdown of saturated fats, but they finally achieved it. Periodic input of fried chicken and Filets-o-Fish keep that homunculus running as well as can be expected.) ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39168 "2019-12-05T04:21:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Or an **ahem** personal condition that senior sometimes get. “_[I fart in your general direction …](https://youtu.be/QSo0duY7-9s)_” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39169 "2019-12-05T04:33:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou's quote from The Atlantic](#): > > The second House Trump endorser, House Trump. Arms: on field of azure, a chamber pot gilded. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39170 "2019-12-05T05:14:47Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > House Trump. Arms: on field of azure, a chamber pot gilded. The word is “or”. As in “a chamber pot of or”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39171 "2019-12-05T06:21:10Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > When do the Dems ask for the real, hidden away transcript? There’s a reason Trump’s flunkeys hid the fucking thing. > > 18 minutes of tape? Seriously. I want to see some discussion of this. Ever since the super-duper secret server and the hidden transcript there became publicly known, I’ve seen non-stop yelling and screaming in the media about why it might have been put there, how the published transcript might have been doctored, but NOTHING about any possibility of actually getting the original back out of there. No demands to see the original. No subpoenas for it? No discussion over what it would take to get it? Is that server a one-way street? Is it /dev/null? Is it write-only? Are documents stashed there gone and lost forever? Are they encrypted with a twelve-thousand-bit key and the key shredded and burned? Is it a felony to even think about documents once they are put there? BTW, what does “code word level” mean? ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39172 "2019-12-05T06:35:35Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Seriously. I want to see some discussion of this. Ever since the super-duper secret server and the hidden transcript there became publicly known, I’ve seen non-stop yelling and screaming in the media about why it might have been put there, how the published transcript might have been doctored, but NOTHING about any possibility of actually getting the original back out of there. No demands to see the original. No subpoenas for it? No discussion over what it would take to get it? It is the original or, at least, as close as we are liable to ever come minus a few discrepancies that Vindman testified to. Vindman testimony, pages 47-56: [https://www.lawfareblog.com/lt-col-alexander-vindman-and-fiona-hill-transcripts-impeachment-depositions](https://www.lawfareblog.com/lt-col-alexander-vindman-and-fiona-hill-transcripts-impeachment-depositions) They should have gotten the ball rolling on getting the other transcripts which had been moved to the server, though. (Possibly they have and it’s just not been leaked yet.) ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39173 "2019-12-05T07:38:40Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The word is “or”. As in “a chamber pot of or”. Nitpick: according to every heraldic description I’ve come across, it would be “a chamber pot or” (no “of”). In any case, IMHO **Nava** was more accurate. “Or” implies solid gold, while “gilded” implies a veneer of gold over base metal. Well nigh perfect description of House Drumpf. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39174 "2019-12-05T08:12:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > BTW, what does “code word level” mean? [Wiki sez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States) (all emphases mine): > [@](#): > > The United States government classifies information according to the degree which the unauthorized disclosure would damage national security. Having Top Secret clearance does not allow one to view all Top Secret documents. **The user of the information must possess the clearance necessary for the sensitivity of the information, as well as a legitimate need to obtain the information.** For example, all US military pilots are required to obtain at least a Secret clearance, but they may only access documents directly related to their orders. Secret information might have additional access controls that could prevent someone with a Top Secret clearance from seeing it. > > Since all federal departments are part of the Executive Branch, the classification system is governed by Executive Order rather than by law. Typically each president will issue a new executive order, either tightening classification or loosening it. The Clinton administration made a major change in the classification system by issuing an executive order that for the first time required all classified documents to be declassified after 25 years unless they were reviewed by the agency that created the information and determined to require continuing classification. > … > Code Word classifications > > Top Secret is the highest level of classification. However **some information is compartmentalized by adding a code word so that only those who have been cleared for each code word can see it. This information is also known as “Sensitive Compartmented Information” (SCI). A document marked SECRET (CODE WORD) could be viewed only by a person with a secret or top secret clearance and that specific code word clearance.** Each code word deals with a different kind of information. The CIA administers code word clearances. > > Top Secret > > The highest security classification. “Top Secret shall be applied to information, the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause “exceptionally grave damage” to the national security that the original classification authority is able to identify or describe.” It is believed that 1.4 million Americans have top secret clearances. > > Secret > > This is the second-highest classification. Information is classified Secret when its unauthorized disclosure would cause “serious damage” to national security. Most information that is classified is held at the secret sensitivity. > > Confidential > > This is the lowest classification level of information obtained by the government. It is defined as information that would “damage” national security if publicly disclosed, again, without the proper authorization. TL;DR: Code Word Level refers to compartmentalized, “need to know” information, and only those individuals with both the appropriate security clearance and that specific program/document/whatever’s code word are cleared for that information. It is the tightest-held level of security, although it should be noted that it’s an “add-on” classification to “Secret” or “Top Secret” classifications. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39175 "2019-12-05T13:25:03Z")
