The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[running_coach]

@Damuri_Ajashi

I like Rick Perry and I think he’d make a decent bartender or preacher but how do you put that guy in charge of a department full of our best scientists and oversight of our nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. ** I mean, he’s not Homer Simpson** but wtf?

But he’d like to be.

[GIGObuster]

Can someone point to any Trump cabinet member that does not deny science?

Trump taps Montana congressman Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary, demonstrating that Republicans do want to send us to the dark ages.

[dasmoocher]

@GIGObuster

Can someone point to any Trump cabinet member that does not deny science?

Trump taps Montana congressman Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary, demonstrating that Republicans do want to send us to the dark ages.

Well, Mad Dog probably believes in the physics of kinetic projectiles on human anatomy. So, there’s two fields of science that he might accept.

[dasmoocher]

I’m starting to believe my own conspiracy theory is that these people don’t really deny global warming privately–they’re counting on it being real to open up the Arctic for drilling! I use to say this in jest, but with Trump, it might actually be real. :eek:

[ThelmaLou]

@dasmoocher

I’m starting to believe my own conspiracy theory is that these people don’t really deny global warming privately–they’re counting on it being real to open up the Arctic for drilling! I use to say this in jest, but with Trump, it might actually be real. :eek:

I think you’re right.

[Defensive_Indifference]

Newsweek has a good round up of some of Trump’s most worrisome conflicts of interest. It’s a long piece, but well worth reading. It describes a long list of business entanglements that present the possibility of influence peddling, corruption, and coercion. It summarizes them:

Given the extraordinary power Donald Trump now wields, it’s obvious that foreign governments and corporations can easily curry favor, bribe or even blackmail him, which is why the Founding Fathers so feared outside influences on the Executive Branch. Once he’s president, Trump does not need to ask for cash to be delivered to his pockets or to those of his children to cross the line into illicit activities—and possibly impeachable offenses. Macri of Argentina cannot know if his country will be punished by the Trump White House if the remaining permits for that Buenos Aires project are denied. Abe of Japan does not know if a government holdup of Ivanka Trump’s deal with Sanei International will lead her impulsive father to call for an American military withdrawal from his country. Erdogan of Turkey has told associates he believes he must keep pressure on Trump’s business partner there to essentially blackmail the president into extraditing a political enemy. Duterte of the Philippines believes he has received approval from the president-elect to, at best, abide by or, at worst, continue to authorize the frenzied slaughter of drug users and dealers, and knows he can harm the Trump family if the president ever angers him.

Parts of the article are a little dense, but stick with it. Eichenwald explains it well.

One of Trump’s arguments from early in the campaign was that he was so rich that he couldn’t be bought. This was always transparently ridiculous. But now we have direct evidence of how venal he really is. Ivanka (with no official government position) sits in on Trump’s first meeting with Japan’s Abe, evidently in order to advance business interests. Trump has a call with Macri and three days later the permitting issues that had plagued a development project in Buenos Aires are magically resolved. In Turkey, Erdogan detains a Trump business partner, apparently to pressure Trump to extradite the suspected leader of the recent coup, whom the Obama administration had been uninterested in turning over. There’s more, none of it any good.

Inside the Conflict Zone

[Little_Pig]

@Typo_Negative

I hear this on the radio and thought it was a joke.

Trump picks ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state

Hey Typo Negative. Look at the upside. ==>Chicago Strip Club Gives Free Lap Dances.<==

This could replace Medicare!

[SteveG1]

@Damuri_Ajashi

How many did George W bush have 10 to 15 years ago?

Its the same sort of temper tantrum that we would have seen if McCain won in 2008 or Romney won in 2012.

I doubt it. I seriously doubt it. Even considering “philosophical” differences, McCain and Romney were intelligent, competent, and SANE.

[SteveG1]

@dasmoocher

Well, Mad Dog probably believes in the physics of kinetic projectiles on human anatomy. So, there’s two fields of science that he might accept.

Think about this for a while …

The one called Mad Dog is probably the LEAST crazy one of the bunch.

