# 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:** 585
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11684 "2017-09-30T20:17:35Z")
It also brings to mind the BBT episode where Howard’s robot arm wouldn’t let go of his weinie, but I don’t know if that’s what inspired his username. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11685 "2017-09-30T21:26:18Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > It also brings to mind the BBT episode where Howard’s robot arm wouldn’t let go of his weinie, but I don’t know if that’s what inspired his username. Most likely not: just look at **RA** ’s join date, which is more than half a decade before BBT aired its first episode. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11686 "2017-09-30T23:11:57Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I suppose I still wonder how often I’m remembered around here, but I appreciate the thought. I know you, I recognize your username when you post, I recall your political leaning, I enjoy your humor, and I appreciate your perception. I’d rank you in…I don’t know…my top _thirty_ favorite posters? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11687 "2017-10-01T00:44:11Z")
Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11688 "2017-10-01T00:50:23Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? He’s been skating by on the “Washington Outsider” and “getting the hang of things” excuse for too long in some circles. But he’s shown a remarkable lack of urgency to learn anything, orient himself on anything, admit his lack of experience anywhere. It’s one thing to be a blowhard; it’s another thing to genuinely believe that you’re doing A-game work when you’re this inept. Truly remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11689 "2017-10-01T01:47:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? Good timing - I’d just read this [article on FiveThirtyEight.](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-media-needs-to-stop-rationalizing-president-trumps-behavior/) Unusual for this site to comment editorially on anything but numbers and (sometimes) optics. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11690 "2017-10-01T01:47:25Z")
The subhead on the 538 article is perfect: “His outburst on Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico shows that not everything is a clever ploy to rally his base.” ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11691 "2017-10-01T02:26:12Z")
Trump has deleted or modified all of the tweets in which he attacked the mayor of San Juan. But then, I just had to laugh and shake my head at this one: In analyzing the Alabama Primary race,FAKE NEWS always fails to mention that the candidate I endorsed went up MANY points after endorsement! > He just can’t let it go when he loses, can he? ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11692 "2017-10-01T02:37:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? I hear you. This morning’s NY TIMES referred to his brags about “A+ ratings!” For Puerto Rico assistance as “exaggerations” when it would have been more apt to say “Bag of Shit’s racist (PRs are lazy) sexist (San Juan mayor is nasty) claims are the latest addition to his series of complete fucked-up lies.” ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11693 "2017-10-01T03:35:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? Well, there’s this: > [@Book: "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump..."](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-the-dangerous-case-of-donald-trump/797247/1): > > Full title: _[The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President…](https://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Case-Donald-Trump-Psychiatrists-ebook/dp/B07262SJDC)_ > > > [@](#): > > > > Amazon blurb: The consensus view of two dozen psychiatrists and psychologists that Trump is dangerously mentally ill and that he presents a clear and present danger to the nation and our own mental health. > > Reviewed in the Washington Post along with other books on related topics. > > > [@](#): > > > > Gone are the days when euphemisms about President Trump’s mental health insulated the man like so many padded walls. Erratic. Unpredictable. Unstable. Unmoored. Temperamentally unfit. This was what politicians and commentators said when they wished to question Trump’s state of mind but feared the consequences of a more colloquial assessment. Yet the deeper we plunge into this presidency, the more willing people become to call it like they see and hear it. > > … > > > > Now, some psychiatrists and other mental-health professionals are shedding long-held norms to argue that Trump’s condition presents risks to the nation and the world. “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” features more than two dozen essays breaking down the president’s perceived traits, which the contributors find consistent with symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder, sociopathy and other maladies. “Collectively with our coauthors, we warn that anyone as mentally unstable as Mr. Trump simply should not be entrusted with the life-and-death powers of the presidency,” Judith Lewis Herman of Harvard Medical School and Bandy X. Lee of the Yale School of Medicine write in the book’s prologue… > > [Cite](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2017/09/22/is-trump-mentally-ill-or-is-america-psychiatrists-weigh-in/?utm_term=.247bd47ab100) And