dumb·show
ˈdəmˌSHō/ noun: dumbshow; noun: dumb-show; noun: dumb show; plural noun: dumb shows
gestures used to convey a meaning or message without speech; mime.
“they demonstrated in dumbshow how the tea should be made”
a piece of dramatic mime.
plural noun: dumbshows; plural noun: dumb-shows
“there were gags, spoofs, and dumbshows”
President Trump just held a signing. He had nothing to sign https://t.co/O8fqgiCkCV
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) June 5, 2017
Trump isn’t signing a bill. He’s signing a list of “principles” on air traffic control. It’s a faux bill signing ceremony. Amazing.
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) June 5, 2017
"The media obsesses over every period, dot." — Sarah Huckabee Sanders
— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 5, 2017
GOP strategists say Republicans plan to make 2018 a referendum on the media. @Alex_Roarty @lindsaywise reporting https://t.co/0JyHFhbC1z
— McClatchyDC (@McClatchyDC) June 5, 2017
We're four months in and already at this stage of desperation, huh https://t.co/efTI1LFchd
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) June 5, 2017
2016: Vote GOP and we’ll bring back your coal mine!
2018: Vote GOP and get 20% off a Liberal Tears coffee mug!https://t.co/Q1S6WWS3PC
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 5, 2017
bago
What part of the title “President of the United States” is not to be taken seriously?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I think this dumb show is as much for trump as for his marks. It’s all like sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck making vroom-vroom noises
I had MNSBC on this morning in the run up to this pantomime, and the ‘bots mentioned that there was a piano playing. Last week before he announced he was pulling out of the Paris accords, I think it was reported that they had a jazz combo playing. I don’t know if it’s actually unprecedented, maybe Obama did it, maybe Truman did it, but it don’t seem right.
cynthia ackerman
@bago:
All of them, bago.
Kelly
Republican Leadershit!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
also, when I saw this today in Cole twitter feed, I laughed, because they’re down-scaling The Brand. Then I was mad, because they’re profiteering
It’s a licensing scam, partnerships with already existing hotels and small regional chains, so only the people doing business with them will know they’re giving business to the president’s family.
also, the NYT article (hold on to your wigs and keys) reads like a PR firm’s press release.
Major Major Major Major
Trump admin: “See this hand? This is the hand that’s going to try and distract you. Over here, where I’m gesturing at the beautiful assistant strapped to the mechanism of death? That’s so that you don’t watch my other hand, right over there, which I’m using to loosen the ropes. See, it’s like you don’t even notice me loosening the ropes. And voila! The damsel survives!”
MEDIA: Trump Admin Miraculously Saves Damsel; Rabid Dems in Disarray Blast Media for ‘Handgate’; Next on MSNBC, Bernie Sanders Discusses How Democrats Shouldn’t Wear Clean Pants to the Magic Show
Mike in NC
He likes to scribble his name on fake EOs just like kindergarteners like to finger paint.
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I’m kind of glad Kay isn’t around tonight to see this, because I think she’d burst a blood vessel. This is pretty much the definition of political corruption and “pay for play” right here, and no one seems to give a shit.
Adam L Silverman
@bago: Everything but of and the.
Peej
Holy Cwap! I just looked at the offshore wagering odds for the Ossoff/Handel contest and Ossoff is currently the favorite at -170 to Handel +130 (This means to win $100, you have to risk $170 on Ossoff — for Handel, you win $130 by risking $100). I would’ve thought Handel would be a slight favorite, just based on demographics alone. I live in Los Angeles, but grew up near the 6th district and have family there, and I just can’t believe the likely D votes from around the perimeter of I-285 would be enough to overcome the pseudoevangelicals in Roswell, Alpharetta and Johns Creek.
NotMax
Paragraph which caught the eye re: proposed FAA privatization (emphasis added):
Another, different eye catcher.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I really don’t know how much longer they can keep this show going. And it is a show. The whole fucking party is committed to this dumbass show called, I guess, “How Fucking Much Longer Can We All Get Away With This Game of Make Believe That This Pitiful Fucking Loser Knows What the Fuck He’s Doing?” It’s a long title, it’s a mouthful, but this is their show, God damn it, and they waited eight long-ass years to put it on, so none of them are going to walk out on their roles until the theater burns down or something.
