# 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:** 803
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16045 "2018-01-29T14:59:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Thank you for this totally relevant data point; I appreciate your contributions to this conversation. > > So when you have the choice to make, do you go for the reasoned, nuanced movie or the blockbuster superhero flick? Whatever I feel like watching at the time, because I’m not an insufferable snob. ---
**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 29, 2018, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16046 "2018-01-29T15:19:37Z")
It looks like the [NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-carter-page-secret-memo.html) #ReleasedTheMemo. The big secret? Rod Rosenstein approved an investigation into Carter Page to settle the issue on whether CP was a Russian agent during the Trump campaign. The Republican complaint? That Rosensteins guys made more use of the Steele dossier than they admitted to the judge who approved the investigation. Imho, this akin to a child arguing to his parents “Matt can’t tell on me to you - he’s not even family! That’s not fair!” … I look forward to seeing CP make the MSNBC rounds this week. He truly is a national treasure. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16047 "2018-01-29T15:26:06Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I look forward to seeing CP make the MSNBC rounds this week. He truly is a national treasure. He is certainly mesmerizing to watch on television, if only to see his persistent inability to shut the hell up when it’s in his best interest to do so. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16048 "2018-01-29T15:31:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > It looks like the [NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/us/politics/rod-rosenstein-carter-page-secret-memo.html) #ReleasedTheMemo. > > The big secret? Rod Rosenstein approved an investigation into Carter Page to settle the issue on whether CP was a Russian agent during the Trump campaign. The Republican complaint? That Rosensteins guys made more use of the Steele dossier than they admitted to the judge who approved the investigation. > > Imho, this akin to a child arguing to his parents “Matt can’t tell on me to you - he’s not even family! That’s not fair!” > > … I look forward to seeing CP make the MSNBC rounds this week. He truly is a national treasure. Oh good, The Smiler, again. This time I hope he has a brief psychotic disorder from trying to bottle everything up under that shit-eating smile (that’s not passive-aggressively disingenuous in the least). ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16049 "2018-01-29T16:19:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Thank you for this totally relevant data point; I appreciate your contributions to this conversation. > > So when you have the choice to make, do you go for the reasoned, nuanced movie or the blockbuster superhero flick? Aren’t you the poster who has bored 99% of the SDMB with your inane quarry “joke”?. Are you really trying to criticize someone on his movie tastes and “contributing to the conversation”? ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16050 "2018-01-29T16:38:11Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Aren’t you the poster who has bored 99% of the SDMB with your inane quarry “joke”?. Are you really trying to criticize someone on his movie tastes and “contributing to the conversation”? No and no. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16051 "2018-01-29T16:46:54Z")
> [@eulalia](#): > > Whatever I feel like watching at the time, because I’m not an insufferable snob. Who implied you were an insufferable snob? Not me. Statistically, as shown by American pop culture, the American public vastly values shallow, un-nuanced violent confrontation to solve problems far more than they value deep, nuanced considered compromise. The fact that you claim to be an outlier does not change the statistic nor the general attitude of the American public. Here: I’ll show you: > [@wonky](#): > > Who the fuck cares? > [@Frodo](#): > > Aren’t you the poster who has bored 99% of the SDMB with your inane quarry “joke”?. Are you really trying to criticize someone on his movie tastes and “contributing to the conversation”? See? Even on this board, people prefer to go for conflict resolution through name-calling, false claims, etc. ---
**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 29, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16052 "2018-01-29T17:14:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Who implied you were an insufferable snob? Not me. > > Statistically, as shown by American pop culture, the American public vastly values shallow, un-nuanced violent confrontation to solve problems far more than they value deep, nuanced considered compromise. > > The fact that you claim to be an outlier does not change the statistic nor the general attitude of the American public. > > Here: I’ll show you:See? Even on this board, people prefer to go for conflict resolution through name-calling, false claims, etc. Dude, take a breath. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16053 "2018-01-29T17:20:30Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Dude, take a breath. What an odd thing to say. ---
**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 29, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16054 "2018-01-29T17:26:11Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie!’ until you can find a rock.” - Will Rogers Nitpick. Google finds lots of books etc. attributing this quote to Will Rogers, but it _does not sound like him._ According to [Quote Investigator] ([Diplomacy Frequently Consists in Soothingly Saying “Nice Doggie” Until You Have a Chance to Pick Up a Rock – Quote Investigator®](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/12/18/diplomacy/)), the quote was attributed to various obscure people beginning with Walter Trumbull in 1925, and wasn’t attributed to Rogers until the 1980’s. ---
**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 29, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16055 "2018-01-29T17:28:07Z")
Andrew McCabe stepping down, NBC News reports. He was scheduled to leave in March, but has decided to leave soonest. > ---
