# 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:** 798
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15945 "2018-01-26T13:11:37Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > um, \, I [gotta go](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/370740-guggenheim-offers-to-loan-trump-white-house-a-golden-toilet) … > > _(Shitgibbon, et al) had asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting … but the Guggenheim responded that it could not accommodate the request … “We are sorry not to be able to accommodate your original request, but remain hopeful that this special offer may be of interest," curator Nancy Spector wrote in an email to the White House, according to the Post. The 18-karat, fully functioning toilet was used as a temporary interactive exhibit in one of the museum’s bathrooms._ > > naww, I will just find a tree out behind the garage > > _“It’s a very delicate subject," Cattelan, the artist, told the Post when asked why he offered the toilet … “What’s the point of our life?” he told the Post by phone. “Everything seems absurd until we die and then it makes sense.”_ Is it normal for a president to ask to borrow a painting for the private residence? [This](https://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/267/Landscape-with-Snow.html) is the painting he wanted. Wonder what about this image spoke to him? ---
**Author:** ![SingleMalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/singlemalt/32/3961_2.png) [@SingleMalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SingleMalt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15946 "2018-01-26T14:27:59Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > Is it normal for a president to ask to borrow a painting for the private residence? > > [This](https://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/267/Landscape-with-Snow.html) is the painting he wanted. Wonder what about this image spoke to him? Probably just the name “Van Gogh”. He’s one of the few artists Trump recognizes, along with Michelangelo, Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, and Splinter. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15947 "2018-01-26T14:42:55Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > [This](https://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/267/Landscape-with-Snow.html) is the painting he wanted. Wonder what about this image spoke to him? He should probably go with [something that better fits his degree of cultural literacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_Playing_Poker). ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15948 "2018-01-26T15:20:41Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > [This](https://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Painting/267/Landscape-with-Snow.html) is the painting he wanted. Wonder what about this image spoke to him? It matches the sofa. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15949 "2018-01-26T15:21:23Z")
> [@Dr.Woo](#): > > And it breaks her heart to think her love is only > Given to a man with hands as cold as ice Not a new tale. [“I’m All Alone in a Palace of Stone”](http://www.famousfix.com/topic/annette-hanshaw-i-m-all-alone-in-a-palace-of-stone) from 1926. _Trying to care for an old millionaire, wasting the best of my years._ ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15950 "2018-01-26T15:24:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Not a new tale. > > [“I’m All Alone in a Palace of Stone”](http://www.famousfix.com/topic/annette-hanshaw-i-m-all-alone-in-a-palace-of-stone) from 1926. _Trying to care for an old millionaire, wasting the best of my years._ I see your 1926, and raise you 1899. _And her beauty was sold/for an old man’s gold/she’s a bird in a gilded cage._ > **[A Bird in a Gilded Cage](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bird_in_a_Gilded_Cage)** > > "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" is a song composed by Arthur J. Lamb and Harry Von Tilzer. It was a sentimental ballad (or tear-jerker) that became one of the most popular songs of 1900, reportedly selling more than two million copies in sheet music. Jere Mahoney (Edison) and Steve Porter (Columbia) recorded two early popular versions of this song. > According to Von Tilzer, he was approached in 1899 by Lamb with the lyrics for a song. Although Von Tilzer liked it, he asked Lamb to change some of the w... ---
**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 26, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15951 "2018-01-26T15:26:41Z")
[Politico: An affair with Trump? Haley rebuts ‘disgusting’ rumors](http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Thermophilic_compost) “That’s just, wow…gross,” Haley said between dry heaves. “I mean, have you seen-- he’s just…” Her voice drifted off before adding, “Thanks, seriously, now I’m going to have trouble sleeping for weeks.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15952 "2018-01-26T15:42:50Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > [Politico: An affair with Trump? Haley rebuts ‘disgusting’ rumors](http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/Thermophilic_compost) > “That’s just, wow…gross,” Haley said between dry heaves. > > “I mean, have you seen-- he’s just…” Her voice drifted off before adding, “Thanks, seriously, now I’m going to have trouble sleeping for weeks.” That link does’t go where you think it does… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15953 "2018-01-26T15:46:36Z")
> [@simster](#): > > That link does’t go where you think it does… But is somehow appropriate. 😃 ---
**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 26, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15954 "2018-01-26T15:47:43Z")
> [@simster](#): > > That link does’t go where you think it does… Ha! Thanking Zeus it was just something on thermophilic compost. [Corrected](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/26/nikki-haley-trump-foreign-policy-370851). ---