I just can’t see this ending well for anybody in this excuse for a political party. I can’t understand why they aren’t running for the doors yet. I really can’t. I mean, yeah, Steve King and Looey Göehmert are too fucking dumb to know that this show is not only not making it to Broadway, it’s failing in places like Surprise, Nebraska and Pinhook, Missouri and Upper Peanut, Pennsylvania. But I’d have thought that people like, I don’t know, the speaker of the House of Representatives would have enough understanding of what his own interests are to try to untether himself from this clot of clowns. I guess not.
Mnemosyne
@NotMax:
Wasn’t the PM of Montenegro the guy that Trump shoved out of the way to get to the front of a group?
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: Apparently the association for private pilots is not amused with the idea as they are expecting to get chewed up by fees and upgrades to their planes to be able to navigate the new systems.
Mnemosyne
@Peej:
I would not discount the probable effects of voter tampering and voter suppression. The offshore gaming guys are assuming a fair fight, not a fixed one.
efgoldman
@NotMax:
Tester, senior Democrat on the appropriate committee, already said it’s dead. dead. dead.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: Yes, yes he was.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne:
burnspbesq
@efgoldman:
When Tester controls 51 votes, I’ll start to care about what he says.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s the only way the Republicans can win going forward, and they know it. That’s what Sessions was hired to do: prevent non-whites and non-Republicans from voting.
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: I thought it was to ensure we had a strategic reserve of fudge stripes and pecan sandies.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@burnspbesq: When McConnell gets 60 votes, I’ll begin to worry about this happening.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Only because he couldn’t hack it in The Show.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Nothing is going to pass this Congress. I’d be amazed if they can even get bills renaming post offices for Ronald Reagan through now.
NotMax
Unexpected statistic hidden within an otherwise humdrum piece.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: Fucking Millennials are killing the driver’s license now.
efgoldman
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Yeah, Adam had a concise summary of the likely possibilities a thread or two or three ago.
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
I don’t keep up with census trends. Is it possible there are just fewer kids? Or more of them live in Metro areas with transportation options?
Mnemosyne
@efgoldman:
IIRC, it’s because most states have “graduated” driver’s licenses where you have a ton of restrictions on drivers under 18, so a lot of kids just wait until after they turn 18 to get their license.
Most high schools don’t offer drivers’ ed classes anymore, so they’re going to have to pay for private classes anyway.
aangus
Dunber than usual. “)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8hKo42x-eQ
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman:
Would not have much to do with whether or not (I don’t know) there’s fewer kids. I’m sure more live in urban areas but not that much more. Maybe they don’t have money, also Uber can be cheaper than a car, especially once you factor in teenage insurance premiums, for certain use levels.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: And given the way things work around here I’ll have it again and again and again as needed.
Also, since I’ve been not feeling 100% I’ve forgotten to explain that the Saudi arms deal isn’t actually a Saudi arms deal. It’s more like a Saudi arms aspirational discussion. Just like everything else, there’s no there there.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
First increment approved today. What does it include? Anti-missile radar.
Is keeping the contractor anonymous anywhere near the usual?
Gian
@efgoldman: they can’t pay car insurance, car loan, and student loans
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
My daughter got a speeding ticket, coming home late at night from a babysitting job, local four lane road, no traffic.
I didn’t find out until I got the $200 surcharge on my next insurance bill.
20-ish years ago. No Uber. Local cab at that hour was likely to take an hour or more – there was just one, late at night, if the driver was awake and near the phone.
Mary G
@Adam L Silverman: I loved this Brookings column about the $110 billion Saudi arms deal being fake news:
So Jared Kushner is as big a fraud as his FIL. Sad!
Do they really think that the American people are that dumb?
Bobby Thomson
@Mnemosyne: there’s also the matter of cars not being cheap and employment for teens being not as abundant and parents being not as able to spoil their kids by paying for the car.
Bobby Thomson
@Mary G:
Yes. And they’re not wrong.
efgoldman
@Gian:
High school kids don’t have student loans; and they don’t have to own a car. I’d think they’d want a license just for ID purposes.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: So this is a small slice and it still has to clear Congress, though that is usually pro forma provided the Leahy Amendment and other reviews were done correctly at DSCA. That said almost everything approved today was initially proposed for sale sometime between 2015 and 2016. In fact almost everything in the announced package was proposed and/or negotiated for between 2015 and 2016. It takes that long for these types of things to happen.
