# world's successