# 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:** 350
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6982 "2017-06-19T15:52:38Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah. There was a lot of talk there for a while that Trump wouldn’t be able to find representation, due both to his being a nightmare (refusing to follow any advice and being quite loose-lipped), and to his reputation for refusing to pay his bills. > > Sekulow hosts a daily radio talk show AND a weekly television talk show. One might speculate that he expects to be paid in fame/better name recognition–a genuine asset for a media career. > > Also, he seems to be closely associated with several right-wing entities such as the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Fox News, and the American Center for Law & Justice. Thus, being associated with someone with Trump’s sketchy ethical reputation won’t be a problem. > > [Jay Sekulow - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Sekulow) I’ve listened to his show, Jay Seculow live, which is basically 50% screed about how liberals are oppressing Christians and only he can stop them from making Christianity illegal, and 50% begging for donations for the ACLJ (aka The American Center for Lots of Jesus), which is basically the bizzaro world version of the ACLU. He is a compete and utter tool. He has less to worry about losing reputation as a legal scholar than does Saul Goodman. More on him [here](http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-to-get-rich-suing-for-jesus) Annecdote: He takes calls but they are heavily screened and all agree with whatever point he is making. One time a reasonable listener got through and disagreed with him about one point, and Jay went off on him calling him a liar and as proof of that the fact that in order to have gotten on the show he must have lied to the call screeners, before cutting him off. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6983 "2017-06-19T15:53:15Z")
A disturbing number think it doesn’t matter because they’re all going to be Raptured any day now. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6984 "2017-06-19T15:54:41Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I wonder if there’s an element of…i dunno… sunk cost, or the emotional equivalent. "I supported him so hard, and if he turns out so crooked, so fast, what does that say about me? " It’s easy enough to blame him and only him. “Hey, we trusted him and he let us down.” ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6985 "2017-06-19T16:24:16Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s easy enough to blame him and only him. “Hey, we trusted him and he let us down.” I don’t think it is that easy. If he is a con man, his supporters have to admit to themselves that they were fooled. I think a lot of people find that really hard to do. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6986 "2017-06-19T16:31:49Z")
Some people keep sending money to 419 scammers long after it’s become apparent to everyone else in their life it’s a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6987 "2017-06-19T16:39:17Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A disturbing number think it doesn’t matter because they’re all going to be Raptured any day now. I wish they would be. If everyone who thinks they would actually be raptured away disappeared, we’d be getting rid of some really shitty people. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6988 "2017-06-19T16:57:42Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s easy enough to blame him and only him. “Hey, we trusted him and he let us down.” The problem is that they see it in these terms: [QUOTE=Otter, “Animal House”] You fucked up… you trusted us! [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6989 "2017-06-19T17:02:27Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I don’t think it is that easy. If he is a con man, his supporters have to admit to themselves that they were fooled. I think a lot of people find that really hard to do. Especially since so many of their fellow citizens saw through the con so easily. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6990 "2017-06-19T17:05:52Z")
\*It is easier to fool someone than to convince him he has been fooled. \* -fortune cookie ---
**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 19, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6991 "2017-06-19T17:20:24Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Actually, that fits a theory I have about right wing views of environmental issues. > > Why are right wingers deny climate change? The science is valid. Don’t they care about the world their kids will inherit? > > They deny it because they have F350s and ginormous Silverados and Rams, and if humans can affect the climate, them maybe they themselves are part of the problem. But, they like their trucks. So, better to believe that climate change is a hoax, and then they can keep their truck with a clear conscience. Absolutely true. I had an aunt who refused to hear any talk about climate change, because she specifically said that she did not want to do Anything to change her lifestyle. And hearing about how she was part of the problem was uncomfortable for her, so she basically stuck her fingers in her ears. I think this is common. At least she admitted it. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6992 "2017-06-19T17:40:19Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Their foresight is generally limited to a four year span. Besides, caring about the world is for those damned hippies. Why are the Wingnuts still so concerned with fucking over hippies? Hell, our heyday was about fifty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6993 "2017-06-19T17:41:28Z")
I think you are all over-thinking it. Trump supporters believe the lies because they have multiple sources telling those same lies: talk shows, Trump’s tweets, Fox News, Breitbart, their Facebook friends, and all the memes and articles shared by their friends. Also, those sources are all busy telling people that Establishment Politicians are _all_ corrupt. That’s what _populism_ really is: blame the entire establishment and claim that only an outsider can fix the system. That’s why it’s very easy for Trump supporters to believe that everyone in government has a vendetta against Trump. And of course, scientists are part of that establishment, and their funding depends on confirming the establishment position. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6994 "2017-06-19T19:01:45Z")