As for keeping the contractor anonymous – I don’t know. It may simply be that they haven’t put out a bid for a contractor at this point. Or there is already a set of contractors on omnibus contracts as primes to do this already. My understanding is that Booz had the PME contract. Or they did through 2015-2016.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
Our city just approved a downtown apartment building with far fewer parking spots than zoning previously required. Being carless, doing Zipcar, Uber, cyclig instead is an Official Thing. The upside is higher density than normal, a good thing with the 2% vacancy rate.
Montanareddog
And the reality (shit) show tropes just keep on coming.
Adam L Silverman
@Mary G: That is an excellent column and Reidel is spot on.
As for the American public not knowing the difference? If you hadn’t read that column or I hadn’t mentioned something in a comment would you have known? The vast majority of Americans don’t know or understand, let alone want to know or understand how the local school board works. This might as well be stuff written in Ugaritic or Martian.
cthulhu
@Major Major Major Major:
They also aren’t buying cars as much either.
As for the driving thing, it is probably also the cost of insurance in some cases. Just got a quote for adding my 16-year-old son to our policy and it would effectively double our high LA premiums – and that’s a pretty good quote from doing some comparison shopping. The rate drops nearly 30% if he waits until 17 and even more at 18 and/or if he is in college.
Regardless, certainly among his peers, it just isn’t seen as being as important as it once was to get a license and car as soon as possible.
efgoldman
@Mary G:
Is this a surprise?
We are now at the point where, if someone comes out of the WH, stands in front of the microphones, and says the sun is shining, you should look for total darkness any second.
They need to study the pros, especially the late Ron Ziegler:
NotMax
@cthulhu
Cue Paul Lynde.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
I wonder if the acquisition/procurement/contract folks in the Pentagon are among the desks that are still empty.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: The political appointment ones are. While there are some beachhead team folks, my guess is that those folks don’t have acquisitions and procurement backgrounds. So you’ve got some SESes and some civil servants and some uniformed personnel keeping the lights on. This is going to bite someone in the tuchas big time in regards to the next defense authorization bill.
cthulhu
@NotMax:
Always entertaining. And according to wikipedia relating to that particular gig:
In a 2013 radio interview, Dick Van Dyke recalled the wrap party for Bye Bye Birdie in 1962. A series of men gave short speeches, each one praising Ann-Margret and predicting success and stardom for the young actress. When it was Lynde’s turn to speak, he began, “Well, I guess I’m the only one here who doesn’t want to f— Ann-Margret.”
Mel
@efgoldman: I wonder if it’s because so many families have had to cut down to one car or no car b/c of financial constraints, and / or can’t afford to buy a secind car or afford to add a teen to their insurance policies. That’s been the case for several friends and neighbors whose kiddos have recently turned 16. Since there’s no vehicle for the kiddos to drive, the parents are holding off on the expense of the driver’s ed classes and the driver’s license and the (sometimes shockingly pricey!) addition of a teenaged driver to the adult’s insurance policy.
One set of parents is going to pay for the driver’s ed, etc. as part of their teen’s graduation gift in a couple of years. Another Dad is using the money that would have been been required for driving school/ license/ testing fees to pay for an SAT prep course for his son this fall.
mouse tolliver
@efgoldman:
On day one, Trump literally did this. He said the rain stopped and the sun came out while he was being sworn in. Even though the entire world could see that this was a lie.
Ruckus
@bago:
The part where the orange dumbass’s name appears. It should be taken seriously, but humans are not capable of stretching the laws of reality that far. We are capable of becoming angry, saddened and alarmed, massively concerned for our health and country that the combination of the shit weasel’s name and that phrase can be uttered by anyone though.
Ruckus
@Mike in NC:
But the kindergartners finger paints make a lot more sense.
Ruckus
@cthulhu:
Kids have a way to talk to friends without a mode of transportation, that not all that long ago didn’t exist. And they don’t have to hang out at specific locations away from adults to do so either. And that’s on top of all the other reasons people have mentioned.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ruckus: The kidz have those smarty-pants phones.
