# 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:** 2206
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44107 "2020-06-02T21:41:38Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I’m thinking now all the orange turd has to do is shout, “It’s the n\*\*\*\*r’s fault we got this way!” and here comes more civil unrest across the country. If the people are protesting against police violence, it just means you aren’t using enough. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44108 "2020-06-02T22:21:21Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I’m thinking now all the orange turd has to do is shout, “It’s the n\*\*\*\*r’s fault we got this way!” and here comes more civil unrest across the country. He does not have to say it. His supporters already are. They’ve been saying it for years. Now they have him encouraging them to say it without shame. Well, without feeling shame. They are actually shaming the country. They are not just deplorable. They are despicable. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44109 "2020-06-02T22:34:15Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > He’s going to start using the Department of Justice to prosecute protesters, which is not an idle threat. How many people do you know can withstand extended detention and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on mounting a legal defense? Agree it would be a bad thing. Disagree that it costs “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to hire a lawyer to defend a charge of unlawfully protesting. (or whatever the charge would be). Federal Defenders will be appointed for the indigent (generally the federal public defenders are very good lawyers) and a good criminal defense attorney with experience in federal court could be retained for significantly less than “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” “Extended detention” pre-trial would be unlikely too, unless there charges were serious. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44110 "2020-06-02T22:49:58Z")
These people will not be charged with the normal things that protesters have been charged with. They will be accused of being leaders of a terrorist group, and charged accordingly. Court? They won’t see the inside of a court. Some may never see the light of day again. This is how it works when you have the Justice Department able to punish your enemies and a Senate majority who says the president does not have to follow any law at all - ever. Get it? This is the end game now. Trump and cronies are in it for all the marbles. They must take power now or lose it all. They are all-in. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44111 "2020-06-03T00:02:40Z")
There are heavily armed private military guys only saying that they report to the DOJ (which is not a thing) in DC. > > > Dan Friedman @dfriedman33 ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44112 "2020-06-03T00:07:05Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > There are heavily armed private military guys only saying that they report to the DOJ (which is not a thing) in DC. > [https://mobile.twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/1267960573985202179](https://mobile.twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/1267960573985202179) Trump Army, supplied by Eric Prince? ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44113 "2020-06-03T00:31:37Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trump Army, supplied by Eric Prince? The scuttlebutt is that they are ICE and CBP troops that Trump has turned into his private army. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44114 "2020-06-03T00:45:20Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trump Army, supplied by Eric Prince? Well you gotta have somebody to fight the [Obama Army](https://news.avclub.com/oh-hey-orson-scott-card-also-wrote-about-obama-becomin-1798239966). ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44115 "2020-06-03T00:55:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Agree it would be a bad thing. Disagree that it costs “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to hire a lawyer to defend a charge of unlawfully protesting. (or whatever the charge would be). Federal Defenders will be appointed for the indigent (generally the federal public defenders are very good lawyers) and a good criminal defense attorney with experience in federal court could be retained for significantly less than “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” I think you’d have to prove that you’re indigent. The courts may or may not buy that you are. > [@Procrustus](#): > > “Extended detention” pre-trial would be unlikely too, unless there charges were serious. Rioting in the District of Columbia’s a felony charge - pretty serious. Rioting elsewhere might violate orders made during a time of national emergency. Depending on the legal basis made for your detention, you could be held indefinitely. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44116 "2020-06-03T01:08:07Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It’s not for them to believe, it is for them to repeat. > > That way, when you say, “Trump tear gassed peaceful protesters so that he could have a photo op.” They say, “Nu-uh.” and proceed to gaslight you with the prepared story distributed by Fox. > > They know that they are lying, and they know that you know that they are lying. They just don’t care. > > It is not about getting you to believe them, it is about trying to get you to doubt reality. Yes, and it’s also about trying to get you to accept that you can’t tell who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, or that you can reasonably expect truth or justice. It’s an assault on the senses. What’s happening now is that Trump is taking this to a new level. It’s an incremental escalation of force and authoritarianism. They want us to get used to a national police presence in what would normally be the domain of local law enforcement. They also want us - enough of us anyway - to believe that the country is out of control and that only he can fix the situation. They want to escalate, and to continue justifying the escalation, and for us to be so disoriented that we don’t know how to confront or stop the situation. This is how authoritarianism works and how democracy dies. Won’t matter a fuckin bit if the church leaders of St John’s Episcopal Church criticize him or not - they’re not his base so they don’t exist. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44117 "2020-06-03T01:13:21Z")
