# 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:** 717
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14325 "2017-12-15T09:58:54Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Reading rumblings around the Twitterverse that something big is coming up tomorrow, possibly involving Jared Kushner…I don’t know how reliable these rumours are, I must stress. > > Also, Senator Kennedy was interviewing a candidate for US District Court judge. The interview…did not go well. > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/941534519609479168) Link is to a Twitter comment; the video is embedded below. That jackass interviwee reminds me of Example Two in the OP of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=568913). Also, he doesn’t know the difference between _commission_ and _commissioner_. I thought lawyers are supposed to be expert communicators. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14326 "2017-12-15T14:04:40Z")
Who’s still saying “it can’t happen here”? > [@](#): > > Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told Fox News Channel that edits to former FBI Director James Comey’s statement on Hillary Clinton’s private email server and text messages from a top agent critical of Trump are “deeply troubling.” > > “There is extreme bias against this president with high-up members of the team there at the FBI who were investigating Hillary Clinton at the time,” Gidley charged, as special counsel Robert Mueller pushes on with a probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. Gidley says Trump maintains confidence in the FBI’s rank-and-file. Also, another great name within this administration. Reince Priebus, Hogan Gidley, Omarosa Manigault, Anthony Scaramucci… the list just keeps growing! ETA: I forgot the link to that quote: [Trump assails FBI leadership, touts loyalty to police | AP News](https://apnews.com/a2b4a5e3a7074f0a865c9d2767442c66/White-House:-FBI-records-show-'extreme-bias'-against-Trump) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14327 "2017-12-15T14:47:40Z")
I’m hoping President Volatile Scumbag’s support from Faux News will be significantly hampered by Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox, despite that there’ll still be some [setbacks.](https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/14/16764472/disney-fox-deal-merger) ETA: Any coincidental timing with the net neutrality nonsense from yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14328 "2017-12-15T14:54:18Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > Also, Senator Kennedy was interviewing a candidate for US District Court judge. The interview…did not go well. > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/941534519609479168) Link is to a Twitter comment; the video is embedded below. Good God, I watched a couple minutes of that yesterday, because I couldn’t stand to watch it all. How do you get through law school without knowing Daubert? ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14329 "2017-12-15T15:02:07Z")
> [@](#): > > There is extreme bias against this president with high-up members of the team there at the FBI And? I’m pretty sure FBI was quite biased against Al Capone too. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14330 "2017-12-15T15:08:06Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Good God, I watched a couple minutes of that yesterday, because I couldn’t stand to watch it all. How do you get through law school without knowing Daubert? Or a Motion in Limine. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14331 "2017-12-15T15:18:11Z")
Why would Peterson even want to be a District Court judge, and why would Trump want him? Is there some case Trump expects to be coming before the court which Peterson could rule on in his favor? Aren’t there enough actual judges Trump could appoint? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14332 "2017-12-15T15:32:04Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > Why would Peterson even want to be a District Court judge, and why would Trump want him? For Peterson, well, who wouldn’t want a lifetime job with awesome pay and benefits and respect? For Trump, well, I don’t think his goal is “make sure that competent qualified people are in judge positions”, I think it’s more like “I like this guy and who cares what happens in the courts? I won’t be there and if I am, this is my guy”. > [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > Is there some case Trump expects to be coming before the court which Peterson could rule on in his favor? Aren’t there enough actual judges Trump could appoint? Again, I don’t think you understand Trump’s (and his supporters’) goals. Who cares if the guy isn’t qualified? Part of the goal is to break the system; how would having an unqualified judge make bad rulings (and conduct a poor courtroom) for at least a few years not help that? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14333 "2017-12-15T16:54:59Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Or a Motion in Limine. Wow. Ask him about lesser included offenses! [That’s the true test!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=211820) ---
**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:** [December 15, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14334 "2017-12-15T16:55:32Z")
> [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > Why would Peterson even want to be a District Court judge, and why would Trump want him? Is there some case Trump expects to be coming before the court which Peterson could rule on in his favor? Aren’t there enough actual judges Trump could appoint? These people are nominated because they will decide cases purely on the basis of conservative ideology. Judge Roy Moore, is the ideal they are striving for. To that end knowing something about the law would actually be detrimental. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14335 "2017-12-15T17:13:43Z")
All of Dump’s posturing about how the FBI is in tatters and the Mueller investigation is corrupt… this is all just laying the groundwork for a mass of pardons. “These are some great people, just wonderful people, believe me. The corrupt Justice Department and Mueller completely blew it. Sad. I’m pardoning all these people so that justice will truly be done.” The MAGAts will swallow that up like nobody’s business. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14336 "2017-12-15T17:25:08Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > All of Dump’s posturing about how the FBI is in tatters and the Mueller investigation is corrupt… this is all just laying the groundwork for a mass of pardons. > > “These are some great people, just wonderful people, believe me. The corrupt Justice Department and Mueller completely blew it. Sad. I’m pardoning all these people so that justice will truly be done.” > > The MAGAts will swallow that up like nobody’s business. Or laying the groundwork for firing Mueller. Either way … pissing off the FBI doesn’t seem like a really smart move. It looks like the strategy of the Trump Defense Team was: get the list of everybody on Mueller’s team. Dig through their social network history. And come up with … some guys who posted “Trump is a jerk!” on Facebook (like millions of others). Scream “Bias! Corruption!” on Fox as loudly as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Pippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b5a626/32.png) [@Pippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pippers)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14337 "2017-12-15T17:58:53Z")
