# 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:** 272
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5421 "2017-05-23T15:01:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [aside] > I’ve said over and over here that the worst thing that you can call Trump (and that he can call anyone) is a **loser**. > > In my mind, that’s nowhere near as bad as being a monster, but then I don’t look at life/the world/existence as a game that you win or lose. Trump does. That is the key to understanding him: everything is a game and there are winners and losers. > > How do you tell them apart? Winners are standing at the end and losers are dead, lying down, defeated, locked up, diminished. That was the basis of his insult of McCain–McCain wasn’t a winner because he was captured. The Khan family’s son was dead and thus a loser. > > Heroism, sacrifice, altruism, choosing to be last so others can be first–completely alien concepts to him. > > [/aside] It struck me as odd phrasing but I couldn’t quite identify why. I guess it’s primarily the limited vocabulary which forces him into a one-size-fits-all mode when it comes to describing the world… [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/23/trump-called-terrorists-losers-the-same-insult-he-has-thrown-at-cnn-ted-cruz-and-many-others/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/23/trump-called-terrorists-losers-the-same-insult-he-has-thrown-at-cnn-ted-cruz-and-many-others/) Trump’s thinking makes sense. The problem is that he often does not choose his words carefully and has therefore reduced the meaning of a term like “loser,” which he has assigned rather liberally to political opponents such as Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, and to foils in the media, including CNN, Politico, the New York Daily News, Graydon Carter, Bill Kristol and S.E. Cupp. Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5422 "2017-05-23T15:22:24Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > In the grand scheme, calling the perpetrators monsters does do them a favor. It makes them big and frightening, which is what they want. Calling them losers diminishes them. It makes them smaller and less intimidating. > > Are losers worse than monsters? Not by a long shot. > > Is calling someone who is chasing notoriety a loser worse than calling him a monster? From his point of view, yes. > > Trump kind of stumbled into the doing the right thing here. > > Now I need to take a shower. So, goody, now we can hurt ISIS’s feelings more effectively. Does this harm their offensive capability? Does this make them less prone to violence? Will this reduce recruitment? IMHO, the answer to all of those is “no”. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5423 "2017-05-23T15:24:55Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > So, goody, now we can hurt ISIS’s feelings more effectively. > > Does this harm their offensive capability? Does this make them less prone to violence? Will this reduce recruitment? > > IMHO, the answer to all of those is “no”. I thought all we had to do was call them Islamic Terrorists and everything would be okay. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5424 "2017-05-23T15:30:32Z")
Gee, I really wasn’t sure how strongly to feel about terrorists until someone finally called them losers. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5425 "2017-05-23T15:36:24Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > It struck me as odd phrasing but I couldn’t quite identify why. I guess it’s primarily the limited vocabulary which forces him into a one-size-fits-all mode when it comes to describing the world… > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/23/trump-called-terrorists-losers-the-same-insult-he-has-thrown-at-cnn-ted-cruz-and-many-others/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/23/trump-called-terrorists-losers-the-same-insult-he-has-thrown-at-cnn-ted-cruz-and-many-others/) > > Trump’s thinking makes sense. The problem is that he often does not choose his words carefully and has therefore reduced the meaning of a term like “loser,” which he has assigned rather liberally to political opponents such asTed Cruz,Jeb BushandMarco Rubio, and to foils in the media, includingCNN,Politico, theNew York Daily News,Graydon Carter,Bill KristolandS.E. Cupp. > > Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk In The Donald’s simple, black & white, one-dimensional universe, winner-loser are the only terms you need. Nuance is superfluous. ALL that matters to him is that he is a Winner. The way for him to feel like a Winner is to label others “Losers.” He doesn’t \*\*need \*\*any more words. Those two words are plenty. It really is that simple. When you were a kid, did you ever play “King of the Mountain”? A bunch of you crawl on top of a big rock, or pile of dirt, or (until summarily forbidden) the hood of someone’s car. The idea is to knock everyone else off, and keep them from reascending by pushing, kicking, shoving, tripping, or whatever means necessary. THAT is Donald Trump’s life. Only people officially on the sidelines and “out of the game” are exempt from this competition. Right now, that’s his family. Republican leadership is currently exempt, because they are not confronting him. If someone steps into his path, moving to a position where they seem to be in competition/entering the game (i.e., Cruz, CNN, Comey), they immediately become losers. Donald must be King of the Mountain, just like an ordinary 7-year old boy. See how that works? I believe you can apply this simple template across Trump World. ETA. It isn’t about “hurting someone’s feelings” (I know that was meant somewhat facetiously). Trump has no sense of other people’s feelings, good or bad. It’s only and always about HIS feelings. He must FEEL like a Winner. He doesn’t have to BE a Winner; he has to feel like one. He has the emotional maturity of a pre-schooler. