# 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:** 1989
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39765 "2020-01-05T07:16:53Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 just threatened to commit a war crime. > “targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!” > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112) > > Attacking culturally relevant sites is a violation of the Geneva Convention. Torture is more against the Geneva convention and that’s also a thing he’s big on. Not to mention pardoning a war criminal. It’s hard to know if all the people leaving the Pentagon did so because they were aware of a pending attack against Iran and opposed it or because they were unwilling to be part of an immoral army. (The latter is more likely, ftr.) ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39766 "2020-01-05T07:35:34Z")
[Moderating] **Cal** , your quote from that Daily Kos article was a bit long to be fair use, so I edited it back a bit. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39767 "2020-01-05T17:21:41Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Given that his whole thing is that we should be pulling out of the Middle East, Russia, and elsewhere, not getting involved or wasting money abroad, then “scoring a victory”, should be an equivalent statement to “kicked the ball into his own team’s goal” by any sane standard. Good lord…there’s a (very, very, very slim) non-zero probability that Trump is our Leto II, giving us our Golden Path good and hard. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39768 "2020-01-05T17:38:25Z")
We have an impeached president sitting in the Situation Room, ordering international assassinations without Congressional approval. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39769 "2020-01-05T17:41:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > We have an impeached president sitting in the Situation Room, ordering international assassinations without Congressional approval. You left out a word and a letter. We have an impaired impeached president shitting in the Situation Room, ordering international assassinations without Congressional approval ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39770 "2020-01-05T18:59:07Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Is he saying the US needs to vote in Immortals from now on ? IDGI, I thought he and Persians were beefing ? His obstinate longevity finally makes sense now: Trump is Stupid Highlander. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39771 "2020-01-05T19:11:59Z")
Just a question that doesn’t deserve its own thread: How many nuclear blasts would be required to result in just enough nuclear winter to offset global warming? Things might just work themselves out. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39772 "2020-01-05T19:22:23Z")
Would eliminate the primary cause of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39773 "2020-01-05T19:24:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Would eliminate the primary cause of the problem. It’s worth a try! ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39774 "2020-01-05T21:04:55Z")
Even a small nuclear war (if you could consider any nuclear war small) [could have effects for over a decade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter#Climatic_effects). I suggest we bypass this as a solution. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39775 "2020-01-05T21:09:21Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > Just a question that doesn’t deserve its own thread: How many nuclear blasts would be required to result in just enough nuclear winter to offset global warming? > > Things might just work themselves out. The problem with that, and with most geoengineering, is that, like with global warming itself, the effects are not evenly distributed, and it’s not given that it’s the same uneven distribution as that for global warming, so the result might be a stop to the rise in global temperature, but through regions that haven’t noticed global warming much getting colder. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39776 "2020-01-05T22:08:12Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > One of the on-screen banners on Lou Dobbs’ show said “TRUMP SECURES ANOTHER MIDDLE EAST VICTORY.” > > He said that Trump has “set a standard” for presidents “that most mortals won’t be able to meet. He out-works them, he out-thinks, he is remarkably resourceful, he’s bright, his judgment is second to none.” > > We are now in “Kim Jong-un wins the Olympics” territory. Seriously, what causes fawning like this from people who aren’t appointed by Trump? I can understand people putting up with his bullshit because they so badly want tax cuts or deregulation or abortions banned or whatever, and I can understand people who wouldn’t be considered for a normal administration kissing his ass to keep their jobs. But Dobbs is 75, has pretty much everything he’s going to get out of life, and his job doesn’t depend on Trump. And even if it did, he could support Trump without sounding like a Moonie. So what explains his abject worship? ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39777 "2020-01-05T22:11:02Z")
Posting an excerpt or two from The Atlantic, George Conway’s twitter feed is going off on Trump’s ‘love’ for the written word: > > [@](#): > > “Gary Cohn [said] in an email: ‘It’s worse than you can imagine … Trump won’t read anything—not one-page memos, not the brief policy papers, nothing. He gets up halfway through meetings with world leaders because he is bored.’” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39778 "2020-01-05T22:43:10Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Even a small nuclear war (if you could consider any nuclear war small) [could have effects for over a decade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_winter#Climatic_effects). I suggest we bypass this as a solution. > [@naita](#): > > The problem with that, and with most geoengineering, is that, like with global warming itself, the effects are not evenly distributed, and it’s not given that it’s the same uneven distribution as that for global warming, so the result might be a stop to the rise in global temperature, but through regions that haven’t noticed global warming much getting colder. In case it wasn’t obvious, I wasn’t seriously suggesting fighting climate change with nuclear winter. It was just an attempt at gallows humor. And, yes, I know the risk of actual nuclear war is tiny. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39779 "2020-01-05T22:45:13Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > So what explains his abject worship? Especially since he used to be a reasonable person. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39780 "2020-01-05T23:43:21Z")
> [@Defensive\_Indifference](#): > > In case it wasn’t obvious, I wasn’t seriously suggesting fighting climate change with nuclear winter. It was just an attempt at gallows humor. And, yes, I know the risk of actual nuclear war is tiny. Needed emojis: 1. Gallows humor 2. Sarcasm 3. Irony ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39781 "2020-01-05T23:58:47Z")
US citizens of Iranian heritage are being detained at the border as they attempt to re-enter the country. [https://www.cair.com/breaking\_cair\_wa\_assisting\_iranian\_americans\_detained\_u\_s\_border](https://www.cair.com/breaking_cair_wa_assisting_iranian_americans_detained_u_s_border) ---
**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:** [January 6, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39782 "2020-01-06T00:57:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > US citizens of Iranian heritage are being detained at the border as they attempt to re-enter the country. > > [https://www.cair.com/breaking\_cair\_wa\_assisting\_iranian\_americans\_detained\_u\_s\_border](https://www.cair.com/breaking_cair_wa_assisting_iranian_americans_detained_u_s_border) Crap. Thanks for posting this. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39783 "2020-01-06T01:23:01Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Individual 1 just threatened to commit a war crime. > “targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!” > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1213593975732527112) > > Attacking culturally relevant sites is a violation of the Geneva Convention. And, he just doubled-down on the war crime: [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/us/politics/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/us/politics/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html) > [@](#): > > “They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people,” the president said. “And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural site? It doesn’t work that way.” Apparently, Individual 1 believes that your allowed to commit war crimes if you decide (rightly or wrongly) that what the other side is doing is a war crime. I am sure that would be a very successful defense in a war crimes tribunal. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/39784 "2020-01-06T01:31:44Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > And, he just doubled-down on the war crime: [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/us/politics/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/us/politics/trump-iran-cultural-sites.html) > > Apparently, Individual 1 believes that your allowed to commit war crimes if you decide (rightly or wrongly) that what the other side is doing is a war crime. I am sure that would be a very successful defense in a war crimes tribunal. :smack: From [here](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-threats-against-iranian-sites-raise-questions-about-the-potential-for-war-crimes/2020/01/05/c03d8de8-2ff2-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html): > [@](#): > > “ISIS targets cultural sites. The Taliban destroys cultural sites. The United States of America should not join this list,” tweeted Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia under the Obama administration.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1988) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=1990)