# 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:** 746
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14905 "2018-01-04T12:27:26Z")
Well, [Bannon sure caved quickly](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/04/politics/steve-bannon-trump-cease-and-desist/index.html). He wuvs the president again, regardless of the cease-and-desist. Some iconoclast he turned out to be. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14906 "2018-01-04T12:42:53Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Well, [Bannon sure caved quickly](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/04/politics/steve-bannon-trump-cease-and-desist/index.html). He wuvs the president again, regardless of the cease-and-desist. Some iconoclast he turned out to be. Kind of makes you wonder what kind of dirty pictures the Trump team has of Bannon. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14907 "2018-01-04T14:18:48Z")
THIS is what I’m looking for and looking for more of: > [@](#): > > …There has been an inclination over the past year in both politics and journalism to separate Trump’s tweets and other outbursts from the realities of governing. The idea is that his eruptions are either (a) largely irrelevant forms of his letting off steam or (b) signs of a brilliance beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. What looks to most of us like madness is cast as genius in setting up enemies, signaling his base or distracting us from one thing or another. > > But we are past the time when we can believe any of this. Trump is, without question, doing enormous damage to the United States’ standing in the world, and his strategy for political survival is rooted in a willingness to destroy our institutions. > … > The United States does have extraordinary gifts for self-correction. But we must face the fact that Trump is accelerating us toward the breaking point. No matter how confident we are in our resilience, we should not imagine otherwise. Not even Mueller has a button on his desk he can press to get us out of this without scars. [Source](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBHQnns?m=en-us) Nava said: > [@](#): > > While Trump has brought his office particularly low, I have one word for you: WMD. Yes, indeed: “WMD” (which BTW is not a word, but I’ll let that slide). “One word.” You cite one WORD from one President in the past. You have, in fact, supported my point. Thank you. We now have a President who urps out thousands of words, lies, meaningless statements, boasts and brags, and general excrement every single day and throughout the day with NO filters on himself. If you are seriously and thoughtfully comparing the way thump conducts himself as President day in and day out with the way ANY other President has conducted himself, then you are so far out of touch with reality that I cannot communicate with you. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14908 "2018-01-04T14:52:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > \The depiction of election night is spooky. They clearly did not expect to win and did not want to. Melania cried, but not tears of joy. Donald was said to looked like he saw a ghost. So the unwilling are being led by the unknowing to do what the people don’t want them to do. What could go wrong? It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t think or want to win. BUT, what’s with the collusion/conspiracy the Russians? Wasn’t that all about helping him win so they could do some tit for tat? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14909 "2018-01-04T15:09:46Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t think or want to win. BUT, what’s with the collusion/conspiracy the Russians? Wasn’t that all about helping him win so they could do some tit for tat? That is quite an interesting point: he didn’t want to win, but he was willing to commit treason to help his campaign. Maybe his goal was merely to embarrass Hillary, not to win. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14910 "2018-01-04T15:11:28Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > THIS is what I’m looking for and looking for more of: [Source](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBHQnns?m=en-us) > > > [@Nava](#): > > > > While Trump has brought his office particularly low, I have one word for you: WMD. > > Yes, indeed: “WMD” (which BTW is not a word, but I’ll let that slide). “One word.” You cite one WORD from one President in the past. You have, in fact, supported my point. Thank you. > > We now have a President who urps out thousands of words, lies, meaningless statements, boasts and brags, and general excrement every single day and throughout the day with NO filters on himself. If you are seriously and thoughtfully comparing the way thump conducts himself as President day in and day out with the way ANY other President has conducted himself, then you are so far out of touch with reality that I cannot communicate with you. Sorry. I think **Nava** was using WMDs and Loser Don’s access to them as an example as to how things could get much, much lower. We may be in the basement, but it looks like the building has a sub-sub-basement. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14911 "2018-01-04T15:15:03Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > That is quite an interesting point: he didn’t want to win, but he was willing to commit treason to help his campaign. > > Maybe his goal was merely to embarrass Hillary, not to win. This is what I suspect. He was setting himself up to be the new president’s biggest, most-famous antagonist. He was likely planning on building a media company around it. Load her up with taint during the campaign, and then spend the next four years making a billion dollars talking about it. Harping on the Obama birther shit was just the seeds of an idea; Hillary’s emails, Bengazi, et al were going to be the golden apples he was going to really cash in on. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14912 "2018-01-04T15:15:20Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I think **Nava** was using WMDs and Loser Don’s access to them as an example as to how things could get much, much lower. We may be in the basement, but it looks like the building has a sub-sub-basement. No, I was referencing the WMD which Hussein totally, totally, totally had, except it turns out not. That was another president who did a lot to make the US lose face; those WMD moved the POTUS from “trustworthy” to “can’t be trusted without independent verification” even for the staunchest allies of the US. But that was, say, from the third floor to the second. Donny has moved it somewhere below the sewers. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14913 "2018-01-04T15:16:11Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > No, I was referencing the WMD which Hussein totally, totally, totally had, except it turns out not. That was another president who did a lot to make the US lose face. Yes, I got your point. No comparison with thump. Not even close. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > This is what I suspect. He was setting himself up to be the new president’s biggest, most-famous antagonist. He was likely planning on building a media company around it. Load her up with taint during the campaign, and then spend the next four years making a billion dollars talking about it. Harping on the Obama birther shit was just the seeds of an idea; Hillary’s emails, Bengazi, et al were going to be the golden apples he was going to really cash in on. This absolutely. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14914 "2018-01-04T15:35:19Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yes, I got your point. No comparison with thump. Not even close. > > This absolutely. For all his faults, I think W acted in what he thought were the best interests of the country. I disagree with what he wanted to do, but I don’t think anything was done with the intent of destroying the nation and I don’t think he personally sought profit from the position nor do I think he was a racist, misogynist Islamophobe. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14915 "2018-01-04T15:39:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > For all his faults, I think W acted in what he thought were the best interests of the country. I disagree with what he wanted to do, but I don’t think anything was done with the intent of destroying the nation and I don’t think he personally sought profit from the position nor do I think he was a racist, misogynist Islamophobe. He lied or tolerated lying in order to kill and torture people. He did have more decorum than Trump, and he might have had better intentions. But a lot of people died and were tortured. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14916 "2018-01-04T15:45:36Z")
Well, what a shock. Looks like Wolff has “dozens of hours” of recorded conversations with Bannon and Katie Walsh. > **[Scoop: Wolff taped interviews with Bannon, top officials](https://www.axios.com/2018/01/05/scoop-wolff-taped-interviews-with-bannon-top-officials-1515111038)** > > Michael Wolff has tapes to back up quotes in his incendiary book — dozens of hours of them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14917 "2018-01-04T15:50:04Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Nava said: Yes, indeed: “WMD” (which BTW is not a word, but I’ll let that slide). Actually, _WMD_ was the Global Language Monitor’s word of the year for 2002, and the full phrase appears as a word in most academic dictionaries. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14918 "2018-01-04T16:07:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Actually, _WMD_ was the Global Language Monitor’s word of the year for 2002, and the full phrase appears as a word in most academic dictionaries. It’s not word. It’s an acronym. The Global Language Monitor can go suck an E.G.G. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14919 "2018-01-04T16:11:03Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > It’s not word. It’s an acronym. The Global Language Monitor can go suck an E.G.G. Actually, it’s not an acronym, as acronyms are pronounceable as words. Live by the ridiculous, childish pedanticism, die by the ridiculous, childish pedanticism. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14920 "2018-01-04T16:16:14Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > Actually, it’s not an acronym, as acronyms are pronounceable as words. > > Live by the ridiculous, childish pedanticism, die by the ridiculous, childish pedanticism. Oh, it’s you. And WMD is not a word. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14921 "2018-01-04T16:26:46Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > He lied or tolerated lying in order to kill and torture people. He did have more decorum than Trump, and he might have had better intentions. But a lot of people died and were tortured. Yeah, there’s that. The torture part is unforgivable. Before W, I never thought we’d have a president as bad as Reagan. Then Bush came along and I thought he would never be topped as worst ever. But Donald absolutely blew them both out of the water with his evil nature, stupidity, and incompetence. W thought he was in the right, Donald simply doesn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14922 "2018-01-04T16:27:10Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > No, I was referencing the WMD which Hussein totally, totally, totally had, except it turns out not. That was another president who did a lot to make the US lose face; those WMD moved the POTUS from “trustworthy” to “can’t be trusted without independent verification” even for the staunchest allies of the US. But that was, say, from the third floor to the second. Donny has moved it somewhere below the sewers. Ah yes. Those halcyon days when we showed the world our hand, only to reveal: 10♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠ 2♣ ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14923 "2018-01-04T16:31:54Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t think or want to win. BUT, what’s with the collusion/conspiracy the Russians? Wasn’t that all about helping him win so they could do some tit for tat? I’ve always thought Trump didn’t intend to win. Hell, you could see it in their faces the night of the election when it was called for him. They all looked dazed and frightened wandering around on the stage. Melania was dressed in what looked like her version of a Snuggie, better suited to a comfy final trip back home to Trump Tower than the biggest night of her husband’s life. The venue was the drab Midtown Hilton, not a Trump property all glitzed to the max as you would expect if Trump meant to win. The whole event screamed, “WTF?” Russians had encouraged Trump to robustly dispute the results of the election when he lost, so it’s hard to think they actually expected him to win. Their hope was to at least make the election close – but I don’t think they dared believe they could engineer a win. They wanted to make Hillary’s presidency a living hell and to continue their efforts to delegitimize our democracy. That said, I think they were fine with it either way. They definitely want those Magnitsky Act sanctions lifted. For the Russians, there was no down side. But the Russians could only control events on their end, not what happened here in the USA. And that’s where Comey’s move to reopen the email investigation on October 28th played its part. Up to that point, Hillary seemed to be ahead by a thin but discernible margin of 3-6%. That disintegrated in the wake of Comey’s actions, just in time to bump Trump into the Win category. And here we are. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/14924 "2018-01-04T16:33:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > W thought he was in the right, Donald simply doesn’t care. It’s interesting, too, that this is the trajectory that the Republican party is on. With W, they thought he was right. With Trump, they think he’s pissing off Democrats and that’s enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=745) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=747)