# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 1, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298 "2025-12-01T20:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 412
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8221 "2026-08-24T13:19:03Z")
I think Jack Smith’s biggest flaw was that he worked within the courts _only_. Immediately, after each indictment, he should have been on the TV, going over each piece of evidence that lead to said indictment. He didn’t, and that made it easier for 45 to control the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8222 "2026-08-24T13:41:17Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Immediately, after each indictment, he should have been on the TV, going over each piece of evidence that lead to said indictmen I mean, sure, if you want to piss off the judiciary and potentially damage your chances of winning the legal case. There’s a reason (in theory) why cases aren’t tried in the court of public opinion. The real problem goes back decades - we let democratic norms and standards slip. And this extends to legislators, judges, and at least some part of the federal bureaucracy. If a people aren’t interested in democracy or the rule of law, they aren’t going to have them. Jack Smith was among the last lines of defense, not the first. We (the collective we) allowed ourselves to be lulled into thinking we’re weren’t decades into the slide into outright fascism and authoritarianism and one or two of these last minute stopgaps would be “the” answer. That’s naive as all hell ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8223 "2026-08-24T13:50:31Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > There’s a reason (in theory) why cases aren’t tried in the court of public opinion. But in the four years between trump regimes, nothing was tried in the court of anything. Not Jack Smith, but the same thing: > [@F Merrick Garland. (He won't be going after anyone)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/f-merrick-garland-he-wont-be-going-after-anyone/968190): > > So basically Garland won’t be going after Trump or anyone related to an election year . Bc he’s worried about optics apparently. I have no fucking words! Thread ran four years, and the title was 100% accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8224 "2026-08-24T13:59:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But in the four years between trump regimes, nothing was tried in the court of anything. Sure, Garland proceeded too slowly, but Jack Smith did try. As I noted, if even the judiciary has been suborned, then expecting it to do much is naive. Aileen Cannon was never going to let the case actually proceed, despite Smith’s best efforts. If the argument is that he should have ignored the legal system and just put stuff out for the public to see, why even bother with the dog and pony show? Seems like that sort of suggestion wants things both ways - a predetermined result but with the veneer of legal respectability. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8225 "2026-08-24T14:22:15Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I mean, sure, if you want to piss off the judiciary and potentially damage your chances of winning the legal case. > > There’s a reason (in theory) why cases aren’t tried in the court of public opinion. I’m not going to disagree with you, but I will point out that Patrick Fitzgerald did not tank his case against Scooter Libby by going over the evidence that had already been presented in court in a press conference. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8226 "2026-08-24T14:42:19Z")
Sure, but different times and roles. It doesn’t feel that way but we’ve gone downhill a lot over the last 20 years and there’s a difference between chief of staff to the VP and POTUS himself. It shouldn’t work that way but we all know it does. These days, his crimes would be considered quaint compared to the daily shitstorm White House officials generate. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8227 "2026-08-24T14:53:26Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > But in the four years between trump regimes, nothing was tried in the court of anything. I thought the House select committee on the J6 attack did a bang-up job of putting the facts up in front of the court of public opinion. Heck, the pressure generated by their presentation was probably what got Garland off his fundament and made him appoint Jack Smith. Unfortunately, too little of the public is of the opinion to hear the facts of the matter.. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8228 "2026-08-24T14:56:04Z")
I stopped following this thread when it became impossible to keep up with it, but I have a question. Mr. Potato Head says he wants to use the military to intervene in the bond market. What’s he wanna do? Force people at gunpoint to buy bonds? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8229 "2026-08-24T15:02:59Z")
I think he just forgot what he was talking about, got confused by the word “intervention,” and rambled on from there. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8230 "2026-08-24T15:06:22Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > Unfortunately, too little of the public is of the opinion to hear the facts of the matter Well, it’s easier to say “nobody is doing anything” than “you’re not producing the results I want”. I’m sure we’ve all had bosses like that, too ---