this: > [@Butt-Hurt Trump Takes to Twitter Again (Part 1)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/butt-hurt-trump-takes-to-twitter-again-part-1/772428/2733): > > [James Fallows](https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2017/09/from-donald-trump-a-new-low/541647/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) … > > “From Donald Trump, a New Low” > > > [@](#): > > > > …But his Twitter outburst this morning — as he has left Washington on another trip to one of his golf courses, as millions of U.S. citizens are without water or electricity after the historic devastation of Hurricane Maria, as by chance it is also Yom Kippur — deserves note. It is a significant step downward for him, and perhaps the first thing he has done in office that, in its coarseness, has actually surprised me. (I explained the difference, for me, between shock and surprise when it comes to Trump, in this item last week.) Temperamentally, intellectually, and in terms of civic and moral imagination, he is not fit for the duties he is now supposed to bear… ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11694 "2017-10-01T04:34:14Z")
> [@digs](#): > > The subhead on the 538 article is perfect: > > “His outburst on Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico shows that not everything is a clever ploy to rally his base.” I’ve been thinking recently about the similarities between the Trump Phenomenon and the concept of [emergent behaviour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence). My AI knowledge is rusty, but essentially the deal with Emergence is that a large number of incredibly simple units running on just one or two rules can produce surprisingly complex and successful behaviours. Ants finding food is a good example. Each ant has basically two behaviours - if there’s a scent trail, follow it to find food. If there’s not a scent trail, wander randomly. One ant following these rules doesn’t look very impressive - a thousand of them can generate very efficient paths from the nearest food sources to the ant nest in quite a short amount of time. Donald Trump has really two speaking behaviours. If what you said last time got a cheer, say it again louder with more emphasis. If not, waffle round randomly until something gets a cheer. Unlike with ants, of course, there’s only (thank God!) one Donald Trump. But he has access to a lot of resources in terms of money, which enables him to buy minions, and the minions are also running a pretty simple rule: don’t get fired. The minions act like mini-Donald-Trumps, amplifying and boosting the efficiency of his behaviour. With the result that, in their chosen ecosystem (the minds of a particular moderately-homogeneous group of citizens) the whole shebang works remarkably well, considering that - like in the case of the ants - there’s no actual brain or high level thought behind any of it. Or of course I could be talking completely out of my arse. But it’s 2017 - that’s what we do nowadays… ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11695 "2017-10-01T14:25:01Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’ve been thinking recently about the similarities between the Trump Phenomenon and the concept of [emergent behaviour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence). My AI knowledge is rusty, but essentially the deal with Emergence is that a large number of incredibly simple units running on just one or two rules can produce surprisingly complex and successful behaviours. > > Ants finding food is a good example. Each ant has basically two behaviours - if there’s a scent trail, follow it to find food. If there’s not a scent trail, wander randomly. One ant following these rules doesn’t look very impressive - a thousand of them can generate very efficient paths from the nearest food sources to the ant nest in quite a short amount of time. > > Donald Trump has really two speaking behaviours. If what you said last time got a cheer, say it again louder with more emphasis. If not, waffle round randomly until something gets a cheer. > > Unlike with ants, of course, there’s only (thank God!) one Donald Trump. But he has access to a lot of resources in terms of money, which enables him to buy minions, and the minions are also running a pretty simple rule: don’t get fired. The minions act like mini-Donald-Trumps, amplifying and boosting the efficiency of his behaviour. With the result that, in their chosen ecosystem (the minds of a particular moderately-homogeneous group of citizens) the whole shebang works remarkably well, considering that - like in the case of the ants - there’s no actual brain or high level thought behind any of it. > > Or of course I could be talking completely out of my arse. But it’s 2017 - that’s what we do nowadays… Excellent observation. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11696 "2017-10-01T14:26:41Z")
