# 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:** 995
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19885 "2018-05-02T14:37:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > This is incorrect, IMO. The jobs were already drying up and the money was already short. That dissatisfaction and unease is a big part of what got Trump elected in the first place. That is objectively false; the economy was doing very well in 2016. Trump’s base hadn’t been as well off in years. Had Obama been allowed to run for a third term he’d have won. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19886 "2018-05-02T14:51:40Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > This is incorrect, IMO. The jobs were already drying up and the money was already short. That dissatisfaction and unease is a big part of what got Trump elected in the first place. This doom and gloom narrative may have helped Trump get elected, but it’s a false one. There were nearly 12 million jobs when Obama left office than when he started. Over 18 million since we hit bottom about a year into his first term. Unemployment (all measure, not just U-3) is down. Job growth is outpacing ​the “core age” population growth everywhere, but highest in small towns and rural areas: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19887 "2018-05-02T14:59:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 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? [Speaking of Trump and orbits](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/trump-space-force-us-military/index.html). Not enough rolleyes for that bit of asshattery. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19888 "2018-05-02T15:05:17Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > This doom and gloom narrative may have helped Trump get elected, but it’s a false one. There were nearly 12 million jobs when Obama left office than when he started. Over 18 million since we hit bottom about a year into his first term. Unemployment (all measure, not just U-3) is down. > > Job growth is outpacing ​the “core age” population growth everywhere, but highest in small towns and rural areas: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030) Those numbers were lies and the real unemployment number was more like 40%…until Trump took office when suddenly they became real and solid proof that he was bringing jobs back to America. Similarly, the booming stock market was a sign of a dangerous bubble caused by an incompetent administration…until Trump took office when suddenly it became evidence of what a good job the new President was doing. And in other news, the war with Eastasia is going swimmingly. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19889 "2018-05-02T15:14:58Z")
Yesterday, Mike Pence praised Joe Arpaio for his commitment to strong borders and his respect for the rule of law. You may recall that Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court for refusing to end his department’s discriminatory profiling practices. You may also remember him for running, essentially, a concentration camp in the Arizona desert. But did you know he once framed a man for an entirely fictitious assassination plot cooked up by Arpaio himself? The man spent 4 years in jail awaiting trial before being found not guilty. The victim of the plot sued and settled for an undisclosed amount. [http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/a-phony-murder-plot-against-joe-arpaio-winds-up-costing-taxpayers-11-million-6629798](http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/a-phony-murder-plot-against-joe-arpaio-winds-up-costing-taxpayers-11-million-6629798) So, anyway, Mike Pence thinks Arpaio is a great lawman. Which is kind of worrisome for those of us, including me, who are really hoping Trump gets frog-marched out of the White House soon. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19890 "2018-05-02T15:21:59Z")
I’d assume whatever avalanche of evidence that led to that would drag Pence along with it in its wake. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19891 "2018-05-02T15:32:22Z")
It makes more sense when you recognize what “law and order” is code for in American politics. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19892 "2018-05-02T15:35:10Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I’d assume whatever avalanche of evidence that led to that would drag Pence along with it in its wake. I sure hope so, but who the hell can predict anything anymore? If all goes really, really, well, we’ll get a Democratic majority in the House in the midterms, Trump and Pence will get booted shortly thereafter, and we’ll get a Dem president. But, I have no real hope of that happening. ---
**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, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19893 "2018-05-02T16:31:18Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > This doom and gloom narrative may have helped Trump get elected, but it’s a false one. There were nearly 12 million jobs when Obama left office than when he started. Over 18 million since we hit bottom about a year into his first term. Unemployment (all measure, not just U-3) is down. > > Job growth is outpacing ​the “core age” population growth everywhere, but highest in small towns and rural areas: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030](https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-bad-is-the-labor-shortage-cities-will-pay-you-to-move-there-1525102030) As **Gyrate** said, the official UE figures are rather incomplete, failing to capture a broad sector of people who have dropped off the edge of the system. More importantly, the metric for gauging the electoral mood is not how the economy actually is performing but what the voters think its trajectory is. If the narrative of optimism succeeds, the party in power stays in power, whilst fomenting anxiety is the opposition’s road in. The other problem is the DJIA. It gets a lot of coverage, but I have doubts about its usefulness in assessing the genuine state of the economy beyond outliers like the '08 crash. In truth, a steadily rising Dow worries me because it looks like an increased flow of revenue toward the plutocrats and kleptocrats, widening the class-gulf, which is a sure path to Robespierre II. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19894 "2018-05-02T17:03:21Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I sure hope so, but who the hell can predict anything anymore? If all goes really, really, well, we’ll get a Democratic majority in the House in the midterms, Trump and Pence will get booted shortly thereafter, and we’ll get a Dem president. But, I have no real hope of that happening. Me, neither. But I really, really hope it does if only to see the look on certain people’s faces when they have to speak the phrase “President Pelosi.” ---
**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, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19895 "2018-05-02T17:05:45Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > …And in other news, the war with Eastasia is going swimmingly. And it is always going so well, one has to wonder why it isn’t over…excuse me, someone at the door… ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19896 "2018-05-02T17:14:20Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > “In a brilliant move to keep liberals off-guard, President Trump announced today that the wall with Mexico will not be built. 