# 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:** 685
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13685 "2017-11-18T22:25:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Republican Party cares deeply about you before you are born and after you are dead. Also when you are in the bedroom or a bathroom. Or if, at any time, you have a lot of money ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13686 "2017-11-18T22:47:59Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The nomination of her husband could be considered witness tampering. In this case, it would be witless tampering. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13687 "2017-11-20T18:04:44Z")
[Feel the respect](https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/sources-mcmaster-mocked-trumps-intelligence-in-a-private)! > [@](#): > > National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster mocked President Trump’s intelligence at a private dinner with a powerful tech CEO, according to five sources with knowledge of the conversation. > > Over a July dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz – who has been mentioned as a candidate for several potential administration jobs – McMaster bluntly trashed his boss, said the sources, four of whom told BuzzFeed News they heard about the exchange directly from Catz. The top national security official dismissed the president variously as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,” the sources said… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13688 "2017-11-20T19:14:49Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > [Feel the respect](https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/sources-mcmaster-mocked-trumps-intelligence-in-a-private)! _If what you say is true, I love it!_ ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13689 "2017-11-20T19:41:52Z")
Wasn’t one of our resident chuckleheads around here recently refusing to acknowledge the fact that the international reputation of the USA is heading on a [downward trajectory?](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-11-16/us-global-image-takes-another-hit-under-donald-trump-in-international-ranking) > [@](#): > > The global perception of the United States has taken another hit in the Trump era, dropping significantly in a new international survey of national image. > [@](#): > > The U.S. (was ranked) No. 6, a clear decline from its first place ranking last year. In fact, the nation was the only country in the top 10 to see a decline from 2016. Germany advanced one spot from 2016 to top the list. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13690 "2017-11-20T19:54:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Wasn’t one of our resident chuckleheads around here recently refusing to acknowledge the fact that the international reputation of the USA is heading on a [downward trajectory?](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-11-16/us-global-image-takes-another-hit-under-donald-trump-in-international-ranking) They don’t count, they’re just Earthlings in Name only, or EINOs. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13691 "2017-11-20T20:41:47Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > They don’t count, they’re just Earthlings in Name only, or EINOs. It’s fake news, a made up poll. You can tell because it doesn’t have USA! USA! as number one. Ipso facto, not legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13692 "2017-11-21T01:13:18Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Wasn’t one of our resident chuckleheads around here recently refusing to acknowledge the fact that the international reputation of the USA is heading on a [downward trajectory?](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-11-16/us-global-image-takes-another-hit-under-donald-trump-in-international-ranking) Trump has asked the Justice Department to look into the possibility that foreigners voted in that poll. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13693 "2017-11-21T03:51:11Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > It’s fake news, a made up poll. You can tell because it doesn’t have USA! USA! as number one. Ipso facto, not legitimate. On the plus side, [We’re Number One!](https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/08/07/polls-us-greatest-threat-to-peace-world-today.html) …the #1 answer to the question “Which country is the greatest threat to world peace today?” [Since 2013.](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-25496299) And Still #1. The United States is the answer three times more often (24%) than the #2 country on the list, Pakistan (8%). Suck it, Pakistan! 'Merica wins. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13694 "2017-11-21T12:23:41Z")
[I’ll link to this YouTube again — it astounds me.] [George F. Will is a respected conservative commentator who is alarmed by _Mr. Trump’s inability to think_!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDv-xG0GUms) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13695 "2017-11-21T13:31:37Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Trump has asked the Justice Department to look into the possibility that foreigners voted in that poll. Sadly, there was a long moment in which I thought this might be real. Who can tell these days? ---
**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:** [November 21, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13696 "2017-11-21T16:15:35Z")
[State Dept. revolt: Tillerson accused of violating U.S. law on child soldiers](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tillerson-childsoldiers/exclusive-state-dept-revolt-tillerson-accused-of-violating-us-law-on-child-soldiers-idUSKBN1DL0EA) > [@](#): > > confidential State Department “dissent” memo not previously reported said Tillerson breached the Child Soldiers Prevention Act when he decided in June to exclude Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of offenders in the use of child soldiers. This was despite the department publicly acknowledging that children were being conscripted in those countries.[[tmsnrt.rs/2jJ7pav](http://tmsnrt.rs/2jJ7pav)] > > Keeping the countries off the annual list makes it easier to provide them with U.S. military assistance. Iraq and Afghanistan are close allies in the fight against Islamist militants, while Myanmar is an emerging ally to offset China’s influence in Southeast Asia. It appears there isn’t much this Admin. _won’t_ do. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13697 "2017-11-21T16:35:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > It appears there isn’t much this Admin. _won’t_ do. They won’t behave ethically. Does that count? While ethics and politics mix like oil and vinegar, this administration is taking it to unexplored depths. We’re going to need James Cameron’s submersible to find out how low they can sink. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13698 "2017-11-21T16:40:25Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > We’re going to need James Cameron’s submersible to find out how low they can sink. More like we’re going to need the drill vehicle from _The Core_. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13699 "2017-11-21T17:05:08Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > More like we’re going to need the drill vehicle from _The Core_. With Stanley Tucci narrating the Trump debacle as it burns up from the heat of its descent… ---