Anne Laurie
@Mel:
Follow the money, as always.
One further tile in the mosaic: Smartphones. In our day, kids had to be in the same room to interact in groups. Now, “everybody” jokes/complains that kids prefer to text or snapchat even when they’re within arms’ reach — cue the pic of kids lined up on a sofa, each engrossed in their separate phone. Presumably some teenagers with part-time-job money weigh the cost of getting & insuring a car versus a better data plan on a newer phone. Advantage: phone.
I also remember, back in college, fellow nerds who said their parents “made” them take drivers ed classes & get their licenses, mostly so the parents could stop being chauffeurs, but also because they were convinced that their kid would end up stranded somewhere & not be able to reach them. Today’s parents have their cell phones at hand 24/7, too… kid misses the last bus, or the party gets out of hand, and Mom can summoned. (And that’s assuming her safety instructions weren’t “here’s the number for my Uber account, don’t be afraid to use it if you need a ride home.”)
ETA: Aaand I see Ruckus/BillinGlendale beat me to it!
sukabi
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: thought the plan prior to the election was to go with ‘Scion’ for their new hotel properties…
sukabi
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): think Ryan is in it up to his eyeballs…at first by keeping quiet and then by???has anyone checked his campaign funds or super Pacs for large donations from some obscure off shore accts…if not $$$ then some pervy habits someone has documented. With the gop it’s either $ or s€x…and now they’ve added treason to their bag of tricks.
Mike J
There are things you can do in a car that really aren’t the same at all when done over a smart phone.
Mary G
@sukabi: Ryan’s not nearly as pretty these days. He looks haggard, with bags under the blue eyes and puffier in general. Something is gnawing at him and it’s a joy to see.
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
A few days ago, I was speculating that the deals had been cut before Trump even left DC. Now I’ve just learned there were in fact no deals, just a wish list from the Saudis. I guess I should have remembered the Trump admin peeps — especially the President himself and his relatives — are full of bluster and bullshit.
sukabi
@Mnemosyne: that and to shut down the Russia investigations…someone isn’t happy that he’s ‘recused’ himself from investigations Russian.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
sukabi
@Mary G: yep. Dirty little secrets will do that to you.
opiejeanne
@sukabi: I saw a side-by-side comparison of Kellyanne Polls before and after Trump, and it was like those before and after pictures of meth users, and just about as bad.
Marcopolo
@Ruckus: My anecdata backs this up. I am friends w/ three couples who have kids between the ages of 15-19. None, I repeat, none of the kids (5 in toto) have drivers licenses because 1) they can stay in touch via their phones; and 2) the intertoobz provide them with all kinds of distractions that folks my age typically had to leave the house to access. It is kind do amazing when one of them says the need to leave a get together early to take their 17 or 18 year old kid some where. My generation would have died from embarrassment to be so dependent on the ‘rents. Also too, I also suspect this behavior trend is showing up in the statistics showing kids today ain’t sexing it up like their parents did.
akryan
The actual president of the United States is pretending to be the actual president of the United States and there are a bunch of smiling sychophants standing by and congratulating him for it. That is just about the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.
akryan
OT, but something that has always bothered me here is that the comments are listed first to last instead of the other way around. sometimes there are hundreds of comments to get through until I get to the most recent one. It’d be better to have the latest comment listed first so you can jump right in to the latest part of the conversation. It’s your site so you can run it however you want but that’s my two cents.
Bess
@Mike J:
These days one can do in their own bedroom what we used to need a car to do.
And there are a lot fewer safe, private places to park one’s car if they’re in the mood to do some of that stuff.
BlueDWarrior
@akryan: there are page jump buttons in the bottom right to alleviate that
?BillinGlendaleCA
@akryan: Most blog comment sections I’ve run across do it the same way as is done here, earliest first.
ETA: Also since we don’t have threaded comments, having them in this order makes sense since sometimes folk are replying to an earlier comment.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@opiejeanne:
gaping, seeping wounds? What a snowflake.
She said that on February 2nd.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
So it’s not the meth. Oh hell, why not both.
Mary G
British GQ has their own version of Charlie Pierce, who is not keen on Twitler’s attacks on London’s mayor:
Applejinx
@efgoldman: Drivers licenses and cars cost money.
