# 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:** 969
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19365 "2018-04-19T15:25:16Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > There is this ray of hope: > > [From Steve Lichtman:](https://twitter.com/stevel3000/status/986835322884386816) > > With some further thoughts in the Twitter thread. Wait… so more democrats approve of Trump than republicans at this point? :dubious: ---
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19366 "2018-04-19T15:37:38Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I see trump just said he would **run again in 2020**. Our plan is working. I was afraid he’d announce he wasn’t running, and then retire claiming he was the undefeated king of the world. Now we’re going to get a chance to toss him under the bus. You realize all the campaigning shit is less than a year away? He’s not just running for 2020. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19367 "2018-04-19T15:41:55Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > In closed-door meetings at the United Nations in March, Trump administration officials pushed socially conservative views on women’s rights issues — including abstinence-based policies over information about contraception — that were further to the right than those expressed by most other countries present, including Russia and the representative for the Arab states. > [In Closed-Door UN Meetings, Trump Administration Officials Pushed Abstinence For International Women’s Health Programs](https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/un-meeting-trump-administration-abstinence?utm_term=.pv7oz2y10#.gc7YQ8EpW) Why does it hurt when I pee? _Trump administration officials discussed shifting international policy on women toward abstinence-oriented education and teaching women sexual “refusal skills.”_ Oh, that is just the irony: it burns. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19368 "2018-04-19T15:48:43Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Wait… so more democrats approve of Trump than republicans at this point? :dubious: Those numbers are “party id”, not Trump approval ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19369 "2018-04-19T15:49:24Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Wait… so more democrats approve of Trump than republicans at this point? :dubious: How did you get that? The statement was specifically about Trump support among republican voters, which is very high, and how that is misleading without also including that the number of self-identified republicans have dropped significantly since the election. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19370 "2018-04-19T16:15:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > \ > > A large part of the issue IMO is that in the same period in which women, minorities and LGBT folk made significant progress toward equality those straight white males saw their ability to provide for their family on a single income evaporate as income for the working and middle classes failed to keep pace with the cost of living. That the correlation between the two developments is not borne out by causation doesn’t matter; not only are the two naturally connected by those feeling disempowered (I almost said “emasculated”) by the simultaneous loss of earning power and societal privilege, but the association is strongly encouraged by those who are the actual beneficiaries of the widening income gap - the wealthiest segment of society - in order to allow them to continue to take a disproportionate share of the spoils of economic growth. Unfortunately those people also own or control the media sources that Trump supporters flock to, so it’s difficult to fight back with the big truth. > > Were I stupendously wealthy and legally allowed to start my own PAC (which I might be - as I’m not stupendously wealthy I haven’t looked into it) I’d be tempted to run a series of local/regional ads on a theme of integrity and broken promises. For example, in coal country (KY, WV and so on) have an unemployed coal miner stating that the Republicans promised to bring coal mining jobs back but all they’ve done is cut safety regulations for mining firms which has made the owners richer but nearly doubled the number of deaths in mining accidents (from 2016 to 2017) and allowed the mines to pollute the water the miners’ families drink. They also cut all the funding to the government programs put in place to help out-of-work miners train for other careers. “You promised us good work and a better life, Mister President. Where are the jobs? Where’s the **integrity**?” I mean, one of their current candidates is someone who went to jail as a result of miners’ deaths. There’s plenty of material there. > > Now repeat all over the country - in farming country show how the “trade war” is hitting farmers hard (the costs of farming has gone up while exports for things like pork and soy are set to fall hard, and all Trump has done is to say “Hey, they’re patriots - they’re okay making sacrifices” while he continues to make money off the situation. Ditto the Rust Belt, hit hard by the higher steel and aluminum prices. Hell, I’d have some guy in a cowboy hat on the Texas border demanding to know where the President’s plan for a wall was, how he was going to deal with the Rio Grande, and how he was going to get Mexico to pay for it as promised (and why he threatened to shut down the US government if _they_ didn’t pay for it) - “Where’s the _plan_, Mr President? Where’s the _wall_? Where’s the _integrity_?” > > Show people in lots of little ways how the lies of Trump and his Congressional enablers are affecting them personally and you’ll see his support erode rapidly. Excellent! I’d love to see that strategy implemented. I don’t know that it would actually work, but here’s hoping that it would! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19371 "2018-04-19T16:20:49Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > A large part of the issue IMO is that in the same period in which women, minorities and LGBT folk made significant progress toward equality those straight white males saw their ability to provide for their family on a single income evaporate as income for the working and middle classes failed to keep pace with the cost of living. … What s/he said. Yes, revenge is sweet, but if we want progressive policies based on community responsibility, we can’t keep demonizing Republicans for Trump and pushing his supporters into a corner where they feel forced to double down (and yes, I know I am mixing metaphors). And stop deluding yourselves that his supporters are all aging Boomers that will die off soon, now that the ACA has been gutted and the country will be too broke for Medicare and Social Security; Trump has plenty of supporters in their 20s and 30s who are all convinced that the Boomers are the reason they can’t afford their student loans. Well, Boomers and transgenders. This isn’t about policy anymore, or even about integrity; it’s about divisiveness. As long as you play into the Us Against Them scenario, you are supporting those in power who benefit in the short term. Revenge is also a dish best served cold. Perhaps because if passions are allowed to cool, revenge is not always sought. Thank you. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19372 "2018-04-19T18:06:53Z")
