# 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:** 993
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19845 "2018-05-01T22:53:45Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > A lightweight piece of fluff for your enjoyment – just an example of how this administration could screw up a one-car funeral. > > Trump had a staged event today, congratulating the crew of that Southwest flight with the exploding engine. I won’t go into his inane babble – the usual, of no consequence. It was the staging that was weird. > > For some reason, they set it up like a bill signing ceremony: Trump seated at his desk, with a crowd of people (the crew and, I believe, some passengers\*) behind him. So Trump would speak, and talk about particular individuals on the crew: but to make eye contact with those individuals he needed to swivel from side to side and crane his neck looking over his shoulder. > > WTF? Why not just, I don’t know…stand at a podium?? You’re not signing anything, you idiot…you don’t need a desk! > > \*Trump often referred to the heroic passengers on the flight. I was under the impression that they were primarily concerned with screaming and praying, but that’s neither here nor there. Trump - the same [del]moron[/del] [del]idiot[/del] toady who earlier claimed credit not only for US flight safety, but worldwide aviation safety because he was, “… strict on commercial aviation…” > **[Trump's False Claim of Credit for Aviation Safety](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/trumps-bogus-claim-of-credit-for-aviation-safety/549461/)** > > No one died in a commercial-jet accident in 2017, but there’s no reason to believe the president had anything to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19846 "2018-05-01T22:54:29Z")
> [@](#): > > …primarily concerned with screaming and praying… Well, yeah, thoughts and prayers. Just really, really loud. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19847 "2018-05-02T00:45:44Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, yeah, thoughts and prayers. Just really, really loud. I don’t think the sincerity of “thoughts and prayers” can be questioned when 1) they’re for _yourself_, 2) while your plane is falling out of the sky. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19848 "2018-05-02T01:25:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I like your whole post, but these two paragraphs especially. > > Someone had to say to Sanders “you’re a fucking liar.” Not that she doesn’t know it, but she needs to know that everyone knows it. Like it hasn’t been said before. There’s not a single day that has passed when journalists haven’t pointed out falsehoods or lies. The press isn’t going to win by calling the Trump administration dishonest because people already assume that they are. Where they fail is in assuming that they the public’s trust. They don’t. It’s the media’s credibility problem that is the issue here, not Trump’s. And inviting comedians to fancy dinners just so they can insult the Trump administration isn’t going to help them. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19849 "2018-05-02T01:34:53Z")
He lied to the American people. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19850 "2018-05-02T01:42:44Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > No seriously: if your strategy is dependent on comedians “not attacking Trump”, then how the fuck are you going to make that work? Christ, nearly 3 years after he descended down the escalators in Trump Tower and ranted about Mexican rapists and people still don’t understand why he got elected. It’s not enough to call Trump a liar. That “strategy” doesn’t work. People who voted for Trump know he’s a liar. People who voted for Trump know he’s a philanderer, a bigot, and probably even a traitor. They don’t care because in their eyes, he’s a warrior for their cause, and more importantly, **his critics have a major credibility problem of their own**. I’m not saying I agree with it or that I even completely understand it. But the results speak for themselves. He won the presidency, and his approval ratings continue to increase despite his mounting legal problems. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > It isn’t remotely realistic, not in 2018, not in a world where any random nobody can have their opinion heard all around the world. > > I suggest you get a new strategy, and quick. There isn’t a strategy. Being a professional journalist doesn’t require strategy; it just requires the perception of fairness and integrity, and I don’t see how they augment such perceptions by bringing in comedians to a professional event to troll their most important subject. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19851 "2018-05-02T01:50:41Z")
Let us not sugarcoat this. Shitgibbon’s troop do not tell subtle, well-crafted untruths. They do not obfuscate. There is no art or legerdemain. They simply spew obvious and transparent bullshit. I am not quite comfortable calling it lying, as it is an inadequate description, lacking due reproval. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19852 "2018-05-02T01:50:58Z")
Meanwhile, in a twist that should surprise no one, it turns out that [Loser Donald personally dictated Dr. Feelgood’s “healthiest individual ever elected” statement.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/trump-doctor-president-dictated-glowing-letter-claiming-hed-healthiest-individual-ever-elected/) > [@](#): > > In an interview with CNN, Bornstein said that he didn’t write any of Trump’s health documents and that Trump wrote the glowing letters himself. > > “He dictated that whole letter. I didn’t write that letter,” Bornstein said. “I just made it up as I went along.” > > The letter stated: The letter stated: “His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary. If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19853 "2018-05-02T02:29:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Meanwhile, in a twist that should surprise no one, it turns out that [Loser Donald personally dictated Dr. Feelgood’s “healthiest individual ever elected” statement.](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/trump-doctor-president-dictated-glowing-letter-claiming-hed-healthiest-individual-ever-elected/) [And of course video had surfaced of Dr Bornstein being escorted to Trump’s limo for the dictation.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPYz6AWxjGk) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19854 "2018-05-02T03:10:51Z")
Probably the first draft was “He’s stronger than superman but the lying media won’t say that. UNFAIR!” before he dialled it back a smidge. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19855 "2018-05-02T05:45:46Z")
Now these weirdo doctors, Jackson and Bronstein. Is there anything – anything at all – that does not seem completely bizarre once it gets into Chump’s orbit? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19856 "2018-05-02T06:55:04Z")
The cognitive dissonance of his supporters, making a perfect example of Dunning-Krueger…? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19857 "2018-05-02T07:00:17Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Christ, nearly 3 years after he descended down the escalators in Trump Tower and ranted about Mexican rapists and people still don’t understand why he got elected. It’s not enough to call Trump a liar. That “strategy” doesn’t work. People who voted for Trump know he’s a liar. People who voted for Trump know he’s a philanderer, a bigot, and probably even a traitor. They don’t care because in their eyes, he’s a warrior for their cause, and more importantly, **his critics have a major credibility problem of their own**. I’m not saying I agree with it or that I even completely understand it. But the results speak for themselves. He won the presidency, and his approval ratings continue to increase despite his mounting legal problems. I’ve said this before. Most of Trump’s supporters know he’s a con-man. But they’re not bothered by it at all; they even covertly like it. Because they think they’re inside of the con. They believe that Trump is conning the “liberals” and they support him when he tells his lies. What they don’t realize that they’re the actual target of the con. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19858 "2018-05-02T08:26:49Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Christ, nearly 3 years after he descended down the escalators in Trump Tower and ranted about Mexican rapists and people still don’t understand why he got elected. It’s not enough to call Trump a liar. That “strategy” doesn’t work. People who voted for Trump know he’s a liar. People who voted for Trump know he’s a philanderer, a bigot, and probably even a traitor. They don’t care because in their eyes, he’s a warrior for their cause, and more importantly, **his critics have a major credibility problem of their own**. I’m not saying I agree with it or that I even completely understand it. But the results speak for themselves. He won the presidency, and his approval ratings continue to increase despite his mounting legal problems. …christ, nearly 24 hours after my initial post you still have completely failed to understand what I actually said. I’m not claiming that calling “Trump a poopyhead” will be an effective strategy for getting rid of Trump. I’m saying you can’t stop people from calling “Trump a poopyhead”: so stop making “stop calling Trump a poopyhead” the cornerstone of your strategy to win in November. > [@](#): > > There isn’t a strategy. Tell that to **jsc1953** > [@](#): > > Being a professional journalist doesn’t require strategy; it just requires the perception of fairness and integrity, Its not about the “perception” of fairness and integrity. Its about actually being fair, and actually having integrity. The Trump regime is the most corrupt and the most cruel and the most incompetent US administration ever. When Michelle Wolf stood in front of the Washington Press Corp and called out the administration **and** the Press Corp to their very faces she showed more fairness and more integrity than anybody else in the room. > [@](#): > > and I don’t see how they augment such