^^ And the bishop is a woman, so no care from the admin on that for sure. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44118 "2020-06-03T01:20:34Z")
I’ll wager we’re getting a preview of how Trump hopes to hold the White House no matter the outcome of the general election. Maybe the big harebrained scheme is to garrison troops in Washington D.C. with those military willing to follow him, as led by nutty William Barr, Erik Prince and Michael Flynn. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44119 "2020-06-03T01:27:34Z")
Missed the edit window 'coz fuck me for taking the time to find a cite. [There is reporting](https://connectingvets.radio.com/articles/82nd-paratroopers-forward-deployed-near-washington-dc) that combat units of the Army’s 82nd Airborne division have been deployed to Washington D.C. 700 initial troops, with another 1,400 to follow. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44120 "2020-06-03T01:33:23Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The right to peacefully assemble and redress your grievances to the government does not end when the sun goes down. > > **That said, what you have a right to do, and what is wise to do, are not always the same thing.** The part I bolded was exactly the point I tried to make (to those I was discussing this with, on Twitter). Having a right to do something doesn’t mean that something is the best or surest means of achieving your goal. If the goal is what you care about most, you act one way. If ‘asserting your rights’ is what you care about most, you act another way. (I still see no good reason for those peacefully demonstrating to stop police violence, to help out the authoritarian/false-flaggers by being out at night. It makes them so easily framable.) ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44121 "2020-06-03T01:42:13Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I’ll wager we’re getting a preview of how Trump hopes to hold the White House no matter the outcome of the general election. > > Maybe the big harebrained scheme is to garrison troops in Washington D.C. with those military willing to follow him, as led by nutty William Barr, Erik Prince and Michael Flynn. 100% this. I mean, why _wouldn’t_ the Trumpites try this? The fact that those armed men aren’t answering any questions, or are answering them with vague ‘we work for the federal government’ claims, tells you all you need to know about the good faith being exercised, here. All the opining about how ‘_Trump will HAVE to leave in January if he loses the election or if he gets elections called off_’ is so much dust in the wind. Trump has a large private army. Trump doesn’t HAVE to do _anything_. (I just want to see how John Roberts (among others) justifies all this. I really do.) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44122 "2020-06-03T02:57:13Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > There are heavily armed private military guys only saying that they report to the DOJ (which is not a thing) in DC. > [https://mobile.twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/1267960573985202179](https://mobile.twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/1267960573985202179) Do any of them claim they’re judges? Do any go by the name Dredd? ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44123 "2020-06-03T03:26:15Z")
Individual 1 and his Trophy Wife at the Pope John Paul II memorial today. Individual 1 trying to get Melania to pretend that she wants to be there. The video is of him encouraging her to smile, and she fails miserably. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wiyUYMWtGPA/hqdefault.jpg "Trump appears to ask Melania to smile during visit to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiyUYMWtGPA) ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44124 "2020-06-03T03:27:57Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > ^^ And the bishop is a woman, so no care from the admin on that for sure. The bishop of Washington DC is a woman. The priest of St. John’s church is a woman. The bishop of all of the US is a black man. Three strikes. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44125 "2020-06-03T03:40:27Z")
[quote=“Rick\_Kitchen, post:44123, topic:774070”] Individual 1 and his Trophy Wife at the Pope John Paul II memorial today. Individual 1 trying to get Melania to pretend that she wants to be there. The video is of him encouraging her to smile, and she fails miserably. [/QUOTE] You can’t ask those things on Botox day. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/44126 "2020-06-03T03:55:26Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > 100% this. > > I mean, why _wouldn’t_ the Trumpites try this? The fact that those armed men aren’t answering any questions, or are answering them with vague ‘we work for the federal government’ claims, tells you all you need to know about the good faith being exercised, here. > > All the opining about how ‘_Trump will HAVE to leave in January if he loses the election or if he gets elections called off_’ is so much dust in the wind. Trump has a large private army. Trump doesn’t HAVE to do _anything_. So what if he wants the actual United States military to do something, and they refuse, since he’s not technically or actually President? What’s he gonna do? Send his mercs to invade Iran? Send his army to strongarm THE Army? Good luck. I still think the only way Trump exercises presidential power in January if he loses is to have buy-in from ACTUAL federal law enforcement and military. THAT is what to watch for. I don’t think a private army will cut it. Without the political or military power to force the mechanism of federal government to listen to him and do what he wants, even with a private army he is, at worst, David Koresh. Besides, if we assume that Trump does anything he wants, there’s no point to discussing any of it, is there? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2205) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=2207)