**Author:** ![SaneBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SaneBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaneBill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15955 "2018-01-26T16:12:14Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > He should probably go with [something that better fits his degree of cultural literacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs_Playing_Poker). Painted by C Coolidge! Wow, I thought his hobby was miming. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15956 "2018-01-26T16:26:01Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > Is it normal for a president to ask to borrow a painting for the private residence? Yes. > [@WaPost](#): > > It is common for presidents and first ladies to borrow major works of art to decorate the Oval Office, the first family’s residence and various rooms at the White House. The Smithsonian loaned the Kennedys a Eugène Delacroix painting, “The Smoker.” The Obamas preferred abstract art, choosing works by Mark Rothko and Jasper Johns. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15957 "2018-01-26T17:25:57Z")
> [@SaneBill](#): > > Painted by C Coolidge! Wow, I thought his hobby was miming. “President Coolidge, I bet my husband I could get you to say more than two words about your paintings of those dogs playing poker.” “You lose.” ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15958 "2018-01-26T17:39:53Z")
**Jags @15952:** It figgers those fancy Kennedys wanted a _French_ painting. I betcha Tricky Dick asked for a Grant Wood. And the Reagans hung up a Margaret Keane original. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15959 "2018-01-26T18:02:28Z")
It’s sort of silly (and this may not be the best thread to mention it), but … **[The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists](https://thebulletin.org/2018-doomsday-clock-statement) has set the Doomsday Clock to two minutes before Midnight.** This is the closest to Armageddon we’ve been since 1960 when the clock was finally retarded from 11:58 to 11:53 due to U.S.-Soviet cooperation at Pugwash and re: Suez. This is the closest we’re ever been to Armageddon, according to that Clock. The _Bulletin_’s announcement is a detailed list of threats and recommendations; here are just some highlights: > [@](#): > > In 2017, world leaders failed to respond effectively to the looming threats of nuclear war and climate change, making the world security situation more dangerous than it was a year ago and as dangerous as it has been since World War II. > > The greatest risks last year arose in the nuclear realm. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program made remarkable progress in 2017, increasing risks to North Korea itself, other countries in the region, and the United States. Hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions by both sides have increased the possibility of nuclear war by accident or miscalculation. > > But the dangers brewing on the Korean Peninsula were not the only nuclear risks evident in 2017: The United States and Russia remained at odds, continuing military exercises along the borders of NATO, undermining the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), upgrading their nuclear arsenals, and eschewing arms control negotiations. > > In the Asia-Pacific region, tensions over the South China Sea have increased, with relations between the United States and China insufficient to re-establish a stable security situation… > > And in the Middle East, uncertainty about continued US support for the landmark Iranian nuclear deal adds to a bleak overall picture. > > To call the world nuclear situation dire is to understate the danger and its immediacy. > > … Beyond the nuclear and climate domains, technological change is disrupting democracies around the world as states seek and exploit opportunities to use information technologies as weapons, among them internet-based deception campaigns aimed at undermining elections and popular confidence in institutions essential to free thought and global security. > > … there has also been a breakdown in the international order that has been dangerously exacerbated by recent US actions. In 2017, the United States backed away from its long-standing leadership role in the world, reducing its commitment to seek common ground and undermining the overall effort toward solving pressing global governance challenges… > > US allies … have been forced to negotiate a thicket of conflicting policy statements from a US administration weakened in its cadre of foreign policy professionals, suffering from turnover in senior leadership, led by an undisciplined and disruptive president, and unable to develop, coordinate, and clearly communicate a coherent nuclear policy. This inconsistency constitutes a major challenge for deterrence, alliance management, and global stability. It has made the existing nuclear risks greater than necessary and added to their complexity. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15960 "2018-01-26T18:28:53Z")
I don’t know why anyone would build a doomsday clock in the first place. Can’t it be dismantled? ---
**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 26, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15961 "2018-01-26T19:04:10Z")
It would be more meaningful if they could move the thing from, like, 4pm to 615pm. But [I’ll keep my objections to the DC in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=814916), thanks. ---
**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 26, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15962 "2018-01-26T19:12:58Z")
'Splain this to me, People Smarter Than I Am: Schumer goes to thump and says, “Okay, you make a deal for the Dreamers and I’ll support money for the wall.” Thump says, “No dice, loser! Get outta my face!” Then thump says to the world at large, “Here’s my new idea that I thought of all on my own without any help from Cryin’ Chuck Schumer: I’ll agree to a bigly deal for the Dreamers, if I also get money for the wall.” Did thump reject Schumer’s idea so he could [del]steal it[/del] make it his own and get credit for it? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15963 "2018-01-26T19:22:31Z")
> [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > I seem to remember some talk about how "[even Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons," “not using the gas on his own people,” and “Holocaust centers”](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/apr/11/sean-spicer-hitler-chemical-weapons-syria-assad-video) 1000 years / 1 Trump year ago. > > Ah, Spicey, we barely knew 'ye. …which is not to say you left too soon… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/15964 "2018-01-26T19:35:57Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I don’t know why anyone would build a doomsday clock in the first place. Can’t it be dismantled? Not exactly “dismantled” _per se_, but there’s this nice self-destruct button, if you’d care to risk it… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=797) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=799)