45’s new Christian crusader lawyer, Jay Sekulow, made most of the Sunday news shows. Oddly, even though he has resided at Faux News for years, that’s where he was tripped up in his denials of 45 being under investigation. [Salon](http://www.salon.com/2017/06/19/jay-sekulows-bizarre-debut-donald-trump-picked-a-lawyer-he-saw-on-fox-news-and-it-isnt-going-well/) > [@](#): > > It didn’t make much sense, but Sekulow sounded highly confident in his assertion until he came to his home network, Fox News, to appear on Chris Wallace’s show. That’s when things fell apart. Wallace asked why, if the president isn’t under investigation, he would go after Rosenstein, describing the situation as a “witch hunt.” Sekulow lost his poise and began explaining that Trump had taken the advice of the attorney general and his deputy and “now the Department of Justice is investigating him.” > > Wallace called him on it, and they had a spirited back and forth during which Wallace insisted that Sekulow had said what we’d just heard him say: > > **Chris Wallace** : Well, but you don’t know that he isn’t under investigation now, do you? > > **Jay Sekulow** : Well, no one’s notified us that he is. So I — I can’t read people’s minds, but I can tell you this: We have not been notified that there’s an investigation to the president of the United States. So that — nothing has changed in that regard since James Comey’s testimony. > > **Wallace** : Well, you don’t know that he’s not under investigation again, sir. I mean you might — > > **Sekulow** : You know, I can’t read the mind — you’re right, Chris, I can’t read the minds of the special prosecutor. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6995 "2017-06-19T19:06:31Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Why are the Wingnuts still so concerned with fucking over hippies? They’re old and represented by an elephant. 😃 ---
**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 19, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6996 "2017-06-19T20:51:58Z")
Sean Spicer is now holding press conferences in which no audio or video are allowed. > **[CNN Reporter Rips Spicer On Closed Press Briefings: 'It's Like Bad Reality...](https://crooksandliars.com/2017/06/cnn-reporter-rips-spicer-closed-press)** > > Jim Acosta was angry, and he wasn't afraid to tell us all about it. ---
**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 19, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6997 "2017-06-19T21:11:22Z")
> [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](#): > > I must be thick, because I’m not getting the desperate argument over whether or when the president\* was the principal target of an investigation. It has little to do with whether evidence has been/will be found of wrongdoing on his part, and particularly nothing whatever to do with whether he obstructed justice (correct me if I’m wrong, lawyers, but it is possible to obstruct justice by interfering in an investigation that doesn’t involve you, isn’t it?) or not. So why is this point the Maypole everyone’s dancing around? I don’t disagree with any of the previous answers to this, but feel impelled to point out that there is a very concrete, immediate, and practical answer to the question _'why are Trump’s people trying to sell the idea that Trump is Not The Target of Investigation_’: ---------If all the reputable polls show that 80% or so of Americans believe that Trump is the target of an investigation, _then Trump can’t fire Mueller_. But if 80% or so of Americans believe that Trump is NOT a target of an investigation, then…fire away. Simple as that. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6998 "2017-06-19T22:30:32Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Sean Spicer is now holding press conferences in which no audio or video are allowed. > [CNN Reporter Rips Spicer On Closed Press Briefings: 'It's Like Bad Reality Television!' | Crooks and Liars](http://crooksandliars.com/2017/06/cnn-reporter-rips-spicer-closed-press) Probably because Spicer felt he would be embarrassed as all Hell if he had to answer questions about [This Cretin](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/19/trumps-energy-secretary-just-denied-that-man-made-carbon-dioxide-is-the-main-driver-for-climate-change/?utm_term=.112e319665fd). ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/6999 "2017-06-19T23:03:25Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Why are the Wingnuts still so concerned with fucking over hippies? Hell, our heyday was about fifty years ago. The hippie movement was the last time the american left could be looked at by reasonable people and considered silly and dismissible. The right likes to pretend the left is still a bunch of silly college kids, because it’s the only way they can pretend they’re not full of shit. ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7000 "2017-06-19T23:05:27Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > Probably because Spicer felt he would be embarrassed as all Hell if he had to answer questions about [This Cretin](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/19/trumps-energy-secretary-just-denied-that-man-made-carbon-dioxide-is-the-main-driver-for-climate-change/?utm_term=.112e319665fd). Sigh. Yet another reason to be embarrassed about being a Texan. There are already so many. This is the state that wants to teach creationism as a legitimate alternative to evolution\* and to put it in textbooks. :smack: \*After all, it’s only a _theory_. :rolleyes: ---
**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:** [June 19, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7001 "2017-06-19T23:14:32Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Sean Spicer is now holding press conferences in which no audio or video are allowed. > [CNN Reporter Rips Spicer On Closed Press Briefings: 'It's Like Bad Reality Television!' | Crooks and Liars](http://crooksandliars.com/2017/06/cnn-reporter-rips-spicer-closed-press) I hope that every time this happens, the press gallery turn their backs and start singing the national anthem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=349) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=351)