# 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:** 829
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16565 "2018-02-09T17:02:08Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Does anyone know why the Dow is dropping so dramatically? I don’t really have any idea what I’m talking about, but I have a pet theory. Sure, all the economists and economics reporters and the eggheads who show up on Marketplace all say it’s a correction or profit taking, or some other perfectly sensible opinion probably backed up by things like “studies” and “statistics” and :expertise". Bah! My theory, backed up by my gut and my partisan biases, is that we’re headed to a government upheaval and possible Constitutional crisis, as well as possibly a war on the Korean Peninsula. I don’t think any of those things are going to help the market. Getting some cash out now might not be a bad idea. ---
**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, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16566 "2018-02-09T17:05:33Z")
Back to the clusterfuck. We all know that thump has the attention span of a goldfish and hates to read, so this article is no surprise: [Breaking with tradition, Trump skips written intelligence reports](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBIVbez?m=en-us) > [@](#): > > Trump has opted to rely on an oral briefing of select intelligence issues in the Oval Office rather than getting the full written document delivered to review separately each day, according to three people familiar with his briefings. > > Reading the traditionally dense intelligence book is not Trump’s preferred “style of learning,” according to a person with knowledge of the situation. > > The arrangement underscores Trump’s impatience with exhaustive classified documents that go to the commander in chief — material that he has said he prefers condensed as much as possible. But by not reading the dailybriefing, the president could hamper his ability to respond to crises in the most effective manner, intelligence experts warned. > … Yeah, we knew this. But what about this comment, from waaaaay down in the long article: > [@](#): > > The Washington Post [reported\*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/?utm_term=.a2b6cc02ac74) last year that intelligence officials in some cases have included Russia-related intelligence only in the president’s daily written assessment, steering clear of it in the oral briefing in order not to upset Trump. > … WTF? We know he’s not going to read it, but let’s not even tell the president important shit because it might upset him? \*_From that article: “U.S. officials declined to discuss whether the stream of recent intelligence on Russia has been shared with Trump. Current and former officials said that his daily intelligence update — known as the president’s daily brief, or PDB — is often structured to avoid upsetting him.”_ ---
**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 9, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16567 "2018-02-09T17:09:31Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Already has been, some pharma companies love the theatre. You are talking about a private company. That’s a different beast. I am talking about public. I am talking about when you leave your house, drive a block, then talk to the guards at the checkpoint as to your reason for leaving your neighborhood. ---
**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 9, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16568 "2018-02-09T17:13:05Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I don’t really have any idea what I’m talking about, but I have a pet theory. Sure, all the economists and economics reporters and the eggheads who show up on Marketplace all say it’s a correction or profit taking, or some other perfectly sensible opinion probably backed up by things like “studies” and “statistics” and :expertise". Bah! My theory, backed up by my gut and my partisan biases, is that we’re headed to a government upheaval and possible Constitutional crisis, as well as possibly a war on the Korean Peninsula. I don’t think any of those things are going to help the market. Getting some cash out now might not be a bad idea. The economy is all about confidence, so as long as everyone is confident that the economy is doing fine, it will be. That’s the reason for all these assurances. If they were up there saying, “We’re all doomed! Sell, sell, sell!” then we would be. I am concerned that the fundamentals of the market are not as healthy as they need to be to tend to their own devices, and that it does require active monitoring by the fed in order to keep the economy going correctly. I don’t know how much confidence I have in the fed, especially since several members have not been appointed yet. Everyone is just trying to keep a brave face, hiding the terror of falling through the exceptionally thin ice we tread upon. ---
**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, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16569 "2018-02-09T17:26:19Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Back to the clusterfuck. We all know that thump has the attention span of a goldfish and hates to read, so this article is no surprise: > [Breaking with tradition, Trump skips written intelligence reports](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBIVbez?m=en-us)Yeah, we knew this. But what about this comment, from waaaaay down in the long article: WTF? We know he’s not going to read it, but let’s not even tell the president important shit because it might upset him? > > \*_From that article: “U.S. officials declined to discuss whether the stream of recent intelligence on Russia has been shared with Trump. Current and former officials said that his daily intelligence update — known as the president’s daily brief, or PDB — is often structured to avoid upsetting him.”_ OK, then he is not the President. I mean, if they are worried about hurting his feelings or making him anxious, thereby withholding important information from him, they are running the country, not him. Why the fuck is he even there? ---
**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 9, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16570 "2018-02-09T17:31:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > OK, then he is not the President. I mean, if they are worried about hurting his feelings or making him anxious, thereby withholding important information from him, they are running the country, not him. Why the fuck is he even there? It’s not important information. It’s just security briefings that would let him know what is going on around the world and in the country. Why would he need to know those sorts of things? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16571 "2018-02-09T17:45:26Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Back to the clusterfuck. We all know that thump has the attention span of a goldfish and hates to read, so this article is no surprise: > [Breaking with tradition, Trump skips written intelligence reports](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBIVbez?m=en-us)Yeah, we knew this. But what about this comment, from waaaaay down in the long article: WTF? We know he’s not going to read it, but let’s not even tell the president important shit because it might upset him? > > \*_From that article: “U.S. officials declined to discuss whether the stream of recent intelligence on Russia has been shared with Trump. Current and former officials said that his daily intelligence update — known as the president’s daily brief, or PDB — is often structured to avoid upsetting him.”_ I wonder if the reason that Trump wants the briefings read aloud is because he knows the Russians slipped a bug into the oval office during one of those photo ops with the Russian media? ---
**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, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16572 "2018-02-09T17:52:13Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I wonder if the reason that Trump wants the briefings read aloud is because he knows the Russians slipped a bug into the oval office during one of those photo ops with the Russian media? Ooooo…clever. But I think you’re giving thump too much credit for being able to see beyond the end of his … um, nose. ---
**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 9, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16573 "2018-02-09T18:02:26Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ooooo…clever. But I think you’re giving thump too much credit for being able to see beyond the end of his … um, nose. That’s why it was a suggestion from his обработчик. ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16574 "2018-02-09T18:26:47Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I give up. How are those “military ties” dangerous? It’s not just his ties to the military; it’s the most militarized cabinet in memory. Kelly, Mattis, McMaster, and others are capable of taking steps to bring us closer to the point of removing civilian control of the military. And if you think the a little piece of paper known as the Constitution and federal judges can stop them, think again. ---
**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, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16575 "2018-02-09T18:29:21Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Well, a 10% drop is the very definition of a “correction”. Why it happened? Who knows. Pundits have their theories. > > If we get to a 20% drop, that’s a “bear market”. A lot of this is related to algorithmic trading, with computer bots racing each other to the millisecond to execute a trade faster than the next bot trader. Depending on the algorithm, if the bots detect movement in sufficient quantity, maybe they all are set to move at the wrong time and a sell-off begins. These very same forces can trigger a buy back in a day or two. ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16576 "2018-02-09T18:36:00Z")
[**Trump on Aide Accused of Domestic Abuse: “We Hope That He Has a Wonderful Career”**](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/02/trump-on-aide-accused-of-domestic-abuse-we-hope-that-he-has-a-wonderful-career/) ---
**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 9, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16577 "2018-02-09T18:42:51Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > I wonder if the reason that Trump wants the briefings read aloud is because he knows the Russians slipped a bug into the oval office during one of those photo ops with the Russian media? I think it’s because he’s functionally illiterate, added to an attention span shorter than a gnat’s. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16578 "2018-02-09T18:58:45Z")
WeRe: the market, keep in mind that we have had huge, sustained and accelerating gains in stock prices while overall economic growth has just plodded along. P/E ratios we’re around 23, which is historically high. The pullback might be simple gravity. ---
**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, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16579 "2018-02-09T19:30:43Z")
Betsy DeVos is hurt, \*\*\*hurt \*\*\*that anybody could possibly think she doesn’t have the best interests of the students at heart. > **[DeVos strikes a softer tone](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-education/2018/02/08/devos-strikes-a-softer-tone-096814)** > > Highlights from DeVos’ conversation with reporters — A fresh look at first-generation college students ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16580 "2018-02-09T19:35:31Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > WeRe: the market, keep in mind that we have had huge, sustained and accelerating gains in stock prices while overall economic growth has just plodded along. P/E ratios we’re around 23, which is historically high. > > The pullback might be simple gravity. This. There was no solid reason for those gains. Market Correction is a completely appropriate term here. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16581 "2018-02-09T19:36:27Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > WeRe: the market, keep in mind that we have had huge, sustained and accelerating gains in stock prices while overall economic growth has just plodded along. P/E ratios we’re around 23, which is historically high. > > The pullback might be simple gravity. Yup, I pointed that out a few days ago. 150 year average P/E is 16.8. We’d need a 30% correction to get to “average”. ---
**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 9, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16582 "2018-02-09T19:41:32Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Yup, I pointed that out a few days ago. 150 year average P/E is 16.8. We’d need a 30% correction to get to “average”. Or, we could get more money in the hands of people that spend it in the economy on consumer goods, increasing the earnings of these companies, and bringing down the P/E ratios by increasing earnings, rather than decreasing price. ---
**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 9, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16583 "2018-02-09T19:49:52Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Or, we could get more money in the hands of people that spend it in the economy on consumer goods… Ahahahahahahahahaha! Say, what are you? Some kind of _Communist?_ Why do you want to turn The United States of America into North Korea? :dubious: :mad: ---
**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 9, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16584 "2018-02-09T20:06:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Ahahahahahahahahaha! > > Say, what are you? Some kind of _Communist?_ Why do you want to turn The United States of America into North Korea? :dubious: :mad: I do it for the vodka. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=828) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=830)