# 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:** 1972
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39425 "2019-12-18T16:50:59Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > You know how conservatives have a habit of accusing liberals of things they themselves either have done or would do in an instant? And remember how any time anyone tangentially related to the Clintons died, conservatives added them to the “Clinton Body Count”? > > Now I’m not saying that Trump is using Russian assassins provided by Putin to tie up loose ends. That would be irresponsible speculation. But someone should look into that. I _love_ the Clinton Body Count! That thing is hysterical! I love how it’s not the dangerous person who gets killed, it’s always their ex-wife’s nephew’s ex girlfriend’s dentist’s ex mother-in-law. My absolute favorite is when two teenagers supposedly embroiled in a drug murder were killed _weeks_ before said murder! That Hillary sure is a cunning witch, isn’t she? I always loved Pizzagate for this reason. You mean to tell me that Hillary molests children in the “basement” of a pizzeria (on a flood plain?) instead of using her ill-gotten secret Soros billions to rent a luxurious, isolated villa through about seventy shell companies? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39426 "2019-12-18T17:33:19Z")
> [@margin](#): > > I always loved Pizzagate for this reason. You mean to tell me that Hillary molests children in the “basement” of a pizzeria (on a flood plain?) instead of using her ill-gotten secret Soros billions to rent a luxurious, isolated villa through about seventy shell companies? Speaking of Pizzagate, this was in the news today: [Man pleads guilty to setting fire at ‘Pizzagate’ restaurant in D.C.](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-pleads-guilty-setting-fire-pizzagate-restaurant-d-c-n1103691) > [@](#): > > Jaselskis admitted to setting a January fire at Comet Ping Pong, which was occupied by children and adults at the time. No injuries were reported. Authorities haven’t released a motive. Weeks later, he wrestled with a U.S. Parks Police officer while being arrested at the Washington Monument after jumping a construction fence, police said. > > Comet Ping Pong was targeted in the “Pizzagate” conspiracy, which apparently originated on Twitter and led an armed North Carolina man to burst into the restaurant in 2016 to investigate the claims. Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, later pleaded guilty to illegally transporting firearms over state lines and assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Even if the guy’s motive is due to mental illness, the crazy pedophilia conspiracy theory probably put the place on the guy’s radar and potentially endangered everyone inside, including the children. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39427 "2019-12-18T17:57:26Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Another aspect to the NRA money angle conspiracy theory is a lot of Republicans also got tainted money through the NRA like Paul Ryan, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell and this explains why they don’t want this looked at more closely and their unwillingness to criticize Trump–they’re all in the same boat (although Ryan bailed out) and it’s hanging over their heads. > > Cenk Uygar of _The Young Turks_ the other day was opining that one reason the Democrats are focusing on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and not Trump’s financial shenanigans is that many of them also take money from big corporations in the same way Republicans do and so they are beholden to this money and don’t want their own donations looked at the same way. It’s true that Democrats play the PAC money game, but I push back at the idea that there’s an equivalence. The issue isn’t that Trump and the GOP are taking money from corporations; it’s that they’re using conventional and otherwise legitimate funding sources and mechanisms as subterfuges for illegitimate sources of funding. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39428 "2019-12-18T18:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence? . --Donald J. Trump on Twitter, June 2914 > [@](#): > > It wasn’t long ago, for example, that Trump wanted Pelosi to impeach George W. Bush for having launched the Iraq war. “He got us into the war with lies!” Trump said in 2008. > > His attitude toward impeaching Barack Obama was even more cavalier. “Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence?” Trump wrote on Twitter in June 2014. > > Several months later, after Republicans took complete control over both houses of Congress, Trump appeared on Fox & Friends and was asked what he’d like to see the new GOP majorities do. Trump replied that he wanted Republicans to impeach the Democratic president. > “Do you think Obama seriously wants to be impeached and go through what Bill Clinton did? He would be a mess. He would be thinking about nothing but. It would be a horror show for him. It would be an absolute embarrassment. It would go down on his record permanently.” > > It wasn’t altogether clear what it was Obama did that Trump saw as worthy of impeachment; Trump simply seemed to like the idea of trying to rattle Obama on a personal level. > > But given today’s developments, it’s worth pausing to reflect anew on Trump’s 2014 on the personal toll impeachment takes on a president: > > Here’s that quote again: “He would be a mess. He would be thinking about nothing but. It would be a horror show for him. It would be an absolute embarrassment. It would go down on his record permanently.” > > Does this sound like anyone else you know? > **[Trump's rhetoric on impeachment in 2014 becomes relevant anew](https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-rhetoric-impeachment-2014-becomes-relevant-anew-msna1314951)** > > While calling for Obama's impeachment in 2014, Trump said, "He would be thinking about nothing but.... It would go down on his record permanently." ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39429 "2019-12-18T18:17:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Trump said he wasn’t going to watch the impeachment debate. But he appears to be tweeting about it. > From CNN’s Nikki Carvajal > > President Trump, who said yesterday he wouldn’t watch today’s debate on the House floor, sent an all-caps tweet railing on impeachment proceedings. > > He tweeted: > > “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS,” the President wrote. “THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!” > **[December 18 impeachment vote and news](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-18-2019/h_198ee73b99af5894500bb0fd2436be91)** > > President Donald Trump is the third president in history to be impeached. View live stream and live coverage of the House impeachment vote. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39430 "2019-12-18T18:37:18Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It’s true that Democrats play the PAC money game, but I push back at the idea that there’s an equivalence. The issue isn’t that Trump and the GOP are taking money from corporations; it’s that they’re using conventional and otherwise legitimate funding sources and mechanisms as subterfuges for illegitimate sources of funding. Which the NRA seems fine with. They funnel money way more to Republicans than Democrats. [The NRA used to be much more bipartisan. Now it’s mostly just a wing of the GOP](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/24/politics/nra-partisan-bipartisan-republican/index.html) (2/2018) > [@](#): > > The bottom, however, fell out for Democrats after many moderate Blue Dog Democrats were defeated in the 2010 cycle. Democrats accounted for only 10% of House candidates who received NRA donations in 2012 and just 2% in 2016. In raw numbers, the NRA gave to 115 Democratic House candidates in 1992, to 65 in 2010 and to only four in 2016. So, if some of the NRA money is originating in Russia, the Republicans are the ones hauling it in. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39431 "2019-12-18T19:02:52Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > [https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-18-2019/h\_198ee73b99af5894500bb0fd2436be91](https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-18-2019/h_198ee73b99af5894500bb0fd2436be91) His “base” is threatening civil war if he s impeached and / or removed. Fuck him, fuck them. Fucking traitor bastards. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39432 "2019-12-18T19:20:02Z")
Apparently I was being too optimistic when the Zelenskyy call first became public that Americans would fucking NOTICE and make a big enough stink to influence the Senate. ---
**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 18, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39433 "2019-12-18T19:46:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Are you allowed to impeach a president for gross incompetence? > > –Donald J. Trump on Twitter, June 2914 I realize that was a typo, but, please, fail to destroy all hope we might have that the distant future will not be a fucked up hellscape. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39434 "2019-12-18T19:54:30Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > His “base” is threatening civil war if he s impeached and / or removed. Fuck him, fuck them. > > Fucking traitor bastards. I agree. But at the same time, don’t dismiss it out of hand. Reverence for (or, in modern parlance, “a cult of”) death is part and parcel of fascist ideology. Fascism glorifies heroic sarcifice (for a given, perverted value of “sacrifice”. Or “virtue”, for that matter). The point is, they do crave to be violent heroic martyrs, although they’ll happily defer the martyrdom upon others. My point is : if y’alls think impeachment, or even impeachment and removal is the end of it ; think again. It’ll get a lot bloodier before it gets better. And it probably won’t get better, either. It never has or did. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39435 "2019-12-18T20:16:55Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > His “base” is threatening civil war if he s impeached and / or removed. Fuck him, fuck them. > > Fucking traitor bastards. I would be very curious to see how the gutless coward MAGAtrash goobers would conduct a civil war. How would they start it? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39436 "2019-12-18T20:21:58Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > I would be very curious to see how the gutless coward MAGAtrash goobers would conduct a civil war. How would they start it? Wouldn’t they have to fight the US Armed forces? I sincerely doubt anyone dumb enough to think Dotard is smart will know the right way to use a weapon. Maybe they’ll use steam-powered bullets. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39437 "2019-12-18T20:40:27Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > I would be very curious to see how the gutless coward MAGAtrash goobers would conduct a civil war. How would they start it? Bar their doors and threaten to shoot anyone who knocks. I hope they’re prepared for a long [del]siege[/del] wait. ---
**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 18, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39438 "2019-12-18T20:44:57Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Wouldn’t they have to fight the US Armed forces? I sincerely doubt anyone dumb enough to think Dotard is smart will know the right way to use a weapon. Maybe they’ll use steam-powered bullets. Really? You don’t think most of them are NRA members? ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39439 "2019-12-18T20:50:19Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Really? You don’t think most of them are NRA members? Doesn’t guarantee they know how to shoot. Or even handle guns properly. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39440 "2019-12-18T20:51:56Z")
nm ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39441 "2019-12-18T20:54:10Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > His “base” is threatening civil war if he s impeached and / or removed. Fuck him, fuck them. > > Fucking traitor bastards. I don’t think there’s going to be a civil war – that’s mostly middle-aged thrice-divorced white males drunk and ranting on their YouTube accounts from their basement. I am increasingly concerned, however, for the safety of individual Democratic members of the House. I worry about the odd gun-toting crank showing up at a political rally a la Gabrielle Giffords, and I don’t think the perpetrator would necessarily be clinically insane either; just some crank who’s lost his house and living out of a van with his dog and guns. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39442 "2019-12-18T21:03:51Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I don’t think there’s going to be a civil war – that’s mostly middle-aged thrice-divorced white males drunk and ranting on their YouTube accounts from their basement. > > I am increasingly concerned, however, for the safety of individual Democratic members of the House. I worry about the odd gun-toting crank showing up at a political rally a la Gabrielle Giffords, and I don’t think the perpetrator would necessarily be clinically insane either; just some crank who’s lost his house and living out of a van with his dog and guns. Yes, I can definitely see something like that happening. Scary! ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39443 "2019-12-18T21:09:13Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Wouldn’t they have to fight the US Armed forces? Don’t be so sure that large parts of the US Armed forces wouldn’t join them. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39444 "2019-12-18T21:17:38Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Don’t be so sure that large parts of the US Armed forces wouldn’t join them. Do you really think active military members will betray their country and oath and join into an armed insurrection against their own country and its people? Really? About what percentage of our military do you see doing this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1971) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1973)