# 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:** 887
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17725 "2018-03-11T20:13:02Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > “_Did?_” > > My pessimism amends your question to “How much longer 'til we hit rock bottom?”, with a side of "Is there actually a bottom, rock or otherwise?’ > > ☹ Oh, we hit rock bottom about a little less than a year ago. The Alaska viaduct digging was completed April 5 2017, freeing up [Big Birtha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_(tunnel_boring_machine)) for exclusive use by the Trump administration. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17726 "2018-03-11T23:40:58Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > How do you become a person like SHS. What happens to you in your life that allows you to bold face lie like that? What happened in her childhood that created her? > > Hundreds of Millions of people are either laughing at her lies or perhaps feel sorry for her twisted take on reality. How the hell does one deal with that? America’s own Baghdad Barb. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17727 "2018-03-12T00:34:48Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Even if they count Melania and Karen, the Obama administration had Michelle and Jill … Read [this OP](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=511831) – and then the rest of the thread. Apparently, when it suits them, the Rs consider Lady-1 to be a public official. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17728 "2018-03-12T01:26:15Z")
Oboyoboyoboy. [Trump’s giddy spree](https://www.axios.com/trumps-happiest-week-white-house-5184dc62-d425-4286-9b37-d01cf07f7e0d.html) > [@](#): > > His staff have whiplash, but Donald Trump is having the time of his life. He had one of his most joyous weeks of his presidency last week. > > While senior officials and cabinet secretaries were struggling to keep up — and many eventually threw up their hands when they realized they couldn’t keep track of what was going on with tariffs and North Korea — Trump was careening around the building, acting as his own chief of staff, chief strategist, cable news producer, and communications director all rolled into one. > > Sources who’ve spoken with the president in the past few days describe him as “giddy” — a man who has finally fully indulged his itch to break free of John Kelly’s restraints. > … > What’s next? We have no earthly idea. And nor do Trump’s closest confidants, senior staff, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, or, we strongly suspect, Trump himself. Well, if Papa is happy, I guess that’s all that matters. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17729 "2018-03-12T01:56:32Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Oboyoboyoboy. > > [Trump’s giddy spree](https://www.axios.com/trumps-happiest-week-white-house-5184dc62-d425-4286-9b37-d01cf07f7e0d.html)Well, if Papa is happy, I guess that’s all that matters. Huh. That’s encouraging. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17730 "2018-03-12T02:49:57Z")
There is a Homeland Security reauthorization bill that contains a clause that would allow Secret Service agents to go to polling places as long as they’re there to “accompany lawmakers to polling places when they vote.” > **[Election officials raise concerns over bill that would let Trump send Secret...](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/377800-election-officials-raise-concerns-over-bill-that-would-let-trump-send/)** > > More than a dozen top election officials across the country are raising concerns about a provision in a Homeland Security Department reauthorization bill that would allow President Trump to dispatc… ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17731 "2018-03-12T02:55:23Z")
The last person who spoke to Trump convinced him to back down on raising the age limit for buying guns. > **[White House Gun Proposals Retreat From Age Restrictions](https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-gun-proposals-retreat-from-age-restrictions)** > > Now being called a “state-based discussion” after Trump publicly supported the policy. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17732 "2018-03-12T03:55:30Z")
So, who was the last person speaking to Trump for him to decide to emulate the freaking Philippines president? Yeah, that’s just what we need, more bloodshed on the lost “war on drugs”. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17733 "2018-03-12T04:20:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The last person who spoke to Trump convinced him to back down on raising the age limit for buying guns. > [White House Gun Proposals Retreat From Age Restrictions](https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-gun-proposals-retreat-from-age-restrictions) I love that President Snowflake has a brain just like an Etch-a-Sketch ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17734 "2018-03-12T04:58:31Z")
What happens when we turn him over and shake? ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17735 "2018-03-12T05:52:57Z")
