# 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:** 837
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16725 "2018-02-13T00:50:30Z")
Oh…and [this](https://www.npr.org/2018/02/12/584980698/trump-administration-to-defang-consumer-protection-watchdog) was a pleasant story I heard today on my way into work about how Mulvaney is dropping a lawsuit against one of the worst actors in the payday lending business. The only silver lining was hearing one of the customers who got screwed talk about how she voted for Trump and now feels betrayed. (I guess she though he would only screw Muslims and brown people.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16726 "2018-02-13T01:29:38Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > Wasn’t the Sheriff of Nottingham a Norman, the oppression of Saxons being the point of the story? > [@eschereal](#): > > Not really. The oppression was at the hand of John, who was trying to take control of England in the absence of King Richard Lionheart while he was off trying to drive Muslims out of the Levant. John was heir to the throne next after Richard. In other words, the good guy and the bad guy were full brothers. Back then, a lot of positions, even Tax Collector, were sold to the highest bidder, who would logically be expected to make back their costs through corruption. As Richard and John were trying to raise funds for the crusades (and to keep the Pope off their backs), the Sheriff was a corrupt asshole who paid a lot of money for the rights to basically own that land and everyone in it. That’s kind of how they got to the Magna Carta. The nobles were getting really tired of all the extortion and bullshit draining their own wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16727 "2018-02-13T01:30:46Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > The only silver lining was hearing one of the customers who got screwed talk about how she voted for Trump and now feels betrayed. (I guess she though he would only screw Muslims and brown people.) _‘I thought the leopards would only eat Liberal faces!’_ ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16728 "2018-02-13T01:33:13Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Trump sold a ton of condos in New York to Russians for massively inflated prices too. > > If nothing else, from what I’ve read, Mueller has Trump cold on money laundering charges. New York and New Jersey AG’s offices were called in too, so they may come as state charges, which would mean he can’t issue himself a pardon for them. On the one hand, I want to see him wiped out, crushed, ruined, and humiliated right now. On the other hand I want the Fed and the states to take their time, use all due care, and make SURE he can’t weasel, squirm, or bribe his way out like he has consistently done in the past. And yes, at the state level he has no pardon power. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16729 "2018-02-13T01:38:41Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > On the one hand, I want to see him wiped out, crushed, ruined, and humiliated right now. > > On the other hand I want the Fed and the states to take their time, use all due care, and make SURE he can’t weasel, squirm, or bribe his way out like he has consistently done in the past. > > And yes, at the state level he has no pardon power. Yup, had that conversation with my father yesterday and he felt the same way. No, I don’t want him to be assassinated, die of a stroke or anything like that. I don’t want him to be impeached over something stupid. I want to see him utterly ruined, humiliated and abandoned by his so-called allies and sycophants. ---
**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 13, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16730 "2018-02-13T02:14:55Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > The only silver lining was hearing one of the customers who got screwed talk about how she voted for Trump and now feels betrayed. (I guess she though he would only screw Muslims and brown people.) > [@Chimera](#): > > _‘I thought the leopards would only eat Liberal faces!’_ 😃 > [@](#): > > ‘I never thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party. ETA: Do we know who came up with that? ---
**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 13, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16731 "2018-02-13T02:30:01Z")
[Tim Cahill](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/917868.Jaguars_Ripped_My_Flesh) ---
**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 13, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16732 "2018-02-13T03:26:15Z")
Clusterfuck by the numbers: > [@](#): > > More than a year into his administration, President Trump is presiding over a staff in turmoil, one with a 34 percent turnover rate, higher than any White House in decades. He has struggled to fill openings, unwilling to hire Republicans he considers disloyal and unable to entice Republicans who consider him unstable. Those who do come to work for him often do not last long, burning out from a volatile, sometimes cutthroat environment exacerbated by tweets and subpoenas. [Cite](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBJ3Dxk?m=en-us) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16733 "2018-02-13T03:27:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Back then, a lot of positions, even Tax Collector, were sold to the highest bidder, who would logically be expected to make back their costs through corruption. As Richard and John were trying to raise funds for the crusades (and to keep the Pope off their backs), the Sheriff was a corrupt asshole who paid a lot of money for the rights to basically own that land and everyone in it. > > That’s kind of how they got to the Magna Carta. The nobles were getting really tired of all the extortion and bullshit draining their own wallets. Sounds oddly familiar. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16734 "2018-02-13T03:54:07Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Yup, had that conversation with my father yesterday and he felt the same way. No, I don’t want him to be assassinated, die of a stroke or anything like that. I don’t want him to be impeached over something stupid. > > I want to see him utterly ruined, humiliated and abandoned by his so-called allies and sycophants. Much as I’d love to see this, too, it simply will never happen. If he’s economically crushed and reduced to penury, he has enough connections with the rich that they’ll maintain the gilded lifestyle for his paunchy ass until he’s good and dead. I hope they won’t keep supporting his horrible children, though. Eric needs to get a job shoveling up the elephants’ bowel movements at Ringling Brothers. ---
