# 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:** 375
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7484 "2017-06-28T18:39:15Z")
No investigations? Remember Benghazi? ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7485 "2017-06-28T18:39:28Z")
It’s humorous how Orange Chimp keeps whining about Democratic obstructionism, but he only invited Republicans to the White House to discuss where to go from here on healthcare. ---
**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 28, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7486 "2017-06-28T18:56:52Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I present this: > > I wonder if Macron has a suggestions box? I await developments with interest. I’m pretty sure Trump has no idea what Bastille Day is. Looking forward to \*Le Whopping Faux Pas. \* ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7487 "2017-06-28T19:05:14Z")
That Time magazine think amuses me. I think I went to a Bar Mitzvah once when I was a teenager where they could photoshop you into a Time magazine Person of the Year cover. I think that I would have thought it cool at age 13 but been ashamed to display it in public after about age 15. Then again, the President is still emotionally a pre-teen… ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7488 "2017-06-28T19:09:52Z")
Trump tweeted this morning that the TIME cover story is fake news, though he won’t explain how it’s fake news. Trump was on a phone call with the new (gay, son of an Indian immigrant) Prime Minister of Ireland, with Irish reporters in the Oval Office at the time, and he spent part of the conversation praising the physical attributes of one of the female reporters present. (Including “I bet she treats you well.”) > ---
**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:** [June 28, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7489 "2017-06-28T19:14:51Z")
I would interpret “I bet she treats you well” as meaning she’s not a big meanie who writes big mean stories about him the way the American Fake News People write big mean stories about him. ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7490 "2017-06-28T19:18:59Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > They never start any investigations into Obama. Of course they didn’t. They were too busy trying to prove he was born in Kenya and therefore not president. ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7491 "2017-06-28T19:29:00Z")
Heard on NPR today: FOX news did NOT report that Mitch M. postponed the health care vote until after July 4. But they DID report on the big vacation the Obamas are on. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7492 "2017-06-28T19:37:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > No investigations? Remember Benghazi? Watergate warranted a special prosecutor. Reno appointed one to look into Whitewater. Benghazi was a dry place. There was not enough there to start a real investigation. It was rage and rant and not much else. Signifying nothing. ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7493 "2017-06-28T19:54:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Heard on NPR today: FOX news did NOT report that Mitch M. postponed the health care vote until after July 4. But they DID report on the big vacation the Obamas are on. That’s fair, Obama has been on vacation for long enough. It is time for him to get back to his job, the sub he left behind is having some performance issues. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7494 "2017-06-28T20:10:15Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Don’t forget Grover Norquist. Some people on your list are essentially his mouthpieces. Also the Money men. Richard Mellon Scaife, Sheldon Adelson, The Koch brothers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7495 "2017-06-28T20:24:25Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > He’s a passably skilled _self-promoter_. I maintain that that’s only part of what makes a businessman. “Passably skilled” means you get a promotion at Dunder Mifflin you probably don’t have the skills for, or manage to finagle your way to chairperson of your local PTA ahead of people who deserved it more. Someone “passably skilled” might be able to convince their date they’re a “celebrity chef” because their name is on the menu at the restaurant they cook at. Earning hundreds of millions of dollars, managing to fleece people for years and years and years in business after business by trading on your stupid name, and somehow becoming President of the United States based entirely on a giant pile of horseshit, the most ludicrously dishonest campaign in the history of the Presidency, is not “passably skilled” self promotion. It’s amazing self promotion. The guy literally bullshitted his way into the White House. It’s unprecedented; at least George W. Bush has a platform and had been governor of a big state. Hell, the guy in “Dave” who takes over for the sick President at least looks like a President and knows how to wear a tie. Credit where it is due: Donald Trump is one of the greatest self promoters in the history of the English-speaking world. ---