Only one way to find out. Well, two, but vivisection is frowned upon in polite society. Just a quick hijack: my phone keeps trying to autocorrect “polite society” to “police Soviets.” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17736 "2018-03-12T11:31:20Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > A little off the beaten track, (and not sure wherelse to post this, but if it involves the US Forest Service - which is under the umbrella of the Dept. of Agriculture - then good enough, AFAIC.) > > Hate to shake up the tone of this thread with some good news… > > US Forest Service [gets major shake-up](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/former-forest-service-chief-allegedly-threatened-subordinate) in the wake of reports of harassment and retaliation. > > Former Forestry Chief Tom Tooke (fuck what a name, it turns out) had an extramarital affair with a forestry employee who got special promotions, as well as threats that her career “would go down” if she told anyone about their relationship. And allowing what turned out to be a broad climate of sexual harassment and retaliation, especially in Oregon…yeah, it’s time to go. Hopefully upcoming investigations will really home in on Oregon. Former firefighter Vicki Christiansen will be the interim Forestry head, hoping to address the agency’s response to sexual misconduct while keeping track of more than 300,000 square miles of forests and grasslands. > > William Brangham did an excellent PBS piece on this, and the above link is a follow-up with Judy Woodruff. The story, actually, was a _major_ catalyst in reporting the internal investigations already under way, so - wow - newsmaking making an actual difference! (And, _from this_, Congresswoman Jackie Speier of California and Montana Senator Steve Daines now want to hold hearings to look into this broader culture of sexual harassment within the Forest Service.) In retrospect their “Got Wood?” advertising campaign should have been a red flag. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17737 "2018-03-12T11:37:37Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > What happens when we turn him over and shake? His lawyer has to pay off Stormy Daniels again. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17738 "2018-03-12T12:09:33Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Only one way to find out. Well, two, but vivisection is frowned upon in polite society. > > Just a quick hijack: my phone keeps trying to autocorrect “polite society” to “police Soviets.” In police soviets, etch-a-sketch shake YOU! ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17739 "2018-03-12T17:58:21Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > It’s amusing that so many of those clips involve Nazis getting killed. > > CMC fnord! I’m sure there are many fine people … in Castle Wolfenstein 😃 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17740 "2018-03-12T18:24:20Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Democratic pundit [David Axelrod thinks](https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod) that the steel and aluminum tariffs were put in place solely to swing the election for the House seat in Pennsylvania. > > That the national economy is being held hostage for such a tiny partisan advantage is stunning in its cynicism, but I have no problem believing it. It’s just a localized version of the only thing Trump ever does–pander to that limited sector of voters stupid enough to believe him. The whole country in general has effectively been taken hostage by Trump’s cult. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17741 "2018-03-12T18:32:58Z")
[Trump wants a ‘phase two’ of tax cuts](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/trump-wants-a-phase-two-of-tax-cuts.html) Because deficits don’t matter. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17742 "2018-03-12T18:48:52Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Trump wants a ‘phase two’ of tax cuts](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/trump-wants-a-phase-two-of-tax-cuts.html) > > Because deficits don’t matter. Not any more they don’t. It’s okay when Republicans… you know. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17743 "2018-03-12T18:51:50Z")
I’m surprised that he isn’t concerned that if they starve the beast too much, there will be nothing left to steal. But then I remember that he’s a moron. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/17744 "2018-03-12T19:01:42Z")
Betsy Devos’s appearance on 60 Minutes last night did not go well. > **[DeVos struggles to answer basic questions about schools in her home state |...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/12/politics/betsy-devos-60-minutes/index.html)** > > Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbled her way through a tense interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" Sunday night, struggling to answer some basic questions about schools in her home state of Michigan and admitting that she does not... > **[Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stumbles during pointed ‘60 Minutes’ interview](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/12/education-secretary-betsy-devos-stumbles-during-pointed-60-minutes-interview/)** > > Interviewer Leslie Stahl challenged the education secretary repeatedly. At one point, DeVos said she was “not so sure exactly” how she had become, in Stahl's words, “the most hated” member of the Cabinet for many people. > **[Betsy DeVos can’t answer basic questions on sexual assault, school choice in...](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/12/17109122/betsy-devos-60-minutes-gun-control-today)** > > The controversial education secretary thinks she is "more misunderstood than anything." > **[Betsy DeVos crashes, burns in '60 Minutes' interview with Lesley Stahl |Kaffer](https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/columnists/nancy-kaffer/2018/03/12/kaffer-betsy-devos-folks-u-s-ed-sec-crashes-burns-60-minutes/416862002/)** > > In which the Trump administration's top education official displays the same insight that's guided education reform in Michigan for the last 30 years [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=886) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=888)