'People sure were crying about the wall, weren’t they? I mean, even the President of Mexico was crying. Big concessions were offered to America, the best concessions involving trade with many countries because of the wall,” Trump stated yesterday during a call-in to Fox & Friends. Trump supporters loudly trumpeted his business and political acumen" Damn you. It’s so hard to tell satire from reality these days. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19897 "2018-05-02T17:34:13Z")
Sorry 🙂 See if you can tell which this is: “Ty Cobb to leave Trump’s legal team, be replaced by Clinton impeachment lawyer” ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19898 "2018-05-02T17:35:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > As **Gyrate** said, the official UE figures are rather incomplete, failing to capture a broad sector of people who have dropped off the edge of the system. Core age workforce participation now is about the same as when Obama took office. Part-time work for economic reasons is down. By all means, share with us where to find this broad sector. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19899 "2018-05-02T17:36:55Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’ll skip over all the other tripe and get to this because this one’s a fucking corker. > > > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > > > Oh fuck off with your condescending bullshit. Of course there are plenty of sources. But SHS is an important source because: > > > > When you have a source that gives you reliable, accurate information almost directly from the heart of the administration you don’t burn that source. > > Uh huh, right. Yeah if they don’t take to Twitter to defend her, then they’ll never get invited to another meaningless White House press briefing.:rolleyes: > > Look, you were right the first time when you labeled SHS a liar and a mouthpiece for the administration > > But above you contradict yourself by claiming that she’s a source that provides reliable, accurate information directly from the heart of the administration. Which is it? I get the feeling that you two are talking past each other on the issue of “the media’s desire to retain SHS as a source.” Unless I’m mistaken, **Banquet Bear** , in using that characterization, is talking about retaining her as _an un-named source,_ which I hope you can see is a different thing than being able to retain _entrée_ to the White House briefing room (for some reason, both things are perceived as valuable, which may be contributing to the confusion). I DO share your consternation at the notion that _anything_ from SHS could be characterized as “reliable” and/or “accurate,” whether she permits her name to be used, or whether she doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19900 "2018-05-02T17:37:45Z")
One of Trump’s fake doctors – does it really matter which one? – is now saying that Trump told him what to say in describing Trump as an incredibly healthy individual. > **[Exclusive: Bornstein claims Trump dictated the glowing health letter | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/index.html)** > > When Dr. Harold Bornstein described in hyperbolic prose then-candidate Donald Trump's health in 2015, the language he used was eerily similar to the style preferred by his patient. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19901 "2018-05-02T17:42:29Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > 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? > [@Chefguy](#): > > [Speaking of Trump and orbits](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/trump-space-force-us-military/index.html). I wish people would stop placing the words “Trump” and “orbit” so close together. it’s too easy to misread that as “obit,” which makes my heart leap with joy; the inevitable disappointment is unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19902 "2018-05-02T17:45:06Z")
> [@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. A segment on last week tonight the other day talked about a con with crypto currencies, where they’d get a bunch of people to pump it up, then sell it to unwitting investors. The thing is, there are no unwitting investors, everyone thinks that they are in on the con, and that it is going to be some other poor bastard that is going to be stuck with worthless bits at the end of the day… > [@enipla](#): > > Shouldn’t a medical ethics board be all over his ass? He should lose his license (assuming he has one) How does that work? If the press just went to the doctor, and asked how trump’s health was, the doctor couldn’t answer without violating hippa. So, obviously, the patient needs to consent to the release of medical information. If the patient demands that untrue information is released on their behalf, is that the direction the doctor is supposed to follow? > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Damn you. It’s so hard to tell satire from reality these days. ☹ That’s why I wake up every day with a tall glass of Covfefe. Covfefe, for when reality mocks satire. > [@Slash1972](#): > > Sorry 🙂 > > See if you can tell which this is: “Ty Cobb to leave Trump’s legal team, be replaced by Clinton impeachment lawyer” SMH, really? Stop making stuff up. Like anyone is going to believe that. 😉 ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19903 "2018-05-02T17:46:45Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > One of Trump’s fake doctors – does it really matter which one? – is now saying that Trump told him what to say in describing Trump as an incredibly healthy individual. > > [https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/index.html) Didja hear the part about Trump sitting in his limo and having the doctor leave his office to come down and sit with him? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070/19904 "2018-05-02T17:47:21Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > A segment on last week tonight the other day talked about a con with crypto currencies, where they’d get a bunch of people to pump it up, then sell it to unwitting investors. The thing is, there are no unwitting investors, everyone thinks that they are in on the con, and that it is going to be some other poor bastard that is going to be stuck with worthless bits at the end of the day. Even if the day ever comes when they have to wake up and smell the covfefe, it will still be easy to just blame Trump instead of themselves. “Hey, we trusted the guy and he lied to us. Whaddaya gonna do?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=994) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-a-clusterfuck-in-the-making/774070.md?page=996)