**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:** [August 24, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8231 "2026-08-24T15:20:34Z")
We’re at 30%! > **[Trump Job Approvals and The National Economy](https://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/)** ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8232 "2026-08-24T15:24:30Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Please do not repeat the same mistake. Prediction: Here’s a speech ready to be given after Trump is escorted off the Whitehouse grounds: > We would needlessly be diverted from meeting our challenges if we as a people were to remain sharply divided over whether to indict, bring to trial, and punish a former President, who already is condemned to suffer long and deeply in the shame and disgrace brought upon the office he held. Surely, we are not a revengeful people. We have often demonstrated a readiness to feel compassion and to act out of mercy. As a people we have a long record of forgiving even those who have been our country’s most destructive foes. And off Trump goes to enjoy the billions he stole from Americans. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8233 "2026-08-24T15:30:38Z")
There’s always Abraham Lincoln, as he sits looking out over his trashed reflecting pond: > With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God, _however we understand God_, gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for ~~him~~ _them_ who shall have borne the battle and for ~~his widow and his orphan~~ _their survivors and families_ ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. > > Now toss that sumbitch in the pokey and throw away the key! ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8234 "2026-08-24T15:39:37Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I thought the House select committee on the J6 attack did a bang-up job of putting the facts up in front of the court of public opinion. Heck, the pressure generated by their presentation was probably what got Garland off his fundament and made him appoint Jack Smith. Agree with this. I watched every second of this, and found it riveting (I may have an odd definition of “riveting”). They nailed it in an absolutely professional and fearless manner. I earnestly hope that in the future, some court or tribunal will use their good work to bring charges against those who now are getting away with treason and corruption daily. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8235 "2026-08-24T16:00:54Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > some court or tribunal will use their good work to bring charges against those who now are getting away with treason and corruption daily. Nuremberg-style public trials, with executions or life imprisonment for the convicted. Heck we even have a town named Nuremberg in the US. Maybe a bit small, but we can build a Big Beautiful courthouse. Use trump’s stolen money to pay for it. Then comes the de-trumpification of America. Maybe we can deport them, to Eritrea or South Sudan. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8236 "2026-08-24T17:25:17Z")
Half a billion down the drain with no end in sight. The General Dynamics artillery plant in Texas - zero production. > **[Fiasco in the Factory: Taxpayers Funded a $533 Million Artillery Plant That...](https://www.defenseone.com/business/2026/08/artillery-plant-made-nothing/415443/)** > > General Dynamics opened a Texas factory to churn out artillery shells for Ukraine, but the machines kept breaking. Robot arms smashed into things. Hunks of metal crashed to the floor. There was even a real-life dumpster fire. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8237 "2026-08-24T17:35:23Z")
The company "met or exceeded requirements,” but no shells have been delivered. At all. Allrighty! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8238 "2026-08-24T20:18:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Why tamper with that? Because he’s a Fuckin’ Idiot? Cite: Whitehouse, Kennedy Center, Whitehouse lawn, Iran, Trade Policy, Reflecting Pool… etc etc… ---
**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:** [August 24, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8239 "2026-08-24T20:47:44Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > > Why tamper with that? > > Because he’s a Fuckin’ Idiot? > > Cite: Whitehouse, Kennedy Center, Whitehouse lawn, Iran, Trade Policy, Reflecting Pool… etc etc… Your reply is a non-sequitur to mine. My comment _“Why tamper with that?”_ was in reference to Monty’s comment about making Natalie the next Mrs. Trump. At least, that’s how I interpreted _“Mrs. T 4.0.”_ > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@Monty](#): > > > > Mrs. T 4.0 no doubt. > > In her dreams. Donnie has her right where she will do him the most good. Why tamper with that? My comment had nothing to with any of his lame-brained, misguided construction projects. And I agree 100% that he is a Fuckin’ Idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298/8240 "2026-08-24T20:51:10Z")
Oh, I know. I got it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=411) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-2/1025298.md?page=413)