# 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:** 2031
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40605 "2020-02-16T08:21:46Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Here ya go, **Ukulele Ike** : > (Hint: You gotta read the [whole thread that came from](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=340106), or at least the first 50 posts, to get the whole context. Mushroom ensued.) Holy crap, man, I got forty posts in before noticing that that stuff is fifteen years old. You could, maybe, make a note of that. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40606 "2020-02-16T12:51:04Z")
> [@margin](#): > > Stephen Miller looks like Lurch and Nosferatu had a child, yet imparted none of their charm. What IS IT with some Nazis? They just have a certain look. I think with Miller it’s the dead eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40607 "2020-02-16T13:45:20Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > What IS IT with some Nazis? They just have a certain look. I think with Miller it’s the dead eyes. Well, [fencing scars](https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/10/100757/1878294-388px_skorzenyotto.jpg) are out of fashion these days, and you’ve got to find _some_ way to show off how awful a human being you are, right? ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40608 "2020-02-16T14:03:38Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Now I want a steak. > > Bone-in rib, medium rare, with thick slices of slightly underdone cremini mushrooms. Dammit, now I want a steak, and I haven’t got anything thawed. You bastard. You have to season it and let it sort of absorb it before searing it and getting that rare center to just where it stops mooing. Sublime. I can taste it. But you lost me at mushrooms. I’ve tried them but I just don’t…get it. Like olives. Or cilantro. Is it genetic? The texture makes me want to hork. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40609 "2020-02-16T14:13:56Z")
> [@margin](#): > > Dammit, now I want a steak, and I haven’t got anything thawed. You bastard. > > You have to season it and let it sort of absorb it before searing it and getting that rare center to just where it stops mooing. Sublime. I can taste it. > > But you lost me at mushrooms. I’ve tried them but I just don’t…get it. Like olives. Or cilantro. Is it genetic? The texture makes me want to hork. I purchased two Scanga Meat (local company) tenderloins yesterday. Very $ but worth it as we only don’t do steak that often. I don’t bother with anything else from the grocery store or wherever. I’m with you on the mushrooms. I don’t mind TOO much if I have to pick them off a piece of pizza. To me, there is know point in them. Have at it if you like 'em. You can have all of mine. Olives I love, but cilantro is, I believe genetic. Cilantro is OK provided it’s just a bit. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40610 "2020-02-16T14:54:12Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > That’s funny. The cynic in me says that this is totally staged too. Same here. It’s bullshit, pretending to be “independent and impartial” In short, another lie. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40611 "2020-02-16T14:58:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > That may come, in due time. Possibly, he’s currently afflicted with a delusion that we’ve seen play out wrt so many of the America-hating fuckstick’s past appointees: the belief that HE will succeed in tempering the fuckstick’s predilection for outrageous behavior. No, I don’t think that is his intent at all. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40612 "2020-02-16T15:47:01Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I purchased two Scanga Meat (local company) tenderloins yesterday. Very $ but worth it as we only don’t do steak that often. I don’t bother with anything else from the grocery store or wherever. I hate you so, so much right now. I planned on making spaghetti today, dammit, but somewhere in the back of my freezer is a London Broil, to be unearthed and thawed at room temperature on a special occasion, seared with a dollop of real butter, seasoned with something to be determined after careful contemplation—but definitely freshly-ground----and eaten with from-scratch mashed potatoes. Oh, and if you want your stuff to keep, I found these things called Rubbermaid Brilliance, which are air tight and keep your frozen stuff in excellent shape. Dammit, my stomach’s growling. I’m going to have to bake fresh bread for the garlic bread to get the steak out of my mind. And it may be petty, but when I heard how Trump eats his steaks, it was the last little bit of confirmation what a raging cretin he really is. Christ, my stomach is growling so bad at the thought of that steak I think I scared the cat. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40613 "2020-02-16T16:28:01Z")
> [@margin](#): > > I hate you so, so much right now. > > I planned on making spaghetti today, dammit, but somewhere in the back of my freezer is a London Broil, to be unearthed and thawed at room temperature on a special occasion, seared with a dollop of real butter, seasoned with something to be determined after careful contemplation—but definitely freshly-ground----and eaten with from-scratch mashed potatoes. > > Oh, and if you want your stuff to keep, I found these things called Rubbermaid Brilliance, which are air tight and keep your frozen stuff in excellent shape. > > Dammit, my stomach’s growling. > > I’m going to have to bake fresh bread for the garlic bread to get the steak out of my mind. > > And it may be petty, but when I heard how Trump eats his steaks, it was the last little bit of confirmation what a raging cretin he really is. > > Christ, my stomach is growling so bad at the thought of that steak I think I scared the cat. [The one that died last week?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22139402&postcount=11) ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40614 "2020-02-16T16:53:37Z")
> [@simster](#): > > [The one that died last week?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22139402&postcount=11) [Moderating] Did you not see how that thread ended? Knock it off. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40615 "2020-02-16T16:59:52Z")
