# 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:** 831
**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 10, 2018, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16605 "2018-02-10T02:41:53Z")
[Clusterfuck shrinkage](https://apnews.com/6b35521dd028411191df9268a28c971a/The-Latest:-Speechwriter-resigns-after-abuse-allegations)! > [@](#): > > A second White House staffer has departed the Trump administration in the wake of abuse allegations. > > Spokesman Raj Shah confirms speechwriter David Sorensen resigned Friday after the White House learned of the allegations against him. > > Shah says Sorensen denies the allegations, which were first reported by The Washington Post. > > The Post says Sorensen’s ex-wife claimed he was violent and emotionally abusive during their short-lived marriage. ---
**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 10, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16606 "2018-02-10T04:23:35Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You haven’t explained why such ties are dangerous. Anyway, what are those ties? Really, Monty, what the fuck do you want me to explain to you? What more needs to be explained? I told you: the military is the ultimate lever of power – in any country. I don’t have a fucking crystal ball, so if you want a prophesy, consult Jesus. But if you want to know what happens when you have a president and legislative majority that willingly colludes with an anti-democratic power, a congress that refuses to act as a constitutional check on presidential power, an administration and congress that collectively gaslight the public and attack the criminal justice system, and officials who engage in misinformation, then I really shouldn’t have to explain the dangers of having three former (and actually one active) military commander who willingly, knowingly serve in the capacity of such a regime. You think the fact that we’re a democracy somehow inoculates us against military mischief? Look, Thailand is, or at least, has been a “democracy” – you’re not that far away. Visit the Kingdom and tell me if you think it’s a democracy in reality. ---
**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 10, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16607 "2018-02-10T04:42:13Z")
Adding to the WH Exodus: Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour mentioned that no 3 official at the DoJ, Rachel Brand, will be leaving for the private sector. She would have replaced Rosenstein had President Red Pill fired Mueller. [Slate Story](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/rachel-brand-is-leaving-doj-are-we-headed-for-a-massacre.html) > [@](#): > > It’s worth noting that the executive order says Trump “retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law” to go around this line of succession to select an acting attorney general on his own. But doing so in an effort to squelch an investigation into himself, his allies, and his family would conceivably be such a transparent effort to subvert the rule of law as to be a political liability **even within the Republican Party**. Gee - “…permitted by law…” Now _there’s_ a fun phrase to grapple around with. My bolded part I’m a little :dubious: of. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16608 "2018-02-10T05:14:59Z")
Isn’t it an old business practice to hire away an opponent’s key talent? We have a guy elected to run the country like a business… ---
**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 10, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16609 "2018-02-10T05:38:55Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > … such a transparent effort to subvert the rule of law as to be a political liability **even within the Republican Party**. > > My bolded part I’m a little :dubious: of. The evidence suggests that the Rs have hit bottom. Plowed right through it and kept on going. Whilst exhorting to us the great view and delightful alpine breezes. (or perhaps “bottom” involves an entirely different usage for them …) ---
**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 10, 2018, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16610 "2018-02-10T05:50:19Z")
Speechwriter David Sorensen has resigned after abuse accusations. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2018, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16611 "2018-02-10T08:37:11Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Speechwriter David Sorensen has resigned after abuse accusations. Only the _best_ people. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16612 "2018-02-10T08:44:40Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Speechwriter David Sorensen has resigned after abuse accusations. Should have stuck with [farnarkling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X454D3Fzwso) ---
**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 10, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16613 "2018-02-10T13:11:57Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Adding to the WH Exodus: > > Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour mentioned that no 3 official at the DoJ, Rachel Brand, will be leaving for the private sector. She would have replaced Rosenstein had President Red Pill fired Mueller. > > [Slate Story](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/rachel-brand-is-leaving-doj-are-we-headed-for-a-massacre.html) > > Gee - “…permitted by law…” > Now _there’s_ a fun phrase to grapple around with. > My bolded part I’m a little :dubious: of. The Republican party is committed to destroying the rule of law; circumventing or subverting it is not at all a liability. Meanwhile, we’re on track to pass a budget with a trillion dollar deficit. That won’t have any consequences. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16614 "2018-02-10T13:15:44Z")
A trillion here, a trillion there. Pretty soon it really adds up to something. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16615 "2018-02-10T15:04:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Only the _best_ people. Top men. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16616 "2018-02-10T15:07:48Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The Republican party is committed to destroying the rule of law; circumventing or subverting it is not at all a liability. > > Meanwhile, we’re on track to pass a budget with a trillion dollar deficit. That won’t have any consequences. Deficits? Deficits only mattered when Obama was prez. They are CREATING a deficit now, with their tax give away. They will then use this as the excuse to gut any program or policy that doesn’t directly benefit the Kochs, Mercers, Trump’s own wallet, etc. It’s all a lie, this deficit crap, and it always has been. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16617 "2018-02-10T15:08:46Z")