[An interesting article](https://www.salon.com/2018/04/18/is-this-the-endgame-stage-for-trump-or-just-a-trainwreck/) on some of the paths Trump’s troubles could lead down. It made me wonder, though, what would happen if they came to arrest Trump. Would the Secret Service prevent it? Would they release him into custody and wash their hands of him? Or would a Secret Service detail tag along to jail with him? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19373 "2018-04-19T18:31:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Or would a Secret Service detail tag along to jail with him? I was in jail with the president, and all I got was this crummy tee shirt ---
**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:** [April 19, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19374 "2018-04-19T20:51:32Z")
Trump says he won’t finance the California National Guard that he’s called up to the border because they won’t dance to his tune. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19375 "2018-04-19T21:19:06Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Show people in lots of little ways how the lies of Trump and his Congressional enablers are affecting them personally and you’ll see his support erode rapidly. They won’t care in the slightest. They put Trump and the Republicans in power because they wanted to hurt as many people as possible as much as possible; if they suffer or die in the process, that’s a price they are willing to pay. Malice, cruelty and bigotry are the driving forces of the Right, not self interest. ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19376 "2018-04-19T21:36:38Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They won’t care in the slightest. They put Trump and the Republicans in power because they wanted to hurt as many people as possible as much as possible; if they suffer or die in the process, that’s a price they are willing to pay. Malice, cruelty and bigotry are the driving forces of the Right, not self interest. Malice, cruelty, bigotry and an almost fanatical devotion to the [del] Pope[/del] Pompous One are the driving forces of the Right. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19377 "2018-04-20T02:54:41Z")
[The Comey memos are out!](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/19/politics/comey-memos/index.html) In his January 28 conversation with Trump, Comey also writes that Trump said “the hookers thing is nonsense,” but then later said that “Putin had told him, ‘we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.’” Trump also at least twice brought up the “golden showers thing” and said he was concerned even if there was a small chance his wife had thought it was true. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19378 "2018-04-20T03:03:42Z")
“I’m a germaphobe,” Trump told Comey in a phone call on Jan. 11, 2017, according to the book. “There’s no way I would let people pee on each other around me. No way.” I say, yes way! ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19379 "2018-04-20T04:14:56Z")
WH says Melania Trump will attend Barbara Bush funeral on behalf of the First Family. "To avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family and friends attending the service, President Trump will not attend.” Is that what you would call respect? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19380 "2018-04-20T04:25:27Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > WH says Melania Trump will attend Barbara Bush funeral on behalf of the First Family. "To avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family and friends attending the service, President Trump will not attend.” > > Is that what you would call respect? I’m sure he’ll observe a moment of silence while on the golf course. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19381 "2018-04-20T04:44:41Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > WH says Melania Trump will attend Barbara Bush funeral on behalf of the First Family. "To avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family and friends attending the service, President Trump will not attend.” Does he know something we don’t know but are happy to theorize about? :dubious: I’m imagining Squiddly Diddly and his goombahs taking them all out old school, with tommy guns. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19382 "2018-04-20T04:52:45Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > …Or would a Secret Service detail tag along to jail with him? No need for jail, not a flight risk. Where would he go, who would have him? ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19383 "2018-04-20T08:35:48Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No need for jail, not a flight risk. Where would he go, who would have him? Well there’s that one place, can’t remember what it’s called but the name is on the tip of my tongue, starts with R… ---
**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:** [April 20, 2018, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19384 "2018-04-20T09:21:25Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Show people in lots of little ways how the lies of Trump and his Congressional enablers are affecting them personally and you’ll see his support erode rapidly. That will not work. The trump supporters will simply continue to do what they are doing now and have been doing all along: blame Obama, "the Alt-Left, and “liberal snowflakes”, along with blaming minorities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=968) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=970)