**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:** [November 21, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13700 "2017-11-21T17:53:48Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [State Dept. revolt: Tillerson accused of violating U.S. law on child soldiers](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tillerson-childsoldiers/exclusive-state-dept-revolt-tillerson-accused-of-violating-us-law-on-child-soldiers-idUSKBN1DL0EA) > > It appears there isn’t much this Admin. _won’t_ do. Who’s going to be the first one outed as a cannibal is what I’d like to know. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13701 "2017-11-22T05:26:01Z")
Eugh! With a gamy leg? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13702 "2017-11-22T15:19:57Z")
Move over, Pence. There seems to be some buzz among many Repelicans that [Tom Cotton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYL_Pk9kqRk) is the next “thing”. With the stolid charisma:rolleyes: of a Stephen Miller (or maybe a stoic [Jordan Schlansky](https://youtu.be/1KxSWKBIoQQ?t=118)), this cookie-cutter automaton could end up being the next king maggot of the festering GOP steamer-pile sooner than many imagine. Jeffrey Toobin recently did a [piece](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/13/is-tom-cotton-the-future-of-trumpism) on him in The New Yorker, and the senator comes across as just as much of a republistooge as all those others. paywalled, so… > [@](#): > > Cotton’s appeal to his audience for solidarity with Trump, which was greeted with strong applause, represented just one part of his enthusiastic embrace of the President. Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former top strategist and the chairman of the right-wing Web site Breitbart News, told me, “Next to Trump, he’s the elected official who gets it the most—the economic nationalism. Cotton was the one most supportive of us, up front and behind the scenes, from the beginning. He understands that the Washington élite—this permanent political class of both parties, between the K Street consultants and politicians—needs to be shattered.” At the same time, Cotton has maintained strong ties with the establishment wing of the G.O.P. Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s chief political adviser, told me, “Cotton is not like a Steve Bannon, who wants to blow up the existing structure, uproot the ideology of the Republican Party and replace it with something new. He’s a rising star. He’s capable of building bridges within the Party. He wants to get things done.” Was really hoping to avoid quoting Monsieur Blossom du Gin, and kinda funny how, within just one paragraph, there’s ideological clashes. > [@](#): > > Roby Brock, who hosts the leading public-affairs television program in Arkansas, told me, “From the beginning, Tom could play to both the establishment and the Tea Party. Everyone recognizes he’s got a firm set of conservative principles, but that makes him a polarizing figure. There are a lot of people here, too, who hate him and think he’s the Antichrist. **The only thing everyone agrees on is that he wants to be President someday.** ” To make that next leap, Cotton expresses the militarism, bellicosity, intolerance, and xenophobia of Donald Trump, but without the childish tweets. For those who see Trump’s Presidency as an aberration, or as a singular phenomenon, Cotton offers a useful corrective. He and his supporters see Trump and Trumpism as the future of the Republican Party. Nothing really “new” about this guy, really - shows all the correct talking points to mold himself into all the glories that is Trumpism (a phrase, btw, I still find problematic). > [@](#): > > “Let there be no doubt about this point,” Cotton said, in a recent speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. “If we are forced to take action, the United States has the ability to totally destroy Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. And, if they choose to rebuild it, we could destroy it again, until they get the picture. Nor should we hesitate if compelled to take military action.” In describing his preferred approach to negotiations with Iran, Cotton said, “One thing I learned in the Army is that when your opponent is on his knees you drive him to the ground and choke him out.” In response, a questioner pointed out that killing a prisoner of war is not “American practice.” (It is, in fact, a war crime.) Blockheaded hawk: check. > [@](#): > > Cotton has emerged as such a close ally of the Trump White House that one recent report suggested that the President would name him director of the C.I.A. if Mike Pompeo, the current director, were to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. (Trump is widely believed to be dissatisfied with Tillerson.) In a conversation in mid-October, Cotton did not dismiss the possibility of taking the C.I.A. job. **“I am pleased to be a senator,” he told me. “But, of course, I will always take a call from the President, and he has called me many times.” As a member of Trump’s Administration, Cotton would ratify the President’s instincts.** He offers Trump a certainty that matches his own, especially about the threats the nation faces and the best ways to address them. Yeah - a certainty I’m sure the shitgibbon would find most gratifying; gotta get on his good side, ya know. As per the bolding, it’s like - er wait: looks like he wants, now, to be CIA Director instead of President. Ok damn where did he misplace his kneepads anyway? > [@](#): > > “That’s because you drove along the Ouachita Mountains, which is the only range in Arkansas that goes west to east,” he said. “It provides more attractive views of the sunset than the north-south ranges.” This was an accurate, if rather bloodless, assessment of the aesthetics of the countryside, one that might be made by “Star Trek” ’s Mr. Spock, whom Cotton, with his air of icy certainty, somewhat resembles. See Schlansky link.😛 > [@](#): > > Cotton has carved out a clear Trumpism-without-Trump agenda: limits on immigration through legislation, deportations, and a wall; longer prison sentences for American convicts and suspected terrorists abroad; a bigger budget for the Department of Defense. The question is whether he has the charisma to sell that agenda to a broader public. A good summation of basically more of the same shit we’ve come to expect from these useless autocratic POS’s. Maybe nothing too particularly revelatory\* here, perhaps, but it’s still good to know how the enemies are mobilizing. ETA: 2024? \*Why the fuck was there a spellcheck red line under that? ---
**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:** [November 22, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13703 "2017-11-22T15:24:38Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Maybe nothing too particularly revelatory\* here, perhaps, but it’s still good to know how the enemies are mobilizing. > ETA: 2024? > \*Why the fuck was there a spellcheck red line under that? It’s not in your browser’s dictionary. No match=misspelled. Right-click, there should be an option to “add to dictionary”. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/13704 "2017-11-22T20:10:24Z")
The Murdoch-owned New York Post, in its front page headline about Trump endorsing Roy Moore: “I’m With the Perv” > **[NY papers on Trump support for Roy Moore: ‘I’m with Perv!’](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/361512-trumps-hometown-papers-on-his-support-for-roy-moore-im-with-the-perv/)** > > Two of President Trump’s hometown newspapers are hitting him for standing by Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore in the wake of explosive sexual misconduct allegations.In nearly matching f… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=684) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=686)