# 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:** 59
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1161 "2017-02-10T19:36:47Z")
[by a 51/23 margin Trump voters say that the Bowling Green Massacre shows why Trump’s immigration policy is needed.](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/02/americans-now-evenly-divided-on-impeaching-trump.html) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1162 "2017-02-10T19:52:54Z")
[Trump surprised](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879) to find that presidenting is hard. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1163 "2017-02-10T21:08:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [by a 51/23 margin Trump voters say that the Bowling Green Massacre shows why Trump’s immigration policy is needed.](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/02/americans-now-evenly-divided-on-impeaching-trump.html) And if that isn’t sufficiently scary, perhaps this is (from the same poll): > [@PPP](#): > > Trump voters have evidently had enough of the Constitution and those pesky checks and balances though- 51% of them think he should personally be able to overturn decisions he doesn’t agree with, to only 33% who dissent. That’s right folks, a slim margin of Trump supporters apparently would like for Trump to have dictatorial powers. Too bad the poll didn’t ask whether they’d want that same courtesy granted to any President (like, say, a Democrat), but I’m sure they would, right? Right? ---
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1164 "2017-02-10T21:17:38Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > And if that isn’t sufficiently scary, perhaps this is (from the same poll): > > That’s right folks, a slim margin of Trump supporters apparently would like for Trump to have dictatorial powers. Too bad the poll didn’t ask whether they’d want that same courtesy granted to any President (like, say, a Democrat), but I’m sure they would, right? Right? Remember when a bunch of Republicans got all wound up about abuse of power when Obama authorized the renaming of Mt. McKinley? I miss those days. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1165 "2017-02-10T21:57:45Z")
From _The Atlantic_: [Michael Flynn’s Debacle](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/michael-flynns-disaster/516285/) > [@](#): > > The Washington Post last night reported that—contrary to previous denials not only by Flynn himself, but from Vice President Mike Pence—Flynn "privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office.” … According to the Post, nine current and former U.S. officials confirmed that Flynn had not told the truth about his diplomatic outreach to the country whose spies had helped to elect his boss to the US presidency. If these reports are true, we have here a very serious scandal. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1166 "2017-02-10T21:58:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Trump surprised](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879) to find that presidenting is hard. > [@](#): > > Trump aides joke that they wish their boss would spend more time at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., where they say the president appears more relaxed and at ease. Gonna guess these jokes are delivered deadpan. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1167 "2017-02-10T22:01:31Z")
Huff-Po’s take on the [Flynn thing](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-flynn-russia-sanctions_us_589d6c69e4b0ab2d2b13e518?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009). ---
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1168 "2017-02-10T22:30:30Z")
OK, ignorance fighting time. Help me understand the Flynn thing. I get that lying about the call is bad. It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up, and all that. But I’m not clear on why the original discussion would have been illegal if they did discuss the sanctions. Trump was widely expected to be soft on Russia, so telling the ambassador that they’d be revising the sanctions when they took office in a few weeks doesn’t seem like a big reveal. Undermining Obama is a dick move, and Trump is a Putin puppet, but I’m just not sure why Flynn telling the ambassador what we all kinda already knew is a scandal in and of itself. What am I missing? ---
**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:** [February 10, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1169 "2017-02-10T22:44:52Z")
OK, nevermind. I think it’s sunk in now. This article was helpful to me: [Dems Question Whether Flynn Should Serve Amid New Reports On Russia Calls - TPM – Talking Points Memo](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/democrats-flynn-russia-sanctions) ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1170 "2017-02-10T23:02:11Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > OK, ignorance fighting time. Help me understand the Flynn thing. I get that lying about the call is bad. It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up, and all that. But I’m not clear on why the original discussion would have been illegal if they did discuss the sanctions. Trump was widely expected to be soft on Russia, so telling the ambassador that they’d be revising the sanctions when they took office in a few weeks doesn’t seem like a big reveal. Undermining Obama is a dick move, and Trump is a Putin puppet, but I’m just not sure why Flynn telling the ambassador what we all kinda already knew is a scandal in and of itself. What am I missing? It’s illegal, although not enforced. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1171 "2017-02-10T23:20:31Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [by a 51/23 margin Trump voters say that the Bowling Green Massacre shows why Trump’s immigration policy is needed.](http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2017/02/americans-now-evenly-divided-on-impeaching-trump.html) How many more [Corvettes](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/corvette-museum-commemorates-sinkhole-new-exhibit-n517526)must be lost before we stop treating the Bowling Green Massacre like a joke? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1172 "2017-02-10T23:36:49Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Sure, but since the 2008 financial crisis you’re allowed to just say “What the bleep do economists know?” and then any opinion, from anybody, no matter whether they’ve ever studied the topic, is equally good. > (wow I’m ranting about something other than trump) I don’t think the credibility of basic trade theory is ruined by the behavior of crooked banks in the securities business. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1173 "2017-02-10T23:56:30Z")
Methinks this ends very [very badly for](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/russia-dossier-update/index.html) Mr. Trump. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1174 "2017-02-11T00:01:28Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > With hands that tiny he needs 500 thread count or more. Unfair, sad. So terrible. Fake towels thread count. What a pussy! The fucking towels are too rough! PUSSY!!! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1175 "2017-02-11T00:04:30Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Trump surprised](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879) to find that presidenting is hard. It’s a little different from looting a company, soiling your diaper, and making your flunkies clean up the mess. He is finding he can’t just bark stupid orders and take credit for things not done, things screwed up, or things the toadies smoothed over for him. So much for his great bizniz and managerial skillz. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1176 "2017-02-11T00:06:08Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > From _The Atlantic_: [Michael Flynn’s Debacle](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/michael-flynns-disaster/516285/) In a perfect world, someone (several someones) could be facing charges and going to federal prison. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1177 "2017-02-11T00:07:19Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > In a perfect world, someone (several someones) could be facing charges and going to federal prison. I’m sure if any Trump administration staff ever get convicted of anything, Trump will grant them a Scooter. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1178 "2017-02-11T01:19:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [Trump surprised](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-challenges-governing-presidency-234879) to find that presidenting is hard. I am SO happy he isn’t having a good time. I hope he quits. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2017, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1179 "2017-02-11T01:23:25Z")
Solicitor General candidate withdraws because Dems were mean to Sessions. Guess who’s next in line for the job? Kellyanne Conway’s husband. (I’m not making this up.) > [@](#): > > [Cooper withdraws from solicitor general consideration](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/chuck-cooper-solicitor-general-withdraws-consideration-234869) > > Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role. > > … > > In an interview on Thursday afternoon, Cooper told POLITICO that he wasn’t prepared to undergo the grueling confirmation process. “Life is too good and too short,” he said. > > In his formal statement on the decision to withdraw, Cooper added: “After witnessing the treatment that my friend Jeff Sessions, a decent and honorable man who bears only good will and good cheer to everyone he meets, had to endure at the hands of a partisan opposition that will say anything and do anything to advance their political interests, I am unwilling to subject myself, my family, and my friends to such a process.” > > Kellyanne Conway’s husband, George T. Conway, has been reported as the other finalist being considered for the role. The White House has yet to announce a nominee and a spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. … ---
**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:** [February 11, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/1180 "2017-02-11T01:38:45Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Methinks this ends very [very badly for](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/russia-dossier-update/index.html) Mr. Trump. Fake news! YOU’RE the puppet! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=60)