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5426 "2017-05-23T15:41:52Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Trump has two oratorical styles: > > Rally Trump, where he’s winging it, spouting nonsense, leading chants, and braying. > > Presidential Trump, where he’s reading off a teleprompter like someone reading an eye chart. > > He’s been 100% the latter on this trip; I’m hoping and praying that Rally Trump is unleashed, because that’s when the fun starts. Can we be done with the fun? I’m tired of all this funning. I want a president who can speak in full sentences and show basic courtesy to visitors like a big boy or girl. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > So where do ‘nut jobs’ fit in this new paradigm. That’s the pool of people to occupy all of the currently unstaffed government positions that the Trump Administration has yet to fill because they’re spending all of their time infighting and going back and forth between DC and Mar-A-Lago. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5427 "2017-05-23T16:11:53Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I thought all we had to do was call them Islamic Terrorists and everything would be okay. RADICAL Islamic Terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5428 "2017-05-23T16:19:17Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Gee, I really wasn’t sure how strongly to feel about terrorists until someone finally called them losers. Weren’t they just telling us that the terrorists were winning? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5429 "2017-05-23T16:48:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Weren’t they just telling us that the terrorists were winning? Fuck, this is so confusing. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5430 "2017-05-23T17:09:26Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > RADICAL Islamic Terrorists. It’s OK if you don’t use those exact words, as long as you’re not Obama, and you are exhausted. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5431 "2017-05-23T17:10:09Z")
45’s proposed budget is still relying on unrealistic growth. Within the past hour, McCain called the proposed budget “dead on arrival” as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5432 "2017-05-23T17:28:51Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > 45’s proposed budget is still relying on unrealistic growth. Within the past hour, McCain called the proposed budget “dead on arrival” as a whole. Good. I’d rather not cut hundreds of billions from healthcare for poor people. If they die, who mows my lawn? ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5433 "2017-05-23T17:31:58Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Good. I’d rather not cut hundreds of billions from healthcare for poor people. If they die, who mows my lawn? Hell, who does the cleaning, gardening, and maintenance at Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago? ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5434 "2017-05-23T17:53:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hell, who does the cleaning, gardening, and maintenance at Trump Tower and Mar-a-Lago? Illegal immigrants, just like now. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5435 "2017-05-23T17:53:04Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Such a vocabulary on this guy. He has the best words. Bigly. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5436 "2017-05-23T17:56:20Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Illegal immigrants, just like now. They are not _illegals_. That would be against the law. They are just some soft-spoken folk who by an odd coincidence happen to all have the same SS#. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5437 "2017-05-23T18:06:25Z")
Liberal [mole people](https://youtu.be/DwoUY67CMcg) are trying to [destroy Mar-a-Lago](https://dawm7kda6y2v0.cloudfront.net/uploads/2017/05/Screen_Shot_2017-05-22_at_1_47_54_PM-654x362-549e16f.png) in retaliation for his using an[occult orb ceremony](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--QoHgTjVX--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/g6vxop0oxyzgiqcn0qft.jpg) to attack them. Palm Beach has already issued a [warning](http://townofpalmbeach.com/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=294&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter). ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5438 "2017-05-23T18:14:42Z")
Trump touches down in Rome; Melania let’s him know that shedoes not want him touching herin any way, ever again. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5439 "2017-05-23T18:19:59Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Trump touches down in Rome; Melania let’s him know that shedoes not want him touching herin any way, ever again. I’m as anti-Trump as the next guy, but that one really looks like she was moving her hand to brush her hair out of her face just as he reached for her hand. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/5440 "2017-05-23T18:24:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I thought all we had to do was call them Islamic Terrorists and everything would be okay. You joke, but just a day ago he deliberately didn’t use that phrase in a speech. And then immediately after we have an attack. Obviously we need a government official whose only role is to use the phrase “radical islamic terrorism” at least once a day. That’ll prevent any more of these kind of attacks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=271) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=273)