[CatandMouse]

@SteveG1

Well fuck it. He won’t be running the country, Putin will.

And I was so sure that Pence would be running the country…

[Damuri_Ajashi]

@SteveG1

I doubt it. I seriously doubt it. Even considering “philosophical” differences, McCain and Romney were intelligent, competent, and SANE.

That’s the point. It wouldn’t matter. If a republican wins there is going to be a temper tantrum on this board. The Trump victory was actually followed by a few days of stunned fucking silence before the temper tantrums started but the same people starting multiple pit threads on Trump would have done the same with Romney and McCain. And probably sooner.

[drad_dog]

@Damuri_Ajashi

That’s the point. It wouldn’t matter. If a republican wins there is going to be a temper tantrum on this board. The Trump victory was actually followed by a few days of stunned fucking silence before the temper tantrums started but the same people starting multiple pit threads on Trump would have done the same with Romney and McCain. And probably sooner.

You are the tantrum I’ve observed lately. Endless bawling, repetition, blaming, and projecting.

Hillary was another politician, not lots worse nor lots better. She lost. Let it go or run yourself.

[Siam_Sam]

Trump’s administration has already become a bad joke weeks before it’s even started.

[galen_ubal]

Trump has made 17 picks for his cabinet. Added together, they have more wealth than the bottom one-third of American households, according to this article.

[Bridget_Burke]

@drad_dog

You are the tantrum I’ve observed lately. Endless bawling, repetition, blaming, and projecting.

Hillary was another politician, not lots worse nor lots better. She lost. Let it go or run yourself.

You’d think our local Republicans would be full of joyous anticipation of the future that awaits. They should be regaling us with tales of The Greatness of The Donald & The Wisdom shown by his Cabinet Choices. Let’s hear more about Rick Perry & Ben Carson!

Instead, they keep telling us that Hillary was “flawed.” The more we learn about Trump, the better she looks. Well, more Americans *did *prefer her…

[Grim_Render]

@Damuri_Ajashi

How many did George W bush have 10 to 15 years ago?

Its the same sort of temper tantrum that we would have seen if McCain won in 2008 or Romney won in 2012.

I think there is a noticeable difference. People have advanced getting Romney or McCain in instead of this guy. If they had won in 2008 or 2012, I don’t see the same “any other Republican” desire.

[Nava]

@drad_dog

Too bad Bill Cosby is black. He would be the perfect Ombudsmen. It’s going to be a big job.

Nah, being black means he can get to be Trump’s second black.

[Damuri_Ajashi]

@drad_dog

You are the tantrum I’ve observed lately. Endless bawling, repetition, blaming, and projecting.

Hillary was another politician, not lots worse nor lots better. She lost. Let it go or run yourself.

You seem to think of anything that disrupts your bubble thinking as a temper tantrum. I’m just dropping some truth on you guys and you can’t see it because you still can’t get over the fact that Madonna Hillary was a horrible candidate. For every thread I have started about why Hillary deserves the blame for this loss, there are an infinite number of threads started about how Trump won because all the racists (who stayed home when a black dude was running for President) voted for him, because I have started exactly zero threads. I just refute all the bullshit being thrown around about why we lost the election. We are trying to fight ignorance after all.

Hillary was a horrible politician. She never won an election where the skids weren’t greased for her. But we nominated her because she insisted it was her turn and she was going to win. Well, she lost and she owns that.

[Damuri_Ajashi]

@Grim_Render

I think there is a noticeable difference. People have advanced getting Romney or McCain in instead of this guy. If they had won in 2008 or 2012, I don’t see the same “any other Republican” desire.

I understand Trump is worse but we have buried the fucking needle on demonizing the Republican candidates. What could we say about Trump that we haven’t already said about McCain and Romney?

Do you doubt for a second that we would have seen wailing and gnashing of teeth on this board if Romney won in 2012? The partisans on this board have cried wolf so often that its just par for the course.

[Channing_Idaho_Banks]

That’s the problem with crying wolf!