# 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:** 809
**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:** [January 31, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16165 "2018-01-31T05:17:44Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Jeezus H. Christ, you are so far wrong, you’re not even in the same zip code with correct. Especially #5. You’re certainly the expert at getting things wrong. The difference is you get things wrong after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16166 "2018-01-31T05:46:06Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > FEMA has announced it is stopping delivery of food and water to Puerto Rico. > [FEMA to stop distributing food and water to Puerto Rico – Chicago Tribune](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-fema-puerto-rico-20180130-story.html) This is truly obscene. I have trouble believing it. Would they do this if , instead of Puerto Rico, it had been Florida that was devastated? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16167 "2018-01-31T05:48:02Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Scenario: Russia (at the behest of Republicans) begins attacking US voting systems all over the country. The public agencies at various levels begin detecting the suspicious activity, which quickly makes it into the public information sphere of blogs, twitter, and regular media. Republicans, knowing they will probably lose the election under otherwise normal circumstances, seize on the opportunity to cast doubt on the ability of the country to have free and fair elections. So they then propose a congressional law to postpone the elections until a full investigation can be completed and until they can be sure that they can protect against fraud. Or perhaps they have the elections and then Republican-controlled election boards and officials refuse to certify the results. They’d have to amend the Constitution to extend their terms or put off an election. Good luck getting 67 senators and 36 state legislatures onboard with that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16168 "2018-01-31T06:09:02Z")
How many times did Loser Donnie say, ‘Believe me.’? ---
**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:** [January 31, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16169 "2018-01-31T06:12:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > How many times did Loser Donnie say, ‘Believe me.’? 23, 098. Believe me. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16170 "2018-01-31T06:57:58Z")
Stormy Daniels says [she didn’t write or sign the denial that Trump is proffering as proof they didn’t have an affair.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/doesnt-look-like-signature-stormy-daniels-tells-jimmy-kimmel-didnt-write-denial-trump-affair/) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16171 "2018-01-31T07:36:06Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > But they just said something really scary - that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is the designated survivor. I’ll think I’ll turn the TV off and spend the next two hours praying. Hey, he’s in favor of NAFTA! That makes him more rational than most of the cabinet. ---
**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 31, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16172 "2018-01-31T12:31:41Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Jeezus H. Christ, you are so far wrong, you’re not even in the same zip code with correct. Especially #5. One would think that, upon reading a line such as “North Korea will get hit hard in the speech, so hard it will move the doomsday clock to 5 seconds after midnight”, it would have been obvious that one was reading a… whaddya call it? A _joke_. But, naw, [you got me](https://youtu.be/z2nkG2fL-u8). ---
**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:** [January 31, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16173 "2018-01-31T12:34:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > They’d have to amend the Constitution to extend their terms or put off an election. Good luck getting 67 senators and 36 state legislatures onboard with that. They don’t have to amend the Constitution; the Constitution already gives Congress the power to decide the date of congressional elections. That date can be uniform as it is now prescribed by law, but the law can be changed if the Congress decides there is a need. Such a dramatic move would absolutely be litigated by Democrats, but it’s not clear that they would be able to stop such a move, however outrageous it might seem. It’s entirely possible that the Republicans who are now playing down the interference of Russians in 2016 will play it up in 2018. ---
**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 31, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16174 "2018-01-31T13:46:38Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > They don’t have to amend the Constitution; the Constitution already gives Congress the power to decide the date of congressional elections. That date can be uniform as it is now prescribed by law, but the law can be changed if the Congress decides there is a need. Such a dramatic move would absolutely be litigated by Democrats, but it’s not clear that they would be able to stop such a move, however outrageous it might seem. At most, that gives them a bit less than two months’ wiggle room for postponement: > [@US Constitution](#): > > The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members _chosen every second Year_ by the People of the several States ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16175 "2018-01-31T13:52:10Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > How many times did Loser Donnie say, ‘Believe me.’? If someone has to ask you to believe him, that means you shouldn’t. > [@Smapti](#): > > Stormy Daniels says [she didn’t write or sign the denial that Trump is proffering as proof they didn’t have an affair.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/doesnt-look-like-signature-stormy-daniels-tells-jimmy-kimmel-didnt-write-denial-trump-affair/) How much more did they pay her? She’s had what, a week or so, to deny it and only now got around to it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16176 "2018-01-31T14:02:14Z")
Actually, I misread that, sorry. Pornstargate is still a thing. ---
**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 31, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16177 "2018-01-31T14:09:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Stormy Daniels says [she didn’t write or sign the denial that Trump is proffering as proof they didn’t have an affair.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/doesnt-look-like-signature-stormy-daniels-tells-jimmy-kimmel-didnt-write-denial-trump-affair/) She [also](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/31/stormy-daniels-jimmy-kimmel-interview-trump-380152) used a version of the [“warrant canary”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_canary): > [@](#): > > Asked by Kimmel if she had a nondisclosure agreement related to her reported relationship with Trump, Daniels replied “do I?” But when Kimmel responded that “if you didn’t have an non-disclosure agreement you most certainly could say you don’t have an non-disclosure agreement, yes?” Daniels replied “you’re so smart, Jimmy.” > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > How much more did they pay her? > > She’s had what, a week or so, to deny it and only now got around to it. Given that this is Deadbeat Donnie we’re talking about, the week may be the time between his promise to pay her more and her giving up on actually getting the money. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16178 "2018-01-31T14:45:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > If someone has to ask you to believe him, that means you shouldn’t. My point exactly. 😉 (I’ve been using variations of the idea since before I saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sJY7BTIuPY). 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16179 "2018-01-31T15:25:14Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > So the way to show voters who the best choice is is to govern well - and then to let your opposition get the credit for things running well? If the other choice is governing poorly, then yes. That was what the republicans did for years, but it worked to their base, because their base wants a dysfunctional government. The less the govt does, the better. Progressives actually want to see the govt functioning. If democrats demonstrate that they have as little interest in governing than republicans, then what is the point of putting them in charge? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16180 "2018-01-31T15:52:54Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Actually, I misread that, sorry. Pornstargate is still a thing. I agree. But as you said “She’s had what, a week or so, to deny it and only now got around to it.” She was possibly just waiting for the most recent check to clear. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16181 "2018-01-31T16:07:43Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I agree. But as you said “She’s had what, a week or so, to deny it and only now got around to it.” > > She was possibly just waiting for the most recent check to clear. Or bounce. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16182 "2018-01-31T17:16:29Z")
OK, now that the injuries are being described as minor bumps and bruises (and I continue to hope that this reporting is 100% true) the news that there was a [trainwreck involving GOP congressmen crashing into a garbage truck](https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/31/politics/politics-latest/index.html) is almost too on the nose as a metaphor. ---
**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 31, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16183 "2018-01-31T17:30:05Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > OK, now that the injuries are being described as minor bumps and bruises (and I continue to hope that this reporting is 100% true) the news that there was a [trainwreck involving GOP congressmen crashing into a garbage truck](https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/31/politics/politics-latest/index.html) is almost too on the nose as a metaphor. Two things: [ul] [li]I’m not hearing anything about anyone in the truck. Don’t have time to research at the moment. Anyone hear anything? [/li][li]What would happen if, let’s say, a dozen or more Republican leaders were killed in such an accident. [Serious question. Please keep snarky replies to a minimum.] That would be one hell of a mess, aside from the personal tragedies.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16184 "2018-01-31T17:35:54Z")
[CDC Director resigns, mainly for buying a bunch of stock in medical and tobacco companies after become the director.](https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2018/01/31/statement-regarding-cdc-director-brenda-fitzgerald.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=808) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=810)