Applejinx
@Mary G: Ha! Good. I hated how happy he looked. That guy is embedded deep in the scandals and I’m convinced he’s been completely privy to all the Russia crap, and assumed he was going to be President somehow. Don’t quite know how that was supposed to work, but every day was Christmas Morning for Paul Ryan… for a while.
Applejinx
Oh, and since my first reaction was covered by basically everybody downthread of where I caught it:
Not being able to do major culturally expected things because you don’t have the money for it, nobody in your family is liquid enough to help you do it, and even if they did nobody expects you’re going to be able to pay them back for it—thus causing a death spiral where these culturally expected things have to jack up their prices because they’re no longer doing the volume they used to be able to count on, worsening the problem—is called economic insecurity.
I guess it has to be expressed in 50s terms, of kids not getting their first cars and drivers licenses, to be understood here.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Applejinx: Sure, Christmas morning you get all those gifts and CANDY. Lots of candy, it’s great…until Christmas afternoon.
sukabi
@opiejeanne: she’s another one…the pre Drumpf and post Drumpf “looks” aren’t doing her any favors… She’s aged an easy 20 years in the last year and looks like she’s an old used up junkie.
She’s a cautionary tale…mainlining hate, not good for the soul.
Kay
Just assume everything that comes out of Trump or that White House is a lie. I think Sessions is leaking that Trump is mad at Sessions because Sessions wants to appear independent as attorney general. More bullshit.
This is what they do all day- concoct elaborate lies. They spent all day yesterday (and probably most of the weekend) setting up a fake bill signing. If you were wondering what it is they do at work since they have no actual achievements (and I was) this is what they work on.
Trump voters get a lot of attention as the cause of this but this is a much bigger problem than uninformed voters. Jeff Sessions is a career politician and he’s educated- all of these Trump hires are educated. The things they lack they wouldn’t get in college. The lying and cheating wouldn’t be fixed with a graduate degree.
NotMax
@akryan
The idea, imperfect though it may be, is to read the comments.
NotMax
@Applejinx
Yeah, we all fondly reminisce about the days when they were free.
Sheesh.
different-church-lady
Yeah, well this is real funny for us until they manage to leverage white fear and hatred to electoral victory again.
We know what’s going to happen to Trump. We still have figured out what to do about the voters.
different-church-lady
@Applejinx: Fucking Millennials are killing money now.
Quinerly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: You stealing my lines now??
different-church-lady
@akryan: That’s what the “to the bottom” button in the lower right part of the window is for.
different-church-lady
Can you still buy a drivable car for $500 anymore? Is the cost of entry just too much for kids out of school?
different-church-lady
@NotMax:
In that case he really should be asking for an escape button.
Quinerly
@Mary G: Best read in the last 72 hours. Thanks.
Lurking Canadian
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I’m so old I remember Ryan DID cut loose of Trump, back before the election. There was a whole thing about a conference call in which he freed R candidates to run away from Trump if necessary.
It’s only since the election that he’s nailed his colours to the mast.
satby
@Applejinx: not being able to do “culturally expected things”?
Driving cars at 16 is a fifties thing?
Jeeesus, you’re such a grievance collector. For the record, my millennial son got his license after he was 18 because he just didn’t feel the need for it earlier, and I made him get it because my job required me to become a road warrior and I wanted him to be able to get somewhere (and drive his younger brother if needed). Chicago has excellent and convienient public transportation. AND because part of the whole coming of age thing in the 50s and 60s included paying for gas and insurance as part of your driving privileges, so of course I expected that my kids would also know they had the same obligation. It wasn’t just handed to kids as a freebie in an era when most families only had 1 car.
satby
@different-church-lady: I sold my last car to a college kid for $650 just about a year ago. Insurance is high for younger drivers, but there’s discounts for safe driving and driver’s ed that brings it down. And in this area, jobs are available, so a kid with a job could pay insurance and gas. During downturns it probably is harder, but then during recessions it’s harder for a lot of adults too.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
What office is the media running for?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay:
ROFL no wonder Trump went bankrupt so many times.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
They aren’t the only ones.
TenguPhule
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Court Jester.
ruckus
@TenguPhule:
Most of them already have that position locked up indefinitely.