> **[Albright, Price: It's time for Congress to check Trump's foreign policy powers...](https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/opinions/congress-article-1-moment-albright-price/index.html)** > > It is an Article I moment, write Madeleine Albright and David E. Price. With the President consistently falling short of the mature judgement and discerning decision-making required of the leader of the free world, Congress has no choice but to... Madeline Albright on taking the foreign diplomatic reins from trump. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14338 "2017-12-15T18:02:10Z")
He panders to the rank & file while vilifying their bosses. That’s like Dictator Lesson #17, _How To Ensure You Can Arrest Other Authority Figures_. > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump laced into FBI leadership Friday, while proclaiming his loyalty and support for law enforcement in an address at the agency’s training academy. > > “It’s a shame what’s happened” with the FBI, the president said as he left the White House for a speech at the FBI training academy in Quantico, Virginia. He called the agency’s handling of Hillary Clinton’s email investigation “really disgraceful” and told reporters “we’re going to rebuild the FBI.” > > Shortly afterward, Trump lavished praise on graduates of a weeks-long FBI National Academy program and their families, touting their accomplishments and pledging his unwavering support. Trump told law enforcement leaders he is “more loyal than anyone else could be” to police. > > “Anti-police sentiment is wrong and it’s dangerous,” he added. “Anyone who kills a police officer should get the death penalty.” [Cite](https://apnews.com/a2b4a5e3a7074f0a865c9d2767442c66/Trump-blasts-FBI-leadership-but-says-he's-loyal-to-police). You think this would just entail firing Mueller? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14339 "2017-12-15T18:26:56Z")
His speech to FBI grads was like a Fox News Greatest Hits medley. MS-13! Chicago homicide! Hillary!! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14340 "2017-12-15T19:06:43Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > I’m hoping President Volatile Scumbag’s support from Faux News will be significantly hampered by Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox, despite that there’ll still be some [setbacks.](https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/12/14/16764472/disney-fox-deal-merger) > ETA: Any coincidental timing with the net neutrality nonsense from yesterday? [Not likely, alas.](http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/14/media/donald-trump-rupert-murdoch-disney-21st-century-fox/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14341 "2017-12-15T21:06:35Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It looks like the strategy of the Trump Defense Team was: get the list of everybody on Mueller’s team. Dig through their social network history. And come up with … some guys who posted “Trump is a jerk!” on Facebook (like millions of others). The messages they released a few days ago weren’t social media messages, they were text messages between two people who work at the FBI. It seems really inappropriate to me to come out with those as if it’s some kind of scandal. I can see that it was OK for Mueller to re-assign Strzok (sp?) to something other than the Trump investigation, because you don’t want the appearance that the investigators don’t like him. Publicizing the message goes way beyond, into unethical territory. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14342 "2017-12-16T03:36:12Z")
Here’s some good news: > [@](#): > > Suffolk University and USA Today released a poll this week which found that among people who trust Fox News the most, the president’s approval rating has been sinking. His favorability among Fox devotees in June was 90 percent. In October, it was 74 percent. This week? Fifty-eight percent. If that trend continues, he will be underwater with the Fox audience long before the 2018 midterms… [Source](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBGLg0P?m=en-us) ---
**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:** [December 16, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14343 "2017-12-16T03:41:05Z")
I don’t even know how to label this. “If we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist, and we don’t have to spend any money on it”? Someone help me out (it’s been a long day). > [@](#): > > The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget. > > Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.” > > In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered. > … > Neither an OMB spokesman nor a CDC spokeswoman responded to requests for comment Friday. > > The longtime CDC analyst, whose job includes writing descriptions of the CDC’s work for the administration’s annual spending blueprint, could not recall a previous time when words were banned from budget documents because they were considered controversial. > > The reaction of people in the meeting was “incredulous,” the analyst said. "It was very much, ‘Are you serious? Are you kidding?’ " > > “In my experience, we’ve never had any pushback from an ideological standpoint,” the analyst said… [Source](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBGNo02?m=en-us) ---
**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:** [December 16, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14344 "2017-12-16T04:02:45Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I don’t even know how to label this. “If we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist, and we don’t have to spend any money on it”? Someone help me out (it’s been a long day). > [Source](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBGNo02?m=en-us) There is one way to stop the march toward authoritarianism, but it will potentially - indeed likely - involve sacrifice. And the way to fight authoritarianism - besides voting and political involvement - is for these scientists to simply refuse to obey their orders. Easier said than done, I realize, and they will probably get fired, but that is the position that decades of feckless voting have put these highly conscientious public servants in. This is what angers me when I listen to little midget minded Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, and Bernie Bro voters. “It’s my vote and I can do whatever I want with it - it’s my toy.” Yeah tell that to the people who work in science and know that your wasted “activism” is going to get tens or even hundreds of thousands of people needlessly killed because of a religious crusade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=716) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=718)