# 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:** 481
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9604 "2017-08-08T09:20:24Z")
…so much fucking news. An interview with Erik Prince, former CEO of Blackwater (now "rebranded" to Academi), talking about how upset Trump is with how Afghanistan is going, and advocating bringing in private military ("don't call them mercenaries!"), appointing a viceroy, and how the US government has asked him for a quote. (Fortunately Prince says McMaster opposes the idea. Thank fuck for that. Lets hope McMaster wins that battle.) Apologies if posted. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9605 "2017-08-08T13:11:32Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …so much fucking news. > > An interview with Erik Prince, former CEO of Blackwater (now "rebranded" to Academi), talking about how upset Trump is with how Afghanistan is going, and advocating bringing in private military ("don't call them mercenaries!"), appointing a viceroy, and how the US government has asked him for a quote. (Fortunately Prince says McMaster opposes the idea. Thank fuck for that. Lets hope McMaster wins that battle.) > > Apologies if posted. Footnote: Prince is the brother of Betsy de Vos. Let’s keep everything in the family. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9606 "2017-08-08T13:17:06Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I’ve been seriously amused with all the Jeff Sessions looks like a keebler elf memes that have been going around. But I feel kind of bad all the bad press the keebler company must be getting over it. > _Any chance we’ll get a moderate into Session’s old senate seat?_ Ha…Ha…Hahahahahahahahahahahaha…my apologies, but just the thought. Right now it looks like 1 of the following three candidates will be the new Senator from Alabama: 1. Roy Moore: Removed from the Alabama Supreme Court _ **Twice** _ for using his own judgement (which is very conservative) in lieu of the Constitution. 2. Luther Strange: Acting now, was appointed to the office by the Governor he was investigating for various malfeasance (Governor later resigned). Can you say conflict of interest? Knew you could. 3. Mo Brooks: Congressman who backed Ted Cruz instead of Trump and is now running as hard to the right as he can (and he was already hard right). Forget about the Democrats in the race, the Democratic Party in Alabama is a SNAFU looking for a FUBAR, and the remaining Republican candidates are even wackier than the first three. Going to be fun (if a crashing bus is fun). ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9607 "2017-08-08T13:51:27Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Forget about the Democrats in the race, the Democratic Party in Alabama is a SNAFU looking for a FUBAR, and the remaining Republican candidates are even wackier than the first three. Even if the[Dem’s were in with a chance against Moore](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/could-the-ayatollah-of-alabama-be-heading-to-the-senate.html): > [@Ed Kilgore](#): > > Indeed, a Moore nomination could even create the possibility of something even more unimaginable than his election: a viable Democratic candidacy in the general election scheduled for December 12. Unfortunately, Democrats have their own unusual problem this year: In all the polls, the consensus Democratic Establishment candidate, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, is badly trailing an unknown African-American businessman from Mobile with the fortunate name of Robert Kennedy Jr. It looks like Jones will at best need a runoff to gain the nomination, if, er, RFK — with no campaign staff, treasury, or so far, platform — doesn’t win outright. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9608 "2017-08-08T14:01:05Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …so much fucking news. > > An interview with Erik Prince, former CEO of Blackwater (now "rebranded" to Academi), talking about how upset Trump is with how Afghanistan is going, and advocating bringing in private military ("don't call them mercenaries!"), appointing a viceroy, and how the US government has asked him for a quote. (Fortunately Prince says McMaster opposes the idea. Thank fuck for that. Lets hope McMaster wins that battle.) > > Apologies if posted. The proposition of private armies has been in my mind one of the more disturbing aspects to this presidency. I don’t think Trump sees Blackwater as providing technical support the way Dick Cheney did, but as potentially something much beyond that. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him propose a ‘domestic security’ role for Blackwater or one of its counterparts. Indeed, thank God for McMaster. But now that he’s on the the alt-right fringe radar screen, I wonder how long he’ll stay. Trump is probably torn between his love of hanging out with generals and playing de facto general himself, and the love and attention he gets from his frenzied fan base. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9609 "2017-08-08T14:13:13Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The proposition of private armies has been in my mind one of the more disturbing aspects to this presidency. I don’t think Trump sees Blackwater as providing technical support the way Dick Cheney did, but as potentially something much beyond that. I would point out that the use of mercenaries is a war crime, but I’m sure A) Everyone here knows that, and B) Donald Trump does not. That said, an American citizen hired by the American government is by definition not a mercenary according to the Geneva Convention section defining mercenaries. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9610 "2017-08-08T14:17:52Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I would point out that the use of mercenaries is a war crime, but I’m sure > > A) Everyone here knows that, and > B) Donald Trump does not. > > That said, an American citizen hired by the American government is by definition not a mercenary according to the Geneva Convention section defining mercenaries. It’s only a war crime if you lose. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9611 "2017-08-08T14:21:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I would point out that the use of mercenaries is a war crime, but I’m sure > > A) Everyone here knows that, and > B) Donald Trump does not. > > That said, an American citizen hired by the American government is by definition not a mercenary according to the Geneva Convention section defining mercenaries. And C) Doesn’t care. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9612 "2017-08-08T14:57:24Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And C) Doesn’t care. Yep. This nationalist administration and the nationalist movement disregards international agreements, and this is also consistent with the global trend of moving away from enforcing the validity of international laws. Also, if Donald Trump (or perhaps an authoritarian yet to be named) were to utilize Blackwater as a domestic security force, I don’t see international laws coming into play. This would be more of a constitutional crisis than an international one. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9613 "2017-08-08T16:16:19Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …so much fucking news. > > An interview with Erik Prince, former CEO of Blackwater (now "rebranded" to Academi), talking about how upset Trump is with how Afghanistan is going, and advocating bringing in private military ("don't call them mercenaries!"), appointing a viceroy, and how the US government has asked him for a quote. (Fortunately Prince says McMaster opposes the idea. Thank fuck for that. Lets hope McMaster wins that battle.) > > Apologies if posted. Was he actually proposing “viceroy” as the job title? 'cos that one requires a king. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9614 "2017-08-08T16:20:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Footnote: Prince is the brother of Betsy de Vos. Let’s keep everything in the family. You know, that might explain it: he operates [del]Blackwater[/del]_no_[del]Xe[/del]_no_ **Academi** – that must be why she is qualified to be Ed. Sec. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9615 "2017-08-08T16:38:18Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Wow. Big surprise. > Did anyone check to see if the mailing address exists? The mailing address is for Career Source Palm Beach County. > **[Home](https://www.careersourcepbc.com/)** > > Education and Business Consortium of the Palm Beaches https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.6908896,-80.0955433&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=3400%2BBelvedere%2BRd,%2BWest%2BPalm%2BBeach,%2BFL%2B33406 The top of the page is emblazoned with: > [@](#): > > Smiles and Positive Attitudes Wanted! > Join us August 9, 1-4pm, to pre-screen with recruiters for rewarding positions at luxury resorts/hotels/clubs near you! It looks like Mar-a-Lago is about 5 miles away at 1100 S Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL 33480 https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=26.7082871,-80.0698269&z=11&output=embed&dg=ntvb&q=Mar-a-Lago%2BClub ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9616 "2017-08-08T16:40:17Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Was he actually proposing “viceroy” as the job title? 'cos that one requires a king. He probably just likes the sound of the title “viceroy”. You’re assuming that these are knowledgeable people. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9617 "2017-08-08T16:46:27Z")
Oh, I know they’re not. But it’s one of those cases of “their ignorance would be hilarious if it didn’t involve nuclear footballs”. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9618 "2017-08-08T16:46:59Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > You know, that might explain it: he operates [del]Blackwater[/del]_no_[del]Xe[/del]_no_ **Academi** – that must be why she is qualified to be Ed. Sec. Oh, I can’t wait til I can threaten to bring merc’s into my classroom …if those kids don’t sit the hell down and put away their phones and turn OFF the ringer and can you pleeeease for ONE HOUR just shut the fück up yes I did use that word because I mean it this time and yes, I mean you Dewey Armitidge I know your mother and I’ve got half a mind to slap her for her lackadaisical parenting skills oh, yeah, you think just because you’re a head taller well you just try me, dildowagon… Oh, who’s that at the door? Might I have called in a Blackwater SWAT team? Hmmmm? ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9619 "2017-08-08T16:50:02Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Not sure where else to put this… > > After finally seeing the movie _Arrival_, I had a nightmarish discussion with my friend about how it would go down if aliens came to Earth with Loser Donald as POTUS. :eek: Probably something like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPMmC0UAnj0) (I’m surprised on one beat me to it) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9620 "2017-08-08T17:03:53Z")
Oh, I asked a large group last night about the Arrival “Take me to your leader” question. I was surprised at how quickly guests of all political stripes immediately said “Obama”. One Trumpist said “I just… can’t… oh, wait, how about the Pope?” ---
**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:** [August 8, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9621 "2017-08-08T17:41:56Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Erik Prince … Betsy DeVos’s brother. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9622 "2017-08-08T17:59:25Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Probably something like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPMmC0UAnj0) > (I’m surprised on one beat me to it) too eloquent. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/9623 "2017-08-08T19:18:54Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > … Betsy DeVos’s brother. Erik Prince is also one of the people working to set up a back channel communication network for Putin & Donald via the Seychelles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=480) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=482)