# 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:** 846
**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 19, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16905 "2018-02-19T00:16:31Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Just when you think that worthless piece of trash can’t go any lower, he does. He’s going to pop out the other side into China any moment now. For accuracy’s sake, 40° 41’ 54.5" S, 106° 2’ 54.8" E. Southwest of the western point of the Great Australian Bight. 😉 ---
**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 19, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16906 "2018-02-19T00:57:33Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > … > “Trump takes on the FBI, Russia probe and 2016 election in a nine-hour **tweetstorm** ”… NINE HOURS?? And to think he gave up a day of golf for that. Any minute now thump is going to start a coast-to-coast search for the keys to the strawberry locker. ---
**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 19, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16907 "2018-02-19T00:58:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > For accuracy’s sake, 40° 41’ 54.5" S, 106° 2’ 54.8" E. Southwest of the western point of the Great Australian Bight. 😉 His tweetstorms usually come from that other place, which would be opposite about 26°40’S 99°58’E. Still in the sea, though. He would probably come up under a big piece of mh370 – then all that water would come pouring through the hole and flood the fairways. ---
**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 19, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16908 "2018-02-19T16:27:09Z")
I thought this was interesting and worthwhile reading (YMMV): [The Rob Porter Case: Scandal in the Demagogic Presidency](https://www.lawfareblog.com/rob-porter-case-scandal-demagogic-presidency) > [@](#): > > This is the nature and function of scandal in a demagogic presidency. > [@](#): > > A presidential scandal of any importance captures something essential about the administration in question and the politics of the time. In Watergate, a president overcome by his paranoia and resentments broke laws to undermine impassioned opposition to his war policies and his reelection. Iran-Contra featured Cold War intrigue and machinations in a weakly managed White House whose leader struggled with the details and legal implications. Bill Clinton’s troubles in 1998 began with personal behavior and exposed deep partisan division over the relevance of this conduct to his viability as a president—and the use and abuse of law and impeachment to settle the question. > > Of course, the unfolding and course of scandal is never straightforward. The press can succumb to investigative fever and overheat its coverage. The political opposition is always ready to make the most of its competitive opportunities. Policy and political differences may come to be “legalized” as prosecutors and lawyers take control of the definition of the issue. But true presidential scandals, both the lesser and the greater ones, are portraits of a presidency that bring out telling details about their subjects. > [@](#): > > Whether it comes to be judged a greater or lesser scandal, the debacle of Rob Porter—the White House staff secretary kept on at his post despite numerous allegations of abuse by his ex-wives and at least one from a former girlfriend—conveys much of what we might expect from the presidency of Donald Trump. The old slogan, the “personal is political,” is inverted in this government: its political or governing challenges are inevitably subordinated to the president’s whims, urges, impulses, or self-interested calculations. The demands of sound public administration, legal limits, institutional norms and ethical constraints are under constant pressure from the Trump ego. The president cannot get away from himself—a defining characteristic of a demagogue. > > But a demagogue in the Oval Office will be unlike other presidents in having both a propensity and a taste for scandal. Scandal is disruptive but also, for that reason, rich in opportunity for the demagogue: it helps fuel the perpetual combat on which the he thrives. So the way Trump operates makes scandal more likely; and once it is upon him, he will typically relish it. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16909 "2018-02-19T17:00:40Z")
Any noted seismic activity recently must have been James Buchanan and William Henry Harrison scooting over to allow Trump to join them at the bottom. > **[Thanks to Trump, James Buchanan No Longer Ranks as Worst US President in...](https://www.thewrap.com/donald-trump-james-buchanan-approval-rating-president/)** > > POTUS is also lower on poll of poli-sci scholars than that guy who was in charge for 32 days -- then died ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16910 "2018-02-19T17:20:12Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > “President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the U.S. Constitution by discriminating on the basis of religion, a federal appeals court ruled on Thursday in another legal setback for the policy.” > > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/u-s-court-says-trump-travel-ban-unlawfully-discriminates-against-muslims-idUSKCN1FZ23U](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/u-s-court-says-trump-travel-ban-unlawfully-discriminates-against-muslims-idUSKCN1FZ23U) > > Trump loses again. Hopefully, after the Supreme Court hears this, He’ll still be a LOSER. Didn’t you hear? He is never a loser. He always wins until everyone is sick of winning all the time. It’s always because of bad people, illegal alien (Mexican) judges, and “UNFAIR”. What a whiny fucking bitch he is. What a god damn pussy. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16911 "2018-02-19T17:28:50Z")
Agreed, but he’s likely to have a friendlier audience with The Supremes. Fingers crossed, almost there. ---
**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 19, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16912 "2018-02-19T17:31:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I thought this was interesting and worthwhile reading (YMMV): [The Rob Porter Case: Scandal in the Demagogic Presidency](https://www.lawfareblog.com/rob-porter-case-scandal-demagogic-presidency) > > > [@](#): > > > > …Scandal is disruptive but also, for that reason, rich in opportunity for the demagogue: it helps fuel the perpetual combat on which the he thrives… Good article–very insightful. The part I cited is the essence of the way thump operates. He doesn’t want solutions to problems. He doesn’t want both/all sides to find common ground and work together. He feasts on conflict and chaos and if there isn’t any, he’ll create it. Resolution, compromise, even _peace_–those are all for losers. Trying to placate him, work with him, find something he will agree to–all worthless exercises. Even if he agrees to something one day, as soon as it looks like there will be a resolution (i.e., Dreamers issue), he will backtrack, change his mind, and deny he ever said, believed, promoted \. This is why it continues to make me NUTS when those in gummint keep trying to treat him like a normal person. He isn’t one. But he IS consistent and completely predictable. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16913 "2018-02-19T17:43:39Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Good article–very insightful. > > The part I cited is the essence of the way thump operates. He doesn’t want solutions to problems. He doesn’t want both/all sides to find common ground and work together. He feasts on conflict and chaos and if there isn’t any, he’ll create it. Resolution, compromise, even _peace_–those are all for losers. > > Trying to placate him, work with him, find something he will agree to–all worthless exercises. Even if he agrees to something one day, as soon as it looks like there will be a resolution (i.e., Dreamers issue), he will backtrack, change his mind, and deny he ever said, believed, promoted \. > > This is why it continues to make me NUTS when those in gummint keep trying to treat him like a normal person. He isn’t one. But he IS consistent and completely predictable. It’s true. Just look at how many times his own former press secretary (or any other flunky) tried to cover his sorry ass or explain away his missteps, only to have the moron tweet the very next day - pulling the rug out from under those trying to protect him - and then shitting on THEM. Look at how quick he rejected that bipartisan budget proposal, with the only possible reason being to force a government shutdown? Look at how he single handedly created the DACA clusterfuck to begin with, when he could have just left it alone as is. He creates chaos and he shits on friend and foe alike. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16914 "2018-02-19T17:45:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Sorry if I’ve missed it above, but I’m hearing now that a large GOP donor is threatening to stop donating unless some strong gun laws are passed. That’s Al Hoffman Jr. [From the NYT:](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/us/prominent-republican-donor-issues-ultimatum-on-assault-weapons.html) > [@](#): > > Mr. Hoffman announced his ultimatum in an email to half a dozen Republican leaders, including Jeb Bush and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida. He wrote in the email that he would not give money to Mr. Scott, who is considering a campaign for the Senate in 2018, or other Florida Republicans he has backed in the past, including Representative Brian Mast, if they did not support new gun legislation. > > “I will not write another check unless they all support a ban on assault weapons,” he wrote. “Enough is enough!” ---
**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 19, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16915 "2018-02-19T18:29:38Z")
I was kind of wondering about the FBI. Are persons who kit out and shoot the place up really under their mandate? Shitgibbon claimed that they dropped the ball on the Cruz thing – but was that really a thing meant for them to handle? The FBI goes after mobsters, racketeers, multi-state crime and terrorists. So, if you think Cruz fits in there, I guess he would have to be classified as a terrorist. Which I suspect might not be an unreasonable thing to do. He did sow a bit of terror, after all. But it does become a tad problematic, as we have seen him wearing a MAGAt hat and saying some alt-whitey stuff. So, if Shitgibbon thinks the FBI should have been on this guy, on the premise that he was pursuing terrorism, this would kind of put him in a difficult spot relative to his base. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16916 "2018-02-19T18:36:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > NINE HOURS?? > > And to think he gave up a day of golf for that. > > Any minute now thump is going to start a coast-to-coast search for the keys to the strawberry locker. [Ummm…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv1aczlrMsk) :eek: From [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=849408) thread in IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16917 "2018-02-19T18:48:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I was kind of wondering about the FBI. Are persons who kit out and shoot the place up really under their mandate? Shitgibbon claimed that they dropped the ball on the Cruz thing – but was that really a thing meant for them to handle? > > The FBI goes after mobsters, racketeers, multi-state crime and terrorists. So, if you think Cruz fits in there, I guess he would have to be classified as a terrorist. Which I suspect might not be an unreasonable thing to do. He did sow a bit of terror, after all. But it does become a tad problematic, as we have seen him wearing a MAGAt hat and saying some alt-whitey stuff. > > So, if Shitgibbon thinks the FBI should have been on this guy, on the premise that he was pursuing terrorism, this would kind of put him in a difficult spot relative to his base. I wanna know why the local Sheriff department never did anything. They KNEW about him. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16918 "2018-02-19T18:52:51Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I wanna know why the local Sheriff department never did anything. They KNEW about him. 39 police visits to the residence over 7 years, 20 911 calls about Cruz in the past few years, at least one CPS visit, and (if the reports are true) he introduced himself with “Hi. I’m Nick. I’m a school shooter.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16919 "2018-02-19T18:58:08Z")
What else \*could \*they legally do? Hint: Nothing. ---
**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 19, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16920 "2018-02-19T19:03:01Z")
> [@Plumpudding](#): > > [Ummm…](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv1aczlrMsk) > > :eek: > > From [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=849408) thread in IMHO. Color me dense, but not seeing the connection to my post. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16921 "2018-02-19T19:14:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Color me dense, but not seeing the connection to my post. I think it’s the combination of a child, a tantrum, and the length of the tantrum. ---
**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 19, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16922 "2018-02-19T19:20:08Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I think it’s the combination of a child, a tantrum, and the length of the tantrum. Oh. Too sub-tile for me, I guess. I can be very literal-minded. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16923 "2018-02-19T20:22:05Z")
The surviving [students from Parkland have responded](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/politics/donald-trump-florida-shooting-twitter/index.html) to the Howling Yam’s tweets: > [@Parkland Student](#): > > “17 of my classmates are gone. That’s 17 futures, 17 children, and 17 friends stolen. But you’re right, it always has to be about you. How silly of me to forget. #neveragain” Jesus fuck. How can these kids even grow up and expect anything from a government? The man in charge isn’t even sorry for their friends and families. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/16924 "2018-02-19T20:35:37Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > The surviving [students from Parkland have responded](https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/politics/donald-trump-florida-shooting-twitter/index.html) to the Howling Yam’s tweets: > > Jesus fuck. How can these kids even grow up and expect anything from a government? The man in charge isn’t even sorry for their friends and families. You’re forgetting, that Trump is making the country more mature and adult (at least according to folks like Starving Artist). We just cannot see it because… actually that part was never quite explained. How is Trump making the country more mature and adult again? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=845) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=847)