Shutdown Theater (Government Shutdown Theater)
“Shutdown theater” refers to the posturing that Democrats and Republicans make in blaming the other over a government shutdown. “Government Shutdown Theater” was cited in print on February 26. 2011. The term was further popularized during the government shutdown that began on October 1, 2013.
Other “theater” terms include “grievance theater,” “enforcement theater” and “security theater.”
Other shutdown terms include “shut happens” and “shutstorm.”
Center for a Stateless Society
Government Shutdown Theater
Thomas L. Knapp | February 26th, 2011
“Government shutdown.” For sheer beauty, I can’t think of another two-word phrase in the English language that even comes close.
And, as American media breathlessly relate, that’s what we’re going to get come March 4th unless Congress and the Obama administration manage a meeting of the minds on spending.
Well, no, not really. But kind of. Sort of. In a way.
When the organs of of American government come to loggerheads on the federal budget, a temporary shutdown of “non-essential services” ensues until one side caves.
Twitter
LibertarianMinds
@LibertarianMind
Government Shutdown Theater http://ff.im/-yUUdB
7:54 AM - 26 Feb 11
Twitter
Addie
@BigAddie
Nice piece by @ezraklein, though, I read “our 4th shutdown threat in 2011” as “shutdown theatre”#FreudianSlip #politics
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/wonkbook-crisis-averted-but-by-fema-not-by-congress/2011/09/27/gIQAfcQX1K_blog.html …
6:57 AM - 27 Sep 11
Albany (OR) Tribune
Shutdown Theater – OpEd
By Robert Higgs—(September 23, 2013)
Government shutdown? Nonsense. Only in our dreams will the U.S. government shut down. The current flap about an impending shutdown represents only the latest episode in the soap opera that stars the government as the hysterical teenage drama queen.
Twitter
(favorite talk show)
@thegre8_1
What is going on while we are being distracted by Continuing Resolution/Government Shutdown theatre?
8:18 PM - 28 Sep 13
Ace of Spades HQ
October 1, 2013
Citizens Reject Shutdown Theater
Shutdown theater is Obama’s penchant for making shutdowns worse than they need to be.
For example, the Capitol Park Police doing more work than needed to erect barriers to entry to the WWII memorial in the Mall. No one “works” here; there are no Park Rangers. It’s a friggin’ monument. And it is policed by the Capitol Park Police, who are, of course, still on the job.
Nevertheless, Obama is doing Shutdown Theater so he had his Imperial Troops erect barriers to keep people from seeing it.
Some visiting veterans rejected the Shutdown Theater.