**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 29, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16056 "2018-01-29T17:30:49Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What an odd thing to say. Not really, because in your manic attempt at proving some ridiculous super hero movie theory and being a casual dick to other posters, you somehow completely failed to realize that, yes, you \*are \*the poster who bores the SDMB with your inane quarry joke, and that no one implied \*eulalia \*was an insufferable snob, the implication was that you were being one. So take a breath. ---
**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 29, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16057 "2018-01-29T17:57:06Z")
There is a long on-going debate between **k9bfriender** and **Snowboarder Bo**. I’ve only skimmed; tell me if I have the gist: **k9b** wants to make the best of our predicament to reduce the damage Trump and the R’s do. **Sno Bo** wants to imitate the R’s (some of whom called for deliberate economic sabotage in 2009 to make Obama a one-term President) and help Trump fail. Is this about right? I have sympathies with both points of view, and hope D leaders make good decisions on a case-by-case basis. If Schumer and the D’s shut down the government, won’t that backfire? Voters will blame the D’s. R’s will refuse to compromise: many R Congresscritters hate government and are happy to see it shut down anyway. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > We can do that too. Manipulating the shitgibbon president is not mutually exclusive for fighting for what you believe in. Unfortunately the shitgibbon is too stupid even to be manipulated — he just does what Asshole Kelly, Asshole Miller, and Asshole Pence tell him to do. One hope is that D’s gain control of Congress this November. Then Trump might suddenly discover he’s a Democrat! Unfortunately the chance that D’s get 51 Senators _and_ 218 Reps is at most 25%. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16058 "2018-01-29T18:24:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Andrew McCabe stepping down, NBC News reports. He was scheduled to leave in March, but has decided to leave soonest. > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/JesseRodriguez/status/958028232372219905) CNN is reporting that it “wasn’t his choice.” So Trump out and out fired him. ---
**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 29, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16059 "2018-01-29T18:26:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Andrew McCabe stepping down, NBC News reports. He was scheduled to leave in March, but has decided to leave soonest. > > [x.com](https://twitter.com/JesseRodriguez/status/958028232372219905) Not being up on all the inside stuff at the FBI, I have to ask: What does this mean exactly? Was he pushed out? Is he taking a stand against this admin? Did he get a better gig somewhere? Was he a voice of reason within the Justice Department, now lost to a potential Trump crony? ETA: Didn’t see silenus’ post when I hit submit. That does answer some questions… ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16060 "2018-01-29T18:42:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > How many thoughtful movies were big hits at the box office in the past 6 years? Ya know, movies like _All The President’s Men_ or \*Network/i] or _The Big Chill_? That giant hit The Big Chill, topping out at (googling) #13 for 1983? The same year that brought us such mind-expanding films as the third and worst Star Wars film, the fourth and worst Dirty Harry, Flashdance, Mr Mom, and Superman 3 — all of which did better at the box office? Well shit… how far we’ve fallen in thirty years. ---
**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 29, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16061 "2018-01-29T18:52:05Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Here: I’ll show you:See? Even on this board, people prefer to go for conflict resolution through name-calling, false claims, etc. Dude, you are sneering in contempt and you want other people to be nice to you? You sound like a Trump voter. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16062 "2018-01-29T19:01:35Z")
Forget about superhero movies - it’s that damn rock n’ roll misic people are listening to. Anyone who prefers Jimmy Page to Mahler is obviously a simpleton and should not be allowed to vote. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16063 "2018-01-29T19:02:26Z")
Granpa? Who’s Jimmy Page? ---
**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 29, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16064 "2018-01-29T19:03:12Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > CNN is reporting that it “wasn’t his choice.” So Trump out and out fired him. To be replaced by who? Kelly Ann Conway? You can bet your boots he’s going to pick a toadie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=802) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=804)