# 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:** 825
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16485 "2018-02-08T02:20:44Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The US path to the status of a banana republic is well under way. There is already [a thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=848745) on this subject. With a poll. 80% of the respondents are somewhat or very uncomfortable with the idea. ---
**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 8, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16486 "2018-02-08T02:24:15Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > In today’s news…White House aide Rob Porter resigned, when his 2 ex-wives both went public with stories of physical abuse (including a picture of one of them with a black eye.) > > Chief of Staff Kelly knew about his background, as it came up on his background check and prevents Porter from getting the clearance he needs to actually, you know, work in the White House. > > But Kelly and Sarah Huckabee Sanders both sang Porter’s praises today as a really swell guy and it’s a shame he’s leaving. > > But here’s the really interesting part: he’s currently dating … wait for it … > > Hope Hicks. > > Can that poor woman please go on [Match.com](http://Match.com) and find somebody to date who doesn’t work for Trump? I think conservative women are attracted to wife beating “Christian” men. Either they get some perverse pleasure out of being dominated by a Godly man, or they believe that the victims of abuse are weak, can’t satisfy their husband, and somehow deserve to be beaten. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16487 "2018-02-08T02:24:59Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > \*\*\*After \*\*\*the news reports came out that Rob Porter had beaten both of his ex wives, and before he had offered his resignation, John Kelly called Porter “a man of true integrity and honor” and a “trusted professional.” > [“Beyond Disbelief”: John Kelly’s Defense of Rob Porter Roils the West Wing | Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/john-kelly-defense-of-rob-porter-roils-the-west-wing) It was made crystal clear that Kelly is no smarter or saner than the typical Trump appointee when he made those bogus comments about the congresswoman who heard Trump’s “condolence” call to a widow. He’s lost all credibility. I’m no more surprised when he says something stupid than I am when Louie Gohmert does. ---
**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 8, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16488 "2018-02-08T02:26:07Z")
The parade thing is just another daily outrage - one out of several hundreds already. We’re not going to do a fucking thing to stop Trump because we’ve become inured to his outrageous conduct. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16489 "2018-02-08T02:35:33Z")
Poor Hope Hicks. Dating a giant piece of shit like Corey Lewandowski, and now this. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16490 "2018-02-08T02:41:50Z")
That military parade is a seriously bad idea, and I can tell you that it’s going over about as well on the right as on the left. Almost everyone thinks it’s a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16491 "2018-02-08T02:59:37Z")
I like Ike’s opinion on that: > **[Trump Wants Pentagon To Stage Military Parade Down Pennsylvania Avenue](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/07/583903933/trump-reportedly-wants-pentagon-to-stage-military-parade-down-pennsylvania-ave)** > > The president has directed the Pentagon to look into a parade, possibly to take place on Veterans Day. He was apparently inspired by the Bastille Day parade he saw last summer during a trip to Paris. > [@](#): > > Beschloss points to the 1950s, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev presided over large military parades showing off the latest in Soviet military might. Beschloss says some in the White House approached Eisenhower, himself a decorated military general, suggesting the U.S. do the same, to show off American might. > > “Eisenhower said absolutely not, we are the pre-eminent power on Earth,” Beschloss says, recalling Eisenhower’s response. **“For us to try to imitate what the Soviets are doing in Red Square would make us look weak.”** ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16492 "2018-02-08T03:02:59Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Hope Hicks. > > Can that poor woman please go on [Match.com](http://Match.com) and find somebody to date who doesn’t work for Trump? > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Poor Hope Hicks. Dating a giant piece of shit like Corey Lewandowski, and now this. While I will definitely stop short of saying that anyone deserves to have a wife-beater inflicted on them, Hicks has been among Trump’s most dedicated, unconditional, unthinking, uncritical, no-matter-what supporters and cheerleaders from the beginning. Sort of like a female version of Don Jr, but not actually officially a family member. It’s hard to feel sympathy for her. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16493 "2018-02-08T03:22:57Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > \*\*\*After \*\*\*the news reports came out that Rob Porter had beaten both of his ex wives, and before he had offered his resignation, John Kelly called Porter “a man of true integrity and honor” and a “trusted professional.” > [“Beyond Disbelief”: John Kelly’s Defense of Rob Porter Roils the West Wing | Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/john-kelly-defense-of-rob-porter-roils-the-west-wing) When I first heard about this story, I had the TV on as background noise and thought the two abused ex-wives were Dumpster’s. There have been persistent rumors that he paid Ivana a LOT of money in the divorce to keep her mouth shut about it. ☹ David Cay Johnston has a new book out, and here he discusses it. IDK if this will air on C-SPAN 2’s “About Books”; I hope it does. Anyway, it’s 47 minutes long but well worth checking out. Language is SFW. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/y70q0mjujWk/maxresdefault.jpg "David Cay Johnston, "It's Even Worse Than You Think"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y70q0mjujWk) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16494 "2018-02-08T04:15:15Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > It was made crystal clear that Kelly is no smarter or saner than the typical Trump appointee when he made those bogus comments about the congresswoman who heard Trump’s “condolence” call to a widow. > > He’s lost all credibility. I’m no more surprised when he says something stupid than I am when Louie Gohmert does. I also thought he was an absolute scumbag after that, but the ironic thing is, he apparently still is the sane man in the room. What I mean is, his 5% or so of integrity trumps everyone else right now in the white house by all accounts, and he’s frequently the one trying to restrain trump. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16495 "2018-02-08T04:36:13Z")