perceptions by bringing in comedians to a professional event to troll their most important subject. The _perception_ is shaped by the _narrative_. It has nothing to do with what actually happened. You’ve change the narrative now by characterizing a “roast” as a “troll.” Do you not understand that? > [@](#): > > Like it hasn’t been said before. There’s not a single day that has passed when journalists haven’t pointed out falsehoods or lies. The press isn’t going to win by calling the Trump administration dishonest because people already assume that they are. Where they fail is in assuming that they the public’s trust. They don’t. It’s the media’s credibility problem that is the issue here, not Trump’s. And inviting comedians to fancy dinners just so they can insult the Trump administration isn’t going to help them. Can I remind you that I was responding to your suggestion that “instead of bringing in a comedian, they make a video of all the times SHS has lied, then invite SHS to a dinner, and ask her “why do you lie?”” That suggestion was fucking stupid. It was stupid when you said it, and its still stupid now as you try and pretend you didn’t actually suggest it. Its not about “the press winning.” The media have lost credibility here: but they didn’t loose it when they invited a comedian to a roast. They lost it when they chose to capitulate to the narrative. You want the press to be perceived with integrity? Then tell them to grow a fucking backbone. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19859 "2018-05-02T08:26:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve said this before. Most of Trump’s supporters know he’s a con-man. But they’re not bothered by it at all; they even covertly like it. Because they think they’re inside of the con. They believe that Trump is conning the “liberals” and they support him when he tells his lies. What they don’t realize that they’re the actual target of the con. I have to disagree with you a tad. Yes, those idiots supporting Trump likely (but not all of them) realize he’s a conman, but it’s not the idea that they’re in on the con too and will thus benefit from it that drives their support; it’s more that they firmly believe that Hillary Clinton is even more of a conman than Trump. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19860 "2018-05-02T10:01:18Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > I’m not claiming that calling “Trump a poopyhead” will be an effective strategy for getting rid of Trump. > > I’m saying you can’t stop people from calling “Trump a poopyhead”: so stop making “stop calling Trump a poopyhead” the cornerstone of your strategy to win in November. Christ, I never said you could stop people from calling Trump a poopyhead. I’m not talking about a strategy for winning in November, and I really don’t have any idea why you keep bringing that into the discussion. The issue here is media credibility, not political strategy. You seem confused. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Its not about the “perception” of fairness and integrity. Its about actually being fair, and actually having integrity. The Trump regime is the most corrupt and the most cruel and the most incompetent US administration ever. When Michelle Wolf stood in front of the Washington Press Corp and called out the administration **and** the Press Corp to their very faces she showed more fairness and more integrity than anybody else in the room. I don’t necessarily disagree with any of what you’ve written above, but regardless, this episode hasn’t helped to dispel perceptions that the members of the professional media are biased and that their “reporting” is more personal and subjective in nature than objective. If anything, it confirms the opposite in the minds of some. There’s also the problem in recent years of news gathering organizations blurring the line between reporting and entertaining. At minimum, turning what should be a gathering of professional journalists to talk about how to do their jobs more professionally ought not to be overshadowed by an inappropriate monologue. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Can I remind you that I was responding to your suggestion that “instead of bringing in a comedian, they make a video of all the times SHS has lied, then invite SHS to a dinner, and ask her “why do you lie?”” > > That suggestion was fucking stupid. It was stupid when you said it, and its still stupid now as you try and pretend you didn’t actually suggest it. > > Its not about “the press winning.” The media have lost credibility here: but they didn’t loose it when they invited a comedian to a roast. They lost it when they chose to capitulate to the narrative. You want the press to be perceived with integrity? Then tell them to grow a fucking backbone. They lost credibility by having the dinner in the first place. They’re being played by this administration and don’t even realize it. They probably shouldn’t even have this dinner, because all it does is to continue normalizing a clearly abnormal presidency. The traditional coat-and-tie dinner, with the traditional