**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 13, 2018, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16735 "2018-02-13T04:19:30Z")
That is too good for him. They all need to be employed at cleaning barnacles off the hull. Using their backs. ---
**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 13, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16736 "2018-02-13T04:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Those who do come to work for him often do not last long, burning out from a volatile, sometimes cutthroat environment There was another Leader who pitted factions of his Party against each other, resulting in a cutthroat environment where people battled for the Leader’s favour. I heard Loser Donnie read his book. (OTOH, I’ve heard Loser Donnie can’t read.) ---
**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 13, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16737 "2018-02-13T04:28:12Z")
Trump family, not Administration. [Vanessa Trump taken to hospital after white powder scare](http://start.att.net/news/read/article/the_associated_press-police_donald_trump_jrs_wife_exposed_to_white_powd-ap/category/news) > [@](#): > > Donald Trump Jr.'s wife was taken to a New York City hospital on Monday as a precaution after she opened an envelope addressed to her husband that contained **an unidentified white powder, though police later said the substance wasn’t dangerous** , authorities said. > > The frightening episode happened after 10 a.m. when Trump, 40, opened the letter addressed to the president’s son at her mother’s midtown Manhattan apartment, investigators said. **She called 911 and said she was coughing and felt nauseous,** police said. Bit of a drama queen there. I’d say their security needs someone with a brain. > [@](#): > > The Trump family has had to deal with a number of similar scares. > > In March 2016, police detectives and FBI agents investigated a threatening letter sent to the Manhattan apartment of Donald Trump Jr.'s brother, Eric, that also contained a white powder that turned out to be harmless. Envelopes containing white powder were also sent to Trump Tower, which served as Trump’s campaign headquarters, twice in 2016. So at what point does it dawn on someone to screen the fucking mail? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16738 "2018-02-13T04:54:37Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Eric needs to get a job shoveling up the elephants’ bowel movements at Ringling Brothers. While I like that image a lot, Ringling Brothers no longer uses elephants in its show. He could shovel up the poop at the Ringling Brothers Elephant Retirement Reserve, though. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16739 "2018-02-13T06:51:15Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > But why would a buyer need to disclose the source of the money to the seller in the first place? > > In any case, this feels like a hijack, so [I started a new thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20783461). Wow, I never expected my dumb\* question to kick off so much discussion! 🙂 \*And nobody called me dumb for asking it, even here in the Pit! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16740 "2018-02-13T13:05:52Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > While I like that image a lot, Ringling Brothers no longer uses elephants in its show. He could shovel up the poop at the Ringling Brothers Elephant Retirement Reserve, though. Actually, Ringling Brothers put on its last show on May 21, 2017. It’s passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. THIS IS AN EX-CIRCUS!! If we could only say the same for the current administration… ---
**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 13, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16741 "2018-02-13T13:33:42Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Much as I’d love to see this, too, it simply will never happen. If he’s economically crushed and reduced to penury, he has enough connections with the rich that they’ll maintain the gilded lifestyle for his paunchy ass until he’s good and dead. I dunno – once Orangeanus Deploribus is no longer in a position to do favors for people, I can see his “friends” suddenly knowing not the man. The story could be like a minor Shakespearan tragedy: _The Lyfe of Trvmp the Asshole_. ---
**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 13, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16742 "2018-02-13T13:47:54Z")
Cadet Bone Spurs [hides behind Hucky Boo Boo’s skirts](http://theweek.com/speedreads/754819/sarah-huckabee-sanders-insists-trump-supports-victims-domestic-violence-believes-due-process) (again): > [@](#): > > …Reading from prepared remarks Monday, Sanders insisted that Trump “supports victims of domestic violence and believes everyone deserves to be treated fairly and with due process.” The press corps was not placated that easily, as ABC News’ Cecilia Vega asked why Trump hadn’t made any statement supporting the victims. “Why doesn’t the president say exactly what you just said right there?” Vega asked. Sanders maintained that she was “relaying” Trump’s words as dictated to her… I assume Vega’s question was rhetorical, as the answer (Cadet Bone Spurs is not willing to offend his basket-of-deplorables base by directly denouncing wife-beating) is painfully obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16743 "2018-02-13T13:49:12Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Actually, Ringling Brothers put on its last show on May 21, 2017. It’s passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. THIS IS AN EX-CIRCUS!! > > If we could only say the same for the current administration… And the prize for most superfluous reference goes to… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16744 "2018-02-13T15:47:57Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > So at what point does it dawn on someone to screen the fucking mail? You don’t want the help seeing the cashier’s checks made out to cash, do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=836) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=838)