# 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:** 827
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16525 "2018-02-08T23:39:47Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I think it looks like an ordinary correction, so far. In '08, we knew what was happening. The drop had some ugly shit behind it. Right now, there is no **_obvious_ source of instability**. I doubt anyone is panicking just yet. But, of course, the drop of '08 was preceded by a peak, followed by some short, quick drops and weak rallies before the plunge. This shape kind of resembles that. But, unless there is **pervasive decay underlying the economy** that will lead to massive declines, this mostly just looks normal. The end of the quarter is 7+ weeks off: we shall see what happens when earnings reports go out. (highlighting mine) Is it possible that investor confidence has been affected by the inherently unstable situation of having an unhinged President? And in the past few days, investors will have noted that the current ‘adult supervisor’ may not be long for that job. (Kelly is getting so many headlines over his support of his wife-beatin’ protégé, that Trump will be feeling the way he always does when someone else is getting the headlines, i.e. “he’s got to go.”) The more statistics come out about drops in particular economic sectors (such as the stats on international travel in first quarters of 2017, here [http://time.com/money/4949570/trump-slump-international-tourism-decline-us-economy/](http://time.com/money/4949570/trump-slump-international-tourism-decline-us-economy/) ), the more the investor class will start to wonder if Pence might be a lot better for business than Crazy Donnie. ---
**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 8, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16526 "2018-02-08T23:40:44Z")
Maybe. I think what happened is people saw Donald Trump goving the SOTU and are now starting to panic. 😉 ETA: or what Sherrerd said. ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16527 "2018-02-08T23:53:08Z")
Chuck Todd with a great summary of The Reality TV White House: [**Chuck Todd: It’s difficult to take the level of ‘crazy’ of this White House**](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/373046-chuck-todd-its-difficult-to-take-the-level-of-crazy-of-this-white-house) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16528 "2018-02-08T23:54:09Z")
My uninformed opinion: it’s a correction. The fundamentals of the US economy are OK. But investors have realized that there was no good reason for the DOW to have climbed those last 3,000 points (it’s what Alan Greenspan called “irrational exuberance”), so they’re letting some air out of the balloon. The caveat is that there might also be a smidgen of concern about interest rates, an overheated economy, and inflation. But that’s not the same as saying we’re on the brink of a 2008-style collapse. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16529 "2018-02-09T00:41:34Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > (highlighting mine) > > Is it possible that investor confidence has been affected by the inherently unstable situation of having an unhinged President? And in the past few days, investors will have noted that the current ‘adult supervisor’ may not be long for that job. (Kelly is getting so many headlines over his support of his wife-beatin’ protégé, that Trump will be feeling the way he always does when someone else is getting the headlines, i.e. “he’s got to go.”) > > The more statistics come out about drops in particular economic sectors (such as the stats on international travel in first quarters of 2017, here [http://time.com/money/4949570/trump-slump-international-tourism-decline-us-economy/](http://time.com/money/4949570/trump-slump-international-tourism-decline-us-economy/) ), the more the investor class will start to wonder if Pence might be a lot better for business than Crazy Donnie. Wall Street might start grumbling to Mnuchin about this, then? And then he’ll [tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…?](https://youtu.be/mcskckuosxQ?t=21) Would it be worth it for the stock market to outright crash, if it came to that, (well, not all the way to '29 levels), to turn the megarich against Trump? In what might be one of the most carrot-up-the-ass names I’ve ever heard, some dong-headed friend of Rob Porter’s by the esteemed name of - yes - Skiffington Holderness (current husband of Rob’s ex-wife) tried to [handwave issues regarding the former White House staff secretary’s background.](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/08/politics/rob-porter-fbi-background-check/index.html) ---
**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:** [February 9, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16530 "2018-02-09T01:01:14Z")
missed edit window - I stand corrected - it was a friend of the awesomely named Skiffington Holderness - the much more normally-named Bryan Cunningham - who wrote the email. ---
**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 9, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16531 "2018-02-09T01:05:52Z")
> [@OwnRules](#): > > Chuck Todd with a great summary of The Reality TV White House: > > [**Chuck Todd: It’s difficult to take the level of ‘crazy’ of this White House**](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/373046-chuck-todd-its-difficult-to-take-the-level-of-crazy-of-this-white-house) aside: every time I see Chuck Todd, I start looking around for Allison Janney. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16532 "2018-02-09T01:29:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > You are correct. THIS will get people’s attention. Dream on. As long as he can (and he will) blame President Obama, his supporters will continue to believe him. ---
**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 9, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16533 "2018-02-09T01:43:56Z")
> [@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) So much for being one of the “adults” in the White House – more like one of those chain-smoking, “wife beater”-wearing old guys that used to make his way to the back room of the video store back in the day. ---
**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 9, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16534 "2018-02-09T01:45:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > You are correct. THIS will get people’s attention. A drop in the stock market won’t do it; we’ll have to be standing in bread lines and fighting for seats in the soup kitchens before we’ll finally become outraged enough. ---
**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 9, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16535 "2018-02-09T01:50:07Z")
> [@OwnRules](#): > > Chuck Todd with a great summary of The Reality TV White House: > > [**Chuck Todd: It’s difficult to take the level of ‘crazy’ of this White House**](http://thehill.com/homenews/media/373046-chuck-todd-its-difficult-to-take-the-level-of-crazy-of-this-white-house) Yeah, well they helped create it. So tell Chucky to go grab a six pack and a bucket of popcorn, and that he can sit down and shut the fuck up and watch this drama unfold like the rest of us. The media does not understand how to treat a guy like Donald Trump. They are confounded by him. They believe that they have to give him “fair” coverage, and yet any time he and his minions appear in the press, it’s strictly to sell their version of events. They’re not the least bit interested in truth. Oh sure, they might follow up one remark with a follow-up question or some sort of mild rebuttal, but they let the interview continue and thank them for their time at the end. And that’s exactly how they continue to become normalized. At the first sign or mention of “alternative facts” they should tell them to get the fuck off the set and go to a commercial break. Full stop. Otherwise, they are being used and manipulated, and that manipulation will eventually be used to end freedom of the press. Nobody has told the media that they’re not obligated to give them a seat at the table if they’re not interested in providing factual information. The media is obligated to give them an equal opportunity to act in good faith; they are not obligated to give them equal time or equal coverage - that should depend on whether their subjects operate in good faith. These are two completely separate things. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16536 "2018-02-09T01:53:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Hope Hicks wrote the talking points for Sarah Huckabee yesterday about Rob Porter. Hope Hicks dates Rob Porter. > How was it that Rob Porter was allowed to travel with the President of the United States when he was not allowed a security clearance because of his KNOWN criminal history? Did you know that Hope Hicks anagrams to He Picks Ho? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16537 "2018-02-09T04:34:15Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Dream on. As long as he can (and he will) blame President Obama, his supporters will continue to believe him. > [@asahi](#): > > A drop in the stock market won’t do it; we’ll have to be standing in bread lines and fighting for seats in the soup kitchens before we’ll finally become outraged enough. [Truly amazing](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-breaks-silence-stock-market-decline-52905310). It’s the stock market’s fault for reacting negatively to “so much good news”. :smack::smack::smack::smack::smack: ---
**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:** [February 9, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16538 "2018-02-09T04:36:15Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > A drop in the stock market won’t do it; we’ll have to be standing in bread lines and fighting for seats in the soup kitchens before we’ll finally become outraged enough. Who is this “we?” Most of us here are already outraged. The low-income, low-information blue collar Trump supporters won’t flip until it gets to the point of breadlines. But the high-investment blue bloods who voted for Trump while holding their noses will flip on his ass the minute the market starts showing signs of costing them any $$$. They’re not loyal to him cuz he’s anti-Muslim and “pro-life.” ---
**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 9, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16539 "2018-02-09T04:37:23Z")
Kellyanne Conway is the new opioid epidemic czar. Her assistant is the totally inexperienced 32 year old son of Rudy Giuliani, who previously was a minor league golfer. > **[Bratty Giuliani Son Is The Trump Administration's Idea Of A Drug Policy Expert](https://crooksandliars.com/2018/02/bratty-giuliani-son-trump-administrations)** > > This Politico story is getting a lot of attention: All the best people. ---
**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 9, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16540 "2018-02-09T05:02:33Z")
Donnie is getting the shutdown he wanted tonight at midnight. ---
**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:** [February 9, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16541 "2018-02-09T05:10:34Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Kellyanne Conway is the new opioid epidemic czar. Her assistant is the totally inexperienced 32 year old son of Rudy Giuliani, who previously was a minor league golfer. > [Bratty Giuliani Son Is The Trump Administration's Idea Of A Drug Policy Expert | Crooks and Liars](https://crooksandliars.com/2018/02/bratty-giuliani-son-trump-administrations) > > All the best people. Actually I’ve heard that Guiliani’s son has had a lot of direct experience with golfer junkies, so this is all on the level…like, it’s all good. > [@asahi](#): > > At the first sign or mention of “alternative facts” they should tell them to get the fuck off the set and go to a commercial break. Full stop. Otherwise, they are being used and manipulated, and that manipulation will eventually be used to end freedom of the press. Wouldn’t that mean that about oh, 97.3% of whatever преЦАРдент Trump starts into would have to get cut to a commercial break? And probably a good, what - 75% of what the remaining WH admin. says? Flake (and Lankford when talking about bipartisan efforts) are the only two (R.)s I have never fast-forwarded over. All the others - every. single. fucking. time. (Which is frustrating because it’s so easy to overshoot into the next story Judy’s on.) I could mute them, but just looking at those GFPOS (gross fucking pieces of shit) moving their mouths is enough to get me to impatiently hit FF, while also always making sure to tell them to go jump in a lake. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16542 "2018-02-09T05:34:55Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Seen it before, but I still like the “Really?” expression in response to “there’s not one right answer.” He almost looks like a father patiently humoring his daughter as she talks about the unicorns and rainbows. He looks to me like he’s not so much holding his head with his fist as holding his fist with his head to keep from doing the kind of gestures he’d really like to do. I’ve seen similar facial expressions on people who eventually said “excuse me” and left the room for a couple of minutes of deeeeeeeep… breaths. ---
**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 9, 2018, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16543 "2018-02-09T05:37:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Donald Trump is now responsible for the two largest 1-day drops in the Dow Joans (as expressed in points, not %). > > When he starts making the rich poorer… that’s when the Repubs will move against him. Not until then, though. Does anyone know why the Dow is dropping so dramatically? I"ve heard this is a market correction, but the Dow has lost 10% of its value in a week. That seems too rapid to be a correction. I’ve heard that the tax cut and the 1 trillion deficit is going to harm the economy (raising interest rates) and that is why the dow dropped. Does anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16544 "2018-02-09T05:44:50Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Rumor is he had some kind of scalp reduction surgery in the 80s to help with his baldness. Back then I guess they didn’t have as many baldness treatments. Yeah, I heard at the time that he had tissue expanders placed under his scalp and at least some of the bald skin cut off. This method of treating male pattern baldness did not catch on, assuming the story is true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=826) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=828)