This part: “Top Secret is the highest level of classification. However some information is compartmentalized by adding a code word so that only those who have been cleared for each code word can see it. This information is also known as “Sensitive Compartmented Information” (SCI)” is not quite correct. There is non-SCI code word material. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39176 "2019-12-05T13:29:52Z")
> [@mjmlabs](#): > > [Wiki sez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classified_information_in_the_United_States) (all emphases mine): > TL;DR: Code Word Level refers to compartmentalized, “need to know” information, and only those individuals with both the appropriate security clearance and that specific program/document/whatever’s code word are cleared for that information. It is the tightest-held level of security, although it should be noted that it’s an “add-on” classification to “Secret” or “Top Secret” classifications. So, logically, there must be something on the real transcript that CFSG doesn’t want everyone to see. Otherwise, why is it code word secure? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39177 "2019-12-05T14:23:18Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The word is “or”. As in “a chamber pot of or”. Generally, but ‘gilded’ in this case is entirely appropriate. As in [Gilded Age](https://www.yourdictionary.com/gilded-age), not Golden Age. > [@](#): > > The Gilded Age is defined as the time between the Civil War and World War I during which the U.S. population and economy grew quickly, there was a lot of political corruption and corporate financial misdealings and many wealthy people lived very fancy lives. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39178 "2019-12-05T14:43:11Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > Nitpick: according to every heraldic description I’ve come across, it would be “a chamber pot or” (no “of”). > > In any case, IMHO **Nava** was more accurate. “Or” implies solid gold, while “gilded” implies a veneer of gold over base metal. Well nigh perfect description of House Drumpf. And every dictator _ever_. If you got blindfolded in Trump Tower and then got zipped magically to the Al Fawr palace in Baghdad, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference. And rumor has it that Vlad the Impaler has recreated the Amber Room at the Kremlin. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39179 "2019-12-05T14:50:18Z")
> [@margin](#): > > And every dictator _ever_. If you got blindfolded in Trump Tower and then got zipped magically to the Al Fawr palace in Baghdad, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference. Except, of course, for the gold spray paint and Pottery Barn price tags still attached. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39180 "2019-12-05T14:57:21Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Except, of course, for the gold spray paint and **Pottery Barn price tags still attached**. Goddammit!! Don’t ruin Pottery Barn!! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Sinaptics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Sinaptics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaptics)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39181 "2019-12-05T15:07:24Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Seriously. I want to see some discussion of this. Ever since the super-duper secret server and the hidden transcript there became publicly known, I’ve seen non-stop yelling and screaming in the media about why it might have been put there, how the published transcript might have been doctored, but NOTHING about any possibility of actually getting the original back out of there. No demands to see the original. No subpoenas for it? No discussion over what it would take to get it? > > Is that server a one-way street? Is it /dev/null? Is it write-only? Are documents stashed there gone and lost forever? Are they encrypted with a twelve-thousand-bit key and the key shredded and burned? Is it a felony to even think about documents once they are put there? > > BTW, what does “code word level” mean? I assumed that it was covered in one of the document requests that the administration is ignoring. I don’t have actual proof of this and am definitely not going to go digging around for the actual subpoenas to read as it will probably just raise my blood pressure. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39182 "2019-12-05T15:25:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Seriously. I want to see some discussion of this. Ever since the super-duper secret server and the hidden transcript there became publicly known, I’ve seen non-stop yelling and screaming in the media about why it might have been put there, how the published transcript might have been doctored, but NOTHING about any possibility of actually getting the original back out of there. No demands to see the original. No subpoenas for it? No discussion over what it would take to get it? > > Is that server a one-way street? Is it /dev/null? Is it write-only? Are documents stashed there gone and lost forever? Are they encrypted with a twelve-thousand-bit key and the key shredded and burned? Is it a felony to even think about documents once they are put there? > > BTW, what does “code word level” mean? If a Democrat wins, I sincerely hope one of the first steps is to scour that server for incriminating documents and if they exist, release them. The world needs to know just how corrupt this bozo is. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39183 "2019-12-05T15:28:51Z")
Sorry - I lost track - what document are we talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39184 "2019-12-05T15:34:36Z")
[Trump nominee who is anti-IVF and surrogacy was deemed unqualified. She was just confirmed.](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-nominee-who-is-anti-ivf-and-surrogacy-was-deemed-unqualified-she-was-just-confirmed/ar-BBXMdgn?li=BBnb7Kz) > [@](#): > > “Ms. Pitlyk has never tried a case as lead or co-counsel, whether civil or criminal,” Hubbard wrote. “She has never examined a witness. Though Ms. Pitlyk has argued one case in a court of appeals, she has not taken a deposition. She has not argued any motion in a state or federal trial court. She has never picked a jury. She has never participated at any stage of a criminal matter.” I don’t get it. I know he wants a particular political bent, but surely there are some lawyers who have tried cases who fit the bill? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1958) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1960)