> [@simster](#): > > [The one that died last week?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22139402&postcount=11) I have more than one, cuntflap, which you’d know if you were anything BUT a troll like those others. Go pick your dingleberries off. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40616 "2020-02-16T19:12:35Z")
Barr’s attempts to drive a stake through the heart of law and order is beginning to attract attention. Over 1000 former DOJ officials, from both Republican and Democratic administrations, [call on him to resign](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-stone/former-doj-officials-call-on-u-s-attorney-general-barr-to-resign-idUSKBN20A0MY). That’s got to hurt a bit. Hopefully. I’m thrilled that the outcry is building. It’s our only hope. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40617 "2020-02-16T19:13:40Z")
I saw this article from Nov, 2016 mentioned on CNN’s Brian Stelter’s _Reliable Sources_ show ([clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jMut8DYGI)): [10 Ways to Tell if Your President Is a Dictator](https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/23/ten-ways-to-tell-if-your-president-is-a-dictator/) > [@](#): > > But if you live in the United States, what you should \*really \*worry about is the threat that Trump may pose to America’s constitutional order. His lengthy business career suggests he is a vindictive man who will go to extreme lengths to punish his opponents and will break a promise in a heartbeat and without remorse. The 2016 campaign confirmed that he has little respect for existing norms and rules — he refused to release his tax returns, lied repeatedly, claimed the electoral and political systems were “rigged” against him, threatened to jail his opponent if he won, among other such violations — and revealed his deep contempt for both his opponents and supporters. Nor does he regret any of the revolting things he did or said during the campaign, because, as he told the _Wall Street Journal_ afterward, “I won.” For Trump, it seems, the ends really do justify the means. > > To make matters worse, plenty of people in Trump’s camp appear to believe America is now under siege from a coalition of liberal elites, people of color, immigrants of all sorts, and shadowy foreign influences. They also understand demography is not on their side: The Republican Party has lost the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections (Bush in 2004 was the exception), and the percentage of older white Americans that forms the GOP base will continue to decline. This situation will tempt some of them to use any and all means to hang on to power, justified by their (mistaken) belief that the country must be “saved” from all these alleged enemies. > > … > > 1. Systematic efforts to intimidate the media. > 2. Building an official pro-Trump media network. > 3. Politicizing the civil service, military, National Guard, or the domestic security agencies. > 4. Using government surveillance against domestic political opponents. > 5. Using state power to reward corporate backers and punish opponents. > 6. Stacking the Supreme Court. > 7. Enforcing the law for only one side. > 8. _Really_ rigging the system. > 9. Fearmongering. > 10. Demonizing the opposition. That article was written just after the election. Here’s the author’s update from a couple of days ago (It may be pay-walled. I had to open it up in an incognito tab.): [Trump Is Failing His Dictatorship Test](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/14/trump-is-failing-his-dictatorship-test/) _After impeachment, the president has been passing most of the checkpoints on the way to authoritarianism._ > [@](#): > > Now that Trump has been acquitted by a Republican-controlled Senate that couldn’t even be bothered to interview any witnesses with personal knowledge of his possible high crimes and misdemeanors, it seems appropriate to revisit my list once again. Spoiler alert: There are some flashing red lights on the dashboard. > > … > > At this stage in Trump’s presidency, some may argue that concerns about the parlous state of American democracy are overblown. After hearing repeated warnings that Trump is a threat to the country’s constitutional order and being told over and over that “this is how democracy dies,” one might be tempted to see pessimists as Chicken Littles who keep repeating that the sky is falling. If one takes that view, then the warning signs listed above might seem alarmist. But the key point to remember is that healthy democracies don’t sicken and die overnight; they collapse gradually, from a thousand tiny cuts, each of which seems inconsequential at the time. That is what Donald Trump is doing, aided and abetted by the once proud Republican Party. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Death by a thousand cuts? That might be a good description. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40618 "2020-02-16T19:36:50Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > Barr’s attempts to drive a stake through the heart of law and order is beginning to attract attention. Over 1000 former DOJ officials, from both Republican and Democratic administrations, [call on him to resign](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-stone/former-doj-officials-call-on-u-s-attorney-general-barr-to-resign-idUSKBN20A0MY). That’s got to hurt a bit. Hopefully. > > I’m thrilled that the outcry is building. It’s our only hope. I just came in to post this. I’m thrilled, too. We need to do everything we can to support them and others who raise this alarm. If there are protests organized, I plan to attend them. I called Josh Hawley’s office to leave a message for the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Barr and have written emails to both my Senators and my House representative to organize efforts to call on Barr to resign. The only thing that is going to work at this point is public pressure. A lot of 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:** [February 16, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40619 "2020-02-16T20:07:58Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I just came in to post this. I’m thrilled, too. > > We need to do everything we can to support them and others who raise this alarm. If there are protests organized, I plan to attend them. I called Josh Hawley’s office to leave a message for the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Barr and have written emails to both my Senators and my House representative to organize efforts to call on Barr to resign. > > The only thing that is going to work at this point is public pressure. A lot of it. I sent an email to Hawley. Hoping all this helps. I want Barr opened up and exposed. There’s way too much dirt someplace. I have a gut feeling that his ridiculous religious fantasies and helping Trump are conflicting his supporters. Corner Barr and make him spill it. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40620 "2020-02-16T21:01:34Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I sent an email to Hawley. Hoping all this helps. I want Barr opened up and exposed. There’s way too much dirt someplace. I have a gut feeling that his ridiculous religious fantasies and helping Trump are conflicting his supporters. Corner Barr and make him spill it. So good to hear. 🙂 And yes, it does help. When I called Hawley’s office yesterday, I had to let the phone ring for about 3 minutes before I could leave a message. I was told they were experiencing a “very high volume” of calls, which was the reason for the delay. I was delighted to learn this. What Barr is doing is breaking the law, openly and repeatedly. His failures to comply with lawful Congressional subpoenas and summons for witnesses from his DOJ are crimes. His Giuliani back channel is extremely irregular and must be explained. His lying to the American people about what was in the Mueller report violates his oath and makes him unfit to hold his office. Carrying out his personal religious agenda also makes him unfit for the office he holds. His efforts to muscle his prosecutors for particular outcomes in pending criminal cases is immoral, entirely contrary to the principles of equal justice for all and strike at the very foundation of the rule of law. He has to go. The only way to force that is to bring sufficient pressure to bear on our Congressional representatives. Even if Trump/Senate Republicans protect Barr through the November election, we have to make them all nervous enough to curtail his abuses to the greatest extent possible until then. They hate it when we’re paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40621 "2020-02-16T21:23:59Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > What IS IT with some Nazis? They just have a certain look. I think with Miller it’s the dead eyes. Matt Gaetz looks like an evil astronaut. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40622 "2020-02-16T21:35:11Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > _After impeachment, the president has been passing most of the checkpoints on the way to authoritarianism._ It’s not just the president, though. Trump is absolutely behaving like an authoritarian, as are members of his administration - there’s no question about that. But he’s getting crucial help from Mitch McConnell and the rest of the party, and it’s the absence of a competition for power by the legislative that makes Trump dangerous. It’s the contempt for constitutional norms and the propensity for conspiracy theories that makes the right dangerous. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40623 "2020-02-17T00:31:20Z")
**“How Trump is closing America”** > **[Trump is fulfilling his pledge to build fortress America — and running on it](https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-is-fulfilling-his-pledge-to-build-fortress-america--and-running-on-it/2020/02/11/39a2fbb8-4863-11ea-8124-0ca81effcdfb_story.html)** > > With taller walls, tighter laws and fewer immigrants entering the country, President Trump is building a potent anti-immigrant record heading into the 2020 election. > [@](#): > > As he rallies support for his reelection in November, President Trump is closer than ever to delivering on his promise for a United States with taller walls, tighter immigration laws and fewer foreigners entering the country. > > During the past three years, the president has hardened the nation’s immigration system into an obstacle course of physical and bureaucratic barriers, causing illegal border crossings to plummet and legal immigration to slump. > > The number of refugee admissions to the United States fell to the lowest level on record last year, and this year the administration set the refugee cap even lower, reserving just 18,000 spots for people who are fleeing persecution across the globe. The Trump administration also is blocking asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border and flying them instead to Guatemala or sending them back into Mexico. > > Other visitors are being turned back or staying away entirely: foreign students and tourists are coming in fewer numbers, according to the latest State Department data, and green cards issued abroad since 2016 have dropped 25 percent. > … [del]Give me[/del] Fuck your tired, your poor… Are you “yearning to breathe free”? Fuck you, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/40624 "2020-02-17T01:15:59Z")
Here is some news which should reassure us that that the US armed forces will _not_ support Trump’s march toward authoritarianism. [https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-generals-leaving-trump-administration-kelly-mattis-2020-2](https://www.businessinsider.com/marine-corps-generals-leaving-trump-administration-kelly-mattis-2020-2) "Shortly after his being sworn in, Trump boasted that “my generals … are going to keep us so safe.” But during his presidency, Trump’s generals have slowly fell by the wayside, many of them resigning because their views were not “aligned” with his. The tepid resignation letters from these high-profile military officials evolved into a more pronounced denunciation, with some being outspoken in their opposition against Trump’s policies." It gets even better. Have a look. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2030) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2032)