# 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:** 387
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7724 "2017-07-05T18:21:01Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Say Trump does agree to talks with the heads of China, Russia, S Korea, Japan, etc. They get memos from Trump’s team, similar to the ones issued on his trips to the Middle East and Europe, that advise that Trump won’t pay attention if the talks have too much detail, and it’s best to mention his name every once in a while… > > … [snip]… In that scenario I’d be shocked if Putin didn’t specifically craft a speech designed to make Tmurp fall asleep just to embarrass him. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7725 "2017-07-05T18:29:54Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > In that scenario I’d be shocked if Putin didn’t specifically craft a speech designed to make Tmurp fall asleep just to embarrass him. “He didn’t mention me at all! Sad! Sleepy…” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7726 "2017-07-05T18:51:33Z")
Did he offer Trump any Polonium Tea? ---
**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:** [July 5, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7727 "2017-07-05T19:01:57Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Did he offer Trump any Polonium Tea? Why would he so willingly solve our problems for us? ---
**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:** [July 5, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7728 "2017-07-05T20:06:01Z")
Illinois election officials [get letter requesting voter data](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-donald-trump-illinois-elections-met-0706-20170705-story.html). I am fully confident that Illinois Secretary of State, The Honorable [Jesse White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_White_(politician)), will tell Trump’s Election Integrity Commission to “Suck On This”. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7729 "2017-07-05T20:18:08Z")
Do I understand correctly that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has had to tell Trump Committee Chairman Kris Kobach the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7730 "2017-07-05T20:19:42Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > Illinois election officials [get letter requesting voter data](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-donald-trump-illinois-elections-met-0706-20170705-story.html). > > … From link, opening paragraph: “A letter from the panel President Donald Trump formed to look into alleged voting irregularities finally has arrived at the Illinois State Board of Elections after first being sent to the wrong office. …” Is there anything Trump and his team can’t fuck up? ---
**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:** [July 5, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7731 "2017-07-05T20:19:52Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do I understand correctly that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has had to tell Trump Committee Chairman Kris Kobach the same thing? Probably in a memo, I heard they aren’t on speaking terms these days. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7732 "2017-07-05T20:26:43Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Is there anything Trump and his team can’t fuck up? Yeah. The minds of their core supporters. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7733 "2017-07-05T22:24:23Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Yeah. The minds of their core supporters. 😃 From today’s Atlantic: [Why Fact-Checking Doesn’t Faze Trump Fans](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/the-strange-effect-fact-checking-has-on-trump-supporters/532701/). [Previous research from Nyhan and Riefler](https://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Enyhan/nyhan-reifler.pdf) has found that corrections can sometimes actually have a “backfire effect”: When confronted with contrary information, ideologically motivated respondents sometimes simply dig in further on the initial, incorrect view of a fact. One might assume, then, that Trump supporters who were faced with Trump’s untruths would reject the correction. But that’s not what happened. They conceded the factual discrepancy, but continued to support Trump anyway. “Though partisan loyalties are often inflamed during campaigns, corrections can still bring people’s beliefs more in line with the facts, even if they support the candidate being corrected or the correction is disparaged by a co-partisan,” the authors write. As the authors note, the study is limited in scope, but it’s still a useful aid to thinking about Trump and his dissembling. The fact that he is able to “get away” with such frequent dishonesty has perplexed many observers. (“Getting away” is in the eye of the beholder; Trump’s presidency has encountered a variety of self-constructed obstacles.) Some uncharitable observers have attributed this to naive unsophistication among Trump voters brainwashed by media outlets and incapable of telling fact from fiction; other, more complex interpretations have [situated Trump as an improbable apotheosis of the post-modern critique of empirical fact](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/17/opinion/has-trump-stolen-philosophys-critical-tools.html). ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7734 "2017-07-06T03:32:17Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Tillerson is at least \*trying \*to act in the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, they keep going around him. I call bullshit on this. Tillerson doesn’t have a fucking clue what he’s doing, so he’s [dismantling decades of diplomatic infrastructure](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/29/how-rex-tillerson-destroying-state-department-215319). I suppose it’s possible that he’s just a well meaning jackass, but I find it hard to believe that he could fuck up this badly if he wasn’t trying. Ah well, I guess we don’t need the State Department anymore. Diplomacy is clearly not a priority for this administration, and the Big Orange Asshole is doing his best to get us kicked out of the grownups’ table, so it’s not like the international community will be counting on us anyway. It’s going to take decades to recover from all this winning. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2017, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7735 "2017-07-06T03:56:01Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I call bullshit on this. Tillerson doesn’t have a fucking clue what he’s doing, so he’s [dismantling decades of diplomatic infrastructure](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/29/how-rex-tillerson-destroying-state-department-215319). I suppose it’s possible that he’s just a well meaning jackass, but I find it hard to believe that he could fuck up this badly if he wasn’t trying. > > Ah well, I guess we don’t need the State Department anymore. Diplomacy is clearly not a priority for this administration, and the Big Orange Asshole is doing his best to get us kicked out of the grownups’ table, so it’s not like the international community will be counting on us anyway. > > It’s going to take decades to recover from all this winning. This is well said. I agree, and I don’t think most of the jackasses who support Trump have even the beginning of a clue about how much damage has been/will be done to our nation as a result. But I’m sure the “ha ha” was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7736 "2017-07-06T03:58:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do I understand correctly that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has had to tell Trump Committee Chairman Kris Kobach the same thing? I’m curious if Kris Kobach is cashing paychecks from both Kansas and the federal government. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7737 "2017-07-06T05:07:29Z")
Mike Pence claimed that ‘While there are news reports that 44 states have “refused” to provide voter information to the Commission, these reports are patently false, more “fake news.” At present, only 14 states and the District of Columbia have refused the Commission’s request for publicly available voter information.’ Of course, nobody is refusing the release of public information, which the federal government could obtain without the states’ involvement. States are refusing to release voting patterns and social security numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7738 "2017-07-06T05:38:54Z")
According to this article by Vox, Trump’s handlers are preparing him for his meeting with Putin… …by giving Trump his talking points in Tweet-length sentences. They fear that he won’t pay attention or concentrate enough for his usual method of just having his name inserted into the memos. > **[Trump is preparing to meet Putin this week by reading tweet-length memos](https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/5/15924522/trump-twitter-putin-russia-hacking-meeting-comey-g20-briefings)** > > Desperate for Trump to read their memos, aides have condensed them into 140 characters. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7739 "2017-07-06T07:14:44Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > According to this article by Vox, Trump’s handlers are preparing him for his meeting with Putin… > > …by giving Trump his talking points in Tweet-length sentences. They fear that he won’t pay attention or concentrate enough for his usual method of just having his name inserted into the memos. > > [Trump is preparing to meet Putin this week by reading tweet-length memos - Vox](https://www.vox.com/world/2017/7/5/15924522/trump-twitter-putin-russia-hacking-meeting-comey-g20-briefings) Og help us. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7740 "2017-07-06T07:16:25Z")
How is there not already a contingency for this in the government? Like, someone should be able to break open the glass container, pull out the handbook, and find a way to handle a president whose every action indicates severe mental illness or deficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7741 "2017-07-06T07:22:24Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Seriously. I’ve lost my car in the parking lot before. But not if it’s the only car and is literally right under my nose I’m probably being overly charitable here, but is there a wide-angle shot of that? A presidential motorcade normally has two identical limos, so it’s not totally _impossible_ that they were trying to put him in limo #2 and he turned to walk toward limo #1. (It wouldn’t be the first time he’s wandered off. Remember when he was signing some bill or executive order, and left without signing it?) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7742 "2017-07-06T07:28:02Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > How is there not already a contingency for this in the government? Like, someone should be able to break open the glass container, pull out the handbook, and find a way to handle a president whose every action indicates severe mental illness or deficiency. That would include the people who could break that glass either not being in denial about his mental health, or actually willing to put country over party at the expense of their political agendas. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/7743 "2017-07-06T07:44:50Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > How is there not already a contingency for this in the government? Like, someone should be able to break open the glass container, pull out the handbook, and find a way to handle a president whose every action indicates severe mental illness or deficiency. There is. It’s in the 25th Amendment. It has to do with finding him not of sound mind, basically. The problem is only that there is no objective way to enforce it, and Republicans right now would rather have Trump. And Democrats have no power. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=386) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=388)