**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 28, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7496 "2017-06-28T20:46:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > “Passably skilled” means you get a promotion at Dunder Mifflin you probably don’t have the skills for, or manage to finagle your way to chairperson of your local PTA ahead of people who deserved it more. Someone “passably skilled” might be able to convince their date they’re a “celebrity chef” because their name is on the menu at the restaurant they cook at. > > Earning hundreds of millions of dollars, managing to fleece people for years and years and years in business after business by trading on your stupid name, and somehow becoming President of the United States based entirely on a giant pile of horseshit, the most ludicrously dishonest campaign in the history of the Presidency, is not “passably skilled” self promotion. It’s amazing self promotion. The guy literally bullshitted his way into the White House. It’s unprecedented; at least George W. Bush has a platform and had been governor of a big state. Hell, the guy in “Dave” who takes over for the sick President at least looks like a President and knows how to wear a tie. Credit where it is due: Donald Trump is one of the greatest self promoters in the history of the English-speaking world. Agree to disagree. I would agree with you wholeheartedly if he started from nothing and climbed to where he is today, but he very much didn’t. He did a mediocre-at-best job of growing his already-substantial wealth, made a failed bid to get elected, and then made a later successful bid to get elected due to, well, a number of factors but mostly because he was the biggest loudest dumbest thug at the precise time when a recession had made a lot of people pissed at people who looked like they knew what they were doing. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7497 "2017-06-28T21:07:03Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It’s my firmly held belief that virtually all the ills of American society – and many of the world’s – can be traced back to the following: > > Ronald Reagan > Newt Gingrich > Roger Ailes > Bush’s Neo-con cabal > Mitch McConnell > > But that’s a rant for another day. > [@jsc1953](#): > > Good call. Rush goes on the list. > > [Arya Stark]Reagan…Limbaugh…Gingrich…[/AS] > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Don’t forget Grover Norquist. Some people on your list are essentially his mouthpieces. > [@eulalia](#): > > Also the Money men. Richard Mellon Scaife, Sheldon Adelson, The Koch brothers. Hey, don’t forget Lee Atwater. That guy was a dick. He did more to fuck things up in his 40 years than most people do in 70 or 80. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7498 "2017-06-28T21:32:57Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Or it can be–and this is quite sad, really–people who really have no opinion whatsoever on political issues. Some folks are actually proud of “having no interest in politics”. I’m wondering, myself, how they manage to keep that up with what’s happening to everyone thanks to political issues (laws, finance, etc.). Maybe they portion out a number of fucks to give which is proportional to the expected impact their fucks will have. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7499 "2017-06-28T21:34:17Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > It is hard to convey, to folks who don’t have Dittoheads among their friends, the extent to which Rush Limbaugh is responsible for where we are today. He has been relentlessly lying about politics and the news to a national audience for nearly 30 years, and he has spawned hordes of imitators. They have created the alternate reality that made Trump possible. Limbaugh is only one of many scumbags who’ve been doing this for years. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7500 "2017-06-28T21:36:45Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > They never start any investigations into Obama. Whitewater was brought up during the '92 election cycle, starting an ongoing investigation that lasted 5 years, Ken Starr trying to worry at any vague bit of gristle he could get a tooth into. I never really saw any efforts by anyone to pursue any kind of serious investigation into Obama. They were never able to generate half a skating of traction anywhere, not even with Solyndra. They might have reveled in being able to impeach him, and it must have been frustrating that there was nothing to latch onto. > > Trμmp, OTOH, has been troubled since about day -50. Not sure where that will lead. Hopefully, to federal prison for him and his cronies. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7501 "2017-06-28T21:38:58Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > That’s fair, Obama has been on vacation for long enough. It is time for him to get back to his job, the sub he left behind is having some performance issues. Fuck Fox “News”, the “vote” has been delayed regardless what Fox does or doesn’t choose to report. ---
**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 28, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7502 "2017-06-28T21:53:31Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Fuck Fox “News”, the “vote” has been delayed regardless what Fox does or doesn’t choose to report. I was just making a joke that I would like to see Obama back in the job that he had the last 8 years, rather than the current placeholder in chief. Added to that that fox must think that Obama is still the president, if they are still giving him coverage and talking and complaining about him, rather than focussing on the issues of the current administration and legislative mess that he “leads”. ---
**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 28, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7503 "2017-06-28T22:00:50Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > Maybe they portion out a number of fucks to give which is proportional to the expected impact their fucks will have. Naw, that’s not it. I used to be pretty ambivalent about politics, for much the same reason ThelmaLou was - the government used to be markedly less infested with evil shitheads, or at least they bothered to hide it back then. Then over the past couple of decades the shittyness of the republicans became more and more overt, and now I’m pretty explicitly liberal - even to the point of actually having voted in two different elections! Two! I left the apartment and everything! But at no point have I labored under the misconception that I have any impact at all of any kind on anything. Even when I voted I knew the votes counted for nothing. So no, fucks are not given in proportion to effect. If they were, no fucks would be given at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=374) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=376)