It’ll be very interesting when Donny Twoscoops is sitting in the White House all alone. Of course, that isn’t entirely true. There will be an endless string of singularly unqualified people looking to kiss his ass and take the money if only for the national exposure. Hell, I admit it. I’d do it. I’d call him an asshole, moron and other words directly to his face every time he said something stupid and every time he screamed at me, I’d scream back until I was fired. Just for the lols. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16618 "2018-02-10T15:20:20Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It’ll be very interesting when Donny Twoscoops is sitting in the White House all alone. > > Of course, that isn’t entirely true. There will be an endless string of singularly unqualified people looking to kiss his ass and take the money if only for the national exposure. > > Hell, I admit it. I’d do it. I’d call him an asshole, moron and other words directly to his face every time he said something stupid and every time he screamed at me, I’d scream back until I was fired. Just for the lols. So would I. I’d love to give him a heart attack or apoplexy fit. He can’t deal with (I mean bully) anyone he doesn’t have leverage or an unfair advantage over. But there would be NO nondisclosure crap signed, EVER. ---
**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 10, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16619 "2018-02-10T16:46:24Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > It’ll be very interesting when Donny Twoscoops is sitting in the White House all alone. > > Of course, that isn’t entirely true. There will be an endless string of singularly unqualified people looking to kiss his ass and take the money if only for the national exposure. I think you have spotted the mechanism here. The Shitgibbon is a singularity of stupid. Surrounding whatever milieu he occupies is an intellect horizon, across which thoughts are stretched out and crushed into infinitesimal tendrils of meaninglessness that disappear into the singularity never to be seen again. Around the horizon circulates a constant disc of idiots, each one being drained of mental capacity (slowly or quickly) until they become a wasted hulk of empty humanoidy that vanishes into ignominy. Now, if we could only contain this astronomical moronery in just that one spot, rather than allowing it to draw out the stupid from across the country, average Americans might be spared from excessive exposure to this dangerous flux. This is a difficult effort though, and those of us who are trying do not seem to be having much success. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16620 "2018-02-10T16:51:05Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > So would I. I’d love to give him a heart attack or apoplexy fit. He can’t deal with (I mean bully) anyone he doesn’t have leverage or an unfair advantage over. > > But there would be NO nondisclosure crap signed, EVER. Given the way this WH seems to “work” I think there’s a reasonable chance that if you handwrote “Refuse to Sign” on the line for your signature, no one would catch that you didn’t indeed sign it. IANAL so I’m wondering if signing anything but your name would make the nondisclosure not binding on you. What if you signed Vladimir Putin or Cadet Bone Spurs? I’m thinking that maybe they could charge you with misrepresentation, but couldn’t legally prevent you from disclosing whatever you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16621 "2018-02-10T17:01:48Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Given the way this WH seems to “work” I think there’s a reasonable chance that if you handwrote “Refuse to Sign” on the line for your signature, no one would catch that you didn’t indeed sign it. > > IANAL so I’m wondering if signing anything but your name would make the nondisclosure not binding on you. What if you signed Vladimir Putin or Cadet Bone Spurs? I’m thinking that maybe they could charge you with misrepresentation, but couldn’t legally prevent you from disclosing whatever you wanted. The fact that you signed it is the binding force, not the name you signed it with. Oh, and if you received any benefits from the contract, you might go down for fraud. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16622 "2018-02-10T17:09:54Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > Given the way this WH seems to “work” I think there’s a reasonable chance that if you handwrote “Refuse to Sign” on the line for your signature, no one would catch that you didn’t indeed sign it. > > IANAL so I’m wondering if signing anything but your name would make the nondisclosure not binding on you. What if you signed Vladimir Putin or Cadet Bone Spurs? I’m thinking that maybe they could charge you with misrepresentation, but couldn’t legally prevent you from disclosing whatever you wanted. My boss called me into her office and made me skim and sign an idiotic Nondisclosure that included lines like “I comply with this rule, and agree that I am prohibited from seeking employment with any firm in the field of marketing or design within ten years of leaving The Company”. My scrawly signature looks a lot like \*\*\*Dontthinki’ll Signthis \*\*\*(glad I could think of something on the spot that matched the initials DS). A lawyer friend said I was safe, but that even if I hadn’t done this, most NDAs are so broad that they fall apart in court. ---
**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 11, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16623 "2018-02-11T00:57:43Z")
What you describe actually sounds more like a Non-Compete Agreement. No idea if that has any bearing on what your lawyer friend told you. P.S. Although, even if you had signed your real name, the fact that you signed it in _ **Comic Sans** _ probably rendered it unenforceable anyway… ---
**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:** [February 11, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16624 "2018-02-11T01:10:28Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What you describe actually sounds more like a Non-Compete Agreement. No idea if that has any bearing on what your lawyer friend told you. > > P.S. Although, even if you had signed your real name, the fact that you signed it in _ **Comic Sans** _ probably rendered it unenforceable anyway… Are you kidding? Show that to the judge and it’s automatic contempt of court. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=830) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=832)