Are we sure Porter isn’t a beard for Hope Hicks? We all know she’s Mrs. Trump Number Four to be. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16496 "2018-02-08T04:58:48Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I mean, I know this is just about “no brownies allowed”, but I’m still idly wondering how much more “extreme” US visa grants can really get. > > Like, an acquaintance of mine was plumb refused entry for a week-long comic-con centric vacation on the grounds that her criminal rap sheet had one (1) item on it, namely breaking a window once when drunk (she hadn’t even \*meant \*to break it - she’d just kicked at the storefront because they’d tossed her out of the bar). If the bar is already that high for tourists, I can only imagine what it must be like to apply for residency… And I can’t fathom what more the administration is \*supposed \*to do to match Trump’s insane standards. Does he plan on hiring Maat to do the heart feather scale thing ? > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, sounds like we dodged a bullet there. No doubt as soon as she arrived she’d have joined MS13 and starting killing high school kids. And having anchor babies. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16497 "2018-02-08T05:10:27Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well, hey-- up is down, hot is cold, good is bad, east is west, only one black eye on your ex-wife as opposed to two shows integrity… Or bad aim, you were going for the nose but she moved. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16498 "2018-02-08T05:14:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > \*\*\*After \*\*\*the news reports came out that Rob Porter had beaten both of his ex wives, and before he had offered his resignation, John Kelly called Porter “a man of true integrity and honor” and a “trusted professional.” > [“Beyond Disbelief”: John Kelly’s Defense of Rob Porter Roils the West Wing | Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/john-kelly-defense-of-rob-porter-roils-the-west-wing) > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well, hey-- up is down, hot is cold, good is bad, east is west, only one black eye on your ex-wife as opposed to two shows integrity… Good thing he has that extra ex-wife, in case the Spirit ever moves him to punch a woman in the face again! ---
**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:** [February 8, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16499 "2018-02-08T05:25:16Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The US path to the status of a banana republic is well under way. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This might be a good time to stock up on khaki shirts with epaulets and mirrored aviator glasses to sell to thump supporters at gun shows and on ebay. …and bananas? ---
**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16500 "2018-02-08T05:51:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > …and bananas? Do it now because they are dying out (some bananas, not Republicans). [Will Bananas Be Extinct in Ten Years? | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/bananas.asp) (maybe a few more Repubs will switch to Dems or at least abstain from voting now that, I hope, they see what a trainwreck has been elected.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16501 "2018-02-08T08:15:47Z")
So, _yes_! We have no bananas…and neither does anyone else! ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16502 "2018-02-08T12:48:43Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Like, an acquaintance of mine was plumb refused entry for a week-long comic-con centric vacation on the grounds that her criminal rap sheet had one (1) item on it, namely breaking a window once when drunk (she hadn’t even \*meant \*to break it - she’d just kicked at the storefront because they’d tossed her out of the bar). If I was visiting a country, got obnoxious enough to get thrown out of a bar, and then (uhh, accidentally) kicked out the bar’s front window — I would not be the least bit surprised if the country put me on a “not welcome back” list. Beyond, that, I’d like to remind everyone to fight Outrage Fatigue, donate to ACLU, Planned Parenthood, environmental organizations, good midterm candidates… ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16503 "2018-02-08T14:10:30Z")
Goalpost-moving EPA chief Pruitt questions whether global warming is a bad thing: > [@](#): > > “We know humans have most flourished during times of what, warming trends,” Pruitt said Tuesday during an interview on KSNV, an NBC affiliate in Las Vegas. “So I think there’s assumptions made that because the climate is warming, that that necessarily is a bad thing. Do we really know what the ideal surface temperature should be in the year 2100, in the year 2018? That’s fairly arrogant for us to think that we know exactly what it should be in 2100.” [WaPo](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/02/07/scott-pruitt-asks-if-global-warming-necessarily-is-a-bad-thing/?utm_term=.27410e26ce2d) Well, at least he’s softened his stance that there is no such thing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16504 "2018-02-08T14:15:03Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I like Ike’s opinion on that Obnoxious shows of strength are ALWAYS weak. Always. The man who brags of his wealth is terrified that others will find him wanting. The man who brags of his sexual conquests is afraid others will question his virility. The man who brags of his sports achievements is afraid others think him a weakling. The man who prays the loudest is afraid others will see his lack of virtue. No one ever shows off strength who is not compensating for something. The strong person is confident. The confident person has no need of braggadocio. I have said it before and will again; the central characteristic of Donald Trump as a President is that he is weak. He lies, brags, and bullies because he is too weak for his job, and on some level he knows that, and overcompensates. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=824) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=826)