Pure genius. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11697 "2017-10-01T14:31:10Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Donald Trump has really two speaking behaviours. If what you said last time got a cheer, say it again louder with more emphasis. If not, waffle round randomly until something gets a cheer… This explains precisely why NFL protests suddenly became Topic A. Trump was in Alabama, ostensibly to lend support to the campaign of Luther Strange. He’s at a rally, waffling randomly, and landed on “hey, how about those son of a bitch NFL players…” and got a big cheer. And here we are. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11698 "2017-10-01T17:50:31Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’ve been thinking recently about the similarities between the Trump Phenomenon and the concept of [emergent behaviour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence). My AI knowledge is rusty, but essentially the deal with Emergence is that a large number of incredibly simple units running on just one or two rules can produce surprisingly complex and successful behaviours. > > Ants finding food is a good example. Each ant has basically two behaviours - if there’s a scent trail, follow it to find food. If there’s not a scent trail, wander randomly. One ant following these rules doesn’t look very impressive - a thousand of them can generate very efficient paths from the nearest food sources to the ant nest in quite a short amount of time. > > Donald Trump has really two speaking behaviours. If what you said last time got a cheer, say it again louder with more emphasis. If not, waffle round randomly until something gets a cheer. > > Unlike with ants, of course, there’s only (thank God!) one Donald Trump. But he has access to a lot of resources in terms of money, which enables him to buy minions, and the minions are also running a pretty simple rule: don’t get fired. The minions act like mini-Donald-Trumps, amplifying and boosting the efficiency of his behaviour. With the result that, in their chosen ecosystem (the minds of a particular moderately-homogeneous group of citizens) the whole shebang works remarkably well, considering that - like in the case of the ants - there’s no actual brain or high level thought behind any of it. > > Or of course I could be talking completely out of my arse. But it’s 2017 - that’s what we do nowadays… I think this is brilliant. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11699 "2017-10-01T20:10:07Z")
Don Marquis: _The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel_ > [@](#): > > men talk of money and industry > of hard times and recoveries > of finance and economics > but the ants wait and the scorpions wait > for while men talk they are making deserts all the time > getting the world ready for the conquering ant > drought and erosion and desert > because men cannot learn Trump is a would-be conquering ant. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11700 "2017-10-01T20:22:00Z")
Don’t worry about the whole North Korea thing though, because the [State Department assures us](https://twitter.com/statedeptspox/status/914557115645202432): “#DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime” This is especially encouraging considering the DPRK has had nuclear capability for years now. So, good news is that we apparently have time travel technology. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11701 "2017-10-01T20:23:28Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Don Marquis: _The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel_ > > Trump is a would-be conquering ant. I, for one, do _not_ welcome our orange formic overlord. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11702 "2017-10-01T20:42:22Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Is it just me, or does everyone seem to just tap dance around Trump’s blatant incompetence? I don’t mean by Board members, lord no. But politicians and editorialists usually just use wishy-washy phrases like “could be perceived as insensitive at best,” that sort of thing. Are there many yet who call him out for being the lying, steaming pile of shit he really is? Red State’s Erick Erickson is about as right-wing as it gets, and he had this to say about Trump’s idea of proper and effective Presidential “action” on the Puerto Rican crisis: > [@](#): > > But then the President did what he did on Twitter this morning, predictably taking the bait against San Juan’s Mayor. … Yay, President Trump punched a critic — a critic who is on an island trying her best to help others where most of the people now have no homes, no power, and no running water. What a man he is! [http://theresurgent.com/nevermind/](http://theresurgent.com/nevermind/) ---
**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:** [October 1, 2017, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/11703 "2017-10-01T22:26:34Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Red State’s Erick Erickson is about as right-wing as it gets, and he had this to say about Trump’s idea of proper and effective Presidential “action” on the Puerto Rican crisis: > > > [@](#): > > > > But then the President did what he did on Twitter this morning, predictably taking the bait against San Juan’s Mayor. … Yay, President Trump punched a critic — a critic who is on an island trying her best to help others where most of the people now have no homes, no power, and no running water. What a man he is! > > [http://theresurgent.com/nevermind/](http://theresurgent.com/nevermind/) I imagine there are Trumpniks who won’t hear the irony in those words. (Irony is over their heads.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=584) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=586)