slate of entertainers, and journalists, and Washington insiders, so everyone can see and be seen with everyone who’s important. All of it just pretending that this administration is otherwise “normal.” Except that the Trump administration is - not - fucking - normal. At all. The press doesn’t need a swanky event to protect their profession; they need a retreat in which they actually talk about doing their jobs ethically and dutifully, and with rigor. My point about inviting SHS to the dinner and asking why she lies was simply to say that if they’re going to invite White House staff at all, then they could use that occasion to reinforce professional journalistic standards of conduct. It doesn’t have to be anything other than that. Good reporting is often boring; great reporting is often boring, but **relentless**. The WHCA dinner didn’t have to be anything entertaining at all; it should have simply been an opportunity to retreat and talk about how to respond to what constitutes one of the greatest threats to its profession in American history. Instead they wasted this opportunity, completely embarrassing the remnants of the “profession” by inviting a profane entertainer whose achievement was to make guests uncomfortable and get under people’s skin. Mission accomplished, I guess. And your suggestion that the media capitulate because they’re afraid of losing SHS as a source? Please. You clearly don’t understand modern mass media functions and how information flows. It’s decentralized, not controlled by one individual. There are many, many people in Washington who want to vent, who want to talk, and they never have to go far to find someone who’s willing to write down or record their every word. They have sources, with or without SHS. In fact their problem is that they sometimes have too many sources and they have to identify which ones are reliable. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19861 "2018-05-02T10:13:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve said this before. Most of Trump’s supporters know he’s a con-man. But they’re not bothered by it at all; they even covertly like it. Because they think they’re inside of the con. They believe that Trump is conning the “liberals” and they support him when he tells his lies. What they don’t realize that they’re the actual target of the con. It’s not about being part of the con. They see Trump as being a warrior for their causes and their kind. They see Trump as having the balls to do things that other politicians would never dream of doing. They know he lies, but he lies about things that don’t bother them, and he keeps his promises on things that do matter, like trying to build a wall, or trying to bar Muslims from entering the country, or cutting taxes, or appointing anti-abortion justices, or rolling back regulations, or gutting Obamacare, or whatever else. They know he’s a con, but in the eyes of his voters, he’s not conning them. Of course that’s not true at all - he absolutely is conning them and the rest of us, but they’re too ignorant to understand that. And that’s why I think this country’s fucked. I’m bullish on our country’s idiocy and bearish on our ability to figure a way out of this mess. We’re going to keep electing morons to office until it has irrefutable and painful consequences. Only then will things change. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19862 "2018-05-02T11:12:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > We’re going to keep electing morons to office until it has irrefutable and painful consequences. Only then will things change. Oh my sweet, Summer child… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19863 "2018-05-02T12:15:39Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Mika B (I can’t spell her name) from Morning Joe criticized Michelle Wolff for attacking Sarah the Huckster, “A wife and mother”. Why is wife and mother Sarah Huckster sacrosanct, but wives and mothers Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are fair targets? And Mika claims to be a liberal. I take it one further, and what the heck, it’s just in time for Mother’s Day (first Sunday in May, in multiple countries): why the fuck should being a wife and mother make someone sacrosanct? Do multiple births produce holier holiness? If you’ve donated eggs, does that count? ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19864 "2018-05-02T12:20:38Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > We’re going to keep electing morons to office until it has irrefutable and painful consequences. Only then will things change. You’re seriously overestimating the ability of people to understand the complex machinations of politics, and underestimating the ability of the people smart enough to get it to rationalize. And even given a complete fucking disaster that is obviously bad and obviously one administration’s fault, how long do you think it will take for people to mostly forget who was responsible? I’d guess about two years, tops. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=992) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=994)