# 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:** 814
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16265 "2018-02-02T14:59:24Z")
When a trainwreck of Republicans kills Americans and spews pollution all over the countryside, the metaphors just write themselves, don’t they? ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16266 "2018-02-02T15:40:03Z")
[Okay, now I’ve moved past “uncomfortable” to “kinda scared”](https://apnews.com/63c883156e314b68b86209d3b63890f5/Trump:-FBI,-DOJ-have-'politicized'-probe-in-favor-of-Dems). > [@Donald Trump](#): > > The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people! ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16267 "2018-02-02T15:49:00Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > When a trainwreck of Republicans kills Americans and spews pollution all over the countryside, the metaphors just write themselves, don’t they? The garbage was supposed to catch fire, but the Gods of Irony decided that was too “over the top” for them. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16268 "2018-02-02T15:49:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Okay, now I’ve moved past “uncomfortable” to “kinda scared”](https://apnews.com/63c883156e314b68b86209d3b63890f5/Trump:-FBI,-DOJ-have-'politicized'-probe-in-favor-of-Dems). He’s such an idiot. Most of the top people are both institutions are Republicans appointed by Trump. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16269 "2018-02-02T15:50:46Z")
Clearly the FBI must be biased against Republicans since otherwise they wouldn’t be investigating them, in the same way that all other investigations by law enforcement are based entirely on personal bias rather than, say, actual evidence. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16270 "2018-02-02T15:52:32Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > He’s such an idiot. Most of the top people are both institutions are Republicans appointed by Trump. And Comey re-opened the so called email scandal investigation, not helping Hillary one bit. But then his base will believe anything he says. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16271 "2018-02-02T15:59:17Z")
I listened to _Fresh Air_ on NPR last night. [Mueller’s Reputation In Washington Is ‘Stunningly Bipartisan’](https://www.npr.org/2018/02/01/582358540/muellers-reputation-in-washington-is-stunningly-bipartisan-journalist-says). There is a link in the upper-left corner of the page where you can play the 42:31 interview with Garrett Graff, author of _The Threat Matrix_, a book about the FBI under Robert Mueller’s leadership. There’s also a link to the transcript. > [@](#): > > And Jim Comey and Bob Mueller head over to the White House to brief President Bush on the Madrid train bombings and what’s unfolding… And he says, you know, Mr. President, I need you to know that Bob Mueller is prepared to resign as well… > > And so President Bush sends out Jim Comey, brings Bob Mueller in. Bob Mueller explains his own comments and concerns about the Stellar Wind program. And President Bush… literally blinks and he says, you tell Jim to make the changes that Jim thinks are necessary. And: > [@](#): > > [Muller] sort of echoed a similar sentiment when he was speaking at the FBI’s hundredth anniversary when he said… it is not enough to stop the terrorist. We must stop him while maintaining his civil liberties. It is not enough to catch the criminal. We must catch him while respecting his civil rights. It is not enough to prevent foreign governments from stealing our secrets. We must prevent that from happening while still upholding the rule of law. The rule of law, civil liberties and civil rights, these are not our burdens. They are what make us better. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16272 "2018-02-02T16:21:39Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > He’s such an idiot. Most of the top people are both institutions are Republicans appointed by Trump. As I just posted in another thread: doesn’t matter. Once they set foot in the FBI they’re tainted by bias and corruption, which probably began because Obama/Hillary. Gotta clean house. And if Mueller gets washed away too…oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16273 "2018-02-02T16:22:24Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > And Comey re-opened the so called email scandal investigation, not helping Hillary one bit. And the memo reopening the case was co-written by none other than Peter Stzrok, the agent in dutch for texting denigrating messages about Trump (as well as similar about Clinton, Sanders, and pretty much every other political figure, but we won’t go there). I refuse to believe anyone with an IQ simmering above 100 actually buys this conspiracy theory bullshit. Sure 32% are total morons (see sub-100 IQ) but the rest are just participating in some twisted performance art, pretending facts in their faces just don’t exist in favor of poor Donald and his paranoid fantasies. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16274 "2018-02-02T16:39:01Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > And the memo reopening the case was co-written by none other than Peter Stzrok, the agent in dutch for texting denigrating messages about Trump (as well as similar about Clinton, Sanders, and pretty much every other political figure, but we won’t go there). > > I refuse to believe anyone with an IQ simmering above 100 actually buys this conspiracy theory bullshit. Sure 32% are total morons (see sub-100 IQ) but **the rest are just participating in some twisted performance art, pretending facts in their faces just don’t exist in favor of poor Donald and his paranoid fantasies**. It should lead one to wonder why the House and Senate Repubs are so adamantly defending Trump. If the general public ever reaches some sort of eureka moment on this, it could destroy the party and I’d assume at least a majority of them are intelligent enough to understand the potential dangers. I’m increasingly getting the impression that they’re getting their messaging from someone, somewhere and that it’s probably their mega donors, particularly Cambridge Analytica. The Mercers, the Kochs, and others are either directly or indirectly through alt-media and PACS, influencing the direction that the mainstream GOP take on such issues. They’re the ones who fear losing and, from their point, have the most to lose. The donor class is on the verge of creating a rigged democracy and economy. I mean it already kinda is, but at least the mainstream has the institutions and resources to wage a counter-struggle. If the billionaire class, however, can hang on for another 4-6 years, they could destroy whatever’s left of organized labor in this country and completely strip the country of the kinds of labor laws and social programs we’ve taken for granted for a better part of the last 100 years. Mueller may not necessarily be investigating the donor class, but he’s posing a direct threat to its ability to control and manipulate our society. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16275 "2018-02-02T16:52:11Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I don’t understand how anyone failed to understand all this from the very beginning, from before the election. > > I _still_ hear pundits occasionally talk about an event as “the time Trump will finally become presidential.” > > It should have been obvious from the beginning that “presidential” is not even sort of in the cards for this guy. He promised to make everything better by sending the scary brown people away and giving everyone money. What’s not for a Republican to love? I just wish Trump supporters would stop insulting my intelligence by trying to convince me Trump’s a good president. He’s a shit president but they like him anyway because he promised to send the scary brown people away. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16276 "2018-02-02T16:54:48Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > He promised to make everything better by sending the scary brown people away and giving everyone money. What’s not for a Republican to love? I just wish Trump supporters would stop insulting my intelligence by trying to convince me Trump’s a good president. He’s a shit president but they like him anyway because he promised to send the scary brown people away. And that’s what makes him a good president, in their opinions. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16277 "2018-02-02T16:58:24Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It should lead one to wonder why the House and Senate Repubs are so adamantly defending Trump. If the general public ever reaches some sort of eureka moment on this, it could destroy the party and I’d assume at least a majority of them are intelligent enough to understand the potential dangers. The only good thing about Effinmoron getting the electoral college vote is the destruction of the GOP. It’s what I believed election night, and still looks likely to me. Just hope the Republic survives them. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16278 "2018-02-02T17:07:39Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It should lead one to wonder why the House and Senate Repubs are so adamantly defending Trump. If the general public ever reaches some sort of eureka moment on this, it could destroy the party and I’d assume at least a majority of them are intelligent enough to understand the potential dangers. I’m increasingly getting the impression that they’re getting their messaging from someone, somewhere For values of “someone” apporaching “Vladimir Putin” and of “somewhere” approaching “Moscow”. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16279 "2018-02-02T17:20:24Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > It should lead one to wonder why the House and Senate Repubs are so adamantly defending Trump. If the general public ever reaches some sort of eureka moment on this, it could destroy the party and I’d assume at least a majority of them are intelligent enough to understand the potential dangers… I think they’re defending him because it’s becoming clear that Vladimir Putin attacked America and Turmp and other Republicans helped him do it. They can not let that become officially true. They’ll end up replacing Benedict Arnold as the go-to reference to a traitor. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16280 "2018-02-02T17:21:40Z")
I’m in a serious state of despair; the worst I’ve felt since Election Day 2016. As the recent opinion piece in the NY Times said, Trump has afflicted us with a state of shrug. He’s become normalized. Nothing he does matters. The politicization of the House Intelligence Committee is complete – our intelligence agencies will no longer trust them with sensitive material. The Republican leadership shows that they care about nothing other than their political skins. We’re seeing the attempted politicization of the FBI. We’re getting a steady drumbeat of good economic news, dammit. Every day another corporation announces how they’re plowing their tax windfall back into some employee benefit or infrastructure investment. The SOTU had enough touchy-feely quotable moments that some viewers thought it was a success. And Trump’s approval rating is climbing. Our only hope is in Mueller; his findings can’t come fast enough or be devastating enough. I take some solace in remembering that Nixon won in a landslide in '72; 2 years later he was gone. Things can change rapidly. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16281 "2018-02-02T17:55:15Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [Okay, now I’ve moved past “uncomfortable” to “kinda scared”](https://apnews.com/63c883156e314b68b86209d3b63890f5/Trump:-FBI,-DOJ-have-'politicized'-probe-in-favor-of-Dems). From that link: > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump, who advocated for the memo’s release over the fierce objections of the Justice Department and the FBI, told reporters the document shows “a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves.” And we all know who they are. :dubious: > [@](#): > > “I think it’s terrible,” Trump said. “You want to know the truth. I think it’s a disgrace. What’s going on in this country, I think it’s a disgrace.” Finally Donnie says something I agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16282 "2018-02-02T17:55:27Z")
Trump has [no confidence in Rosenstein](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/372023-trump-signals-that-he-has-no-confidence-in-deputy-ag-rosenstein). If one were going to try to make a move, Super Bowl weekend might be a good time to do it. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16283 "2018-02-02T18:04:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I listened to _Fresh Air_ on NPR last night. [Mueller’s Reputation In Washington Is ‘Stunningly Bipartisan’](https://www.npr.org/2018/02/01/582358540/muellers-reputation-in-washington-is-stunningly-bipartisan-journalist-says). There is a link in the upper-left corner of the page where you can play the 42:31 interview with Garrett Graff, author of _The Threat Matrix_, a book about the FBI under Robert Mueller’s leadership. There’s also a link to the transcript. > > And: that was an excellent interview and everyone should listen ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16284 "2018-02-02T21:09:34Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > We’re getting a steady drumbeat of good economic news, dammit. Well, I guess Donnie won’t be asking anyone “How’s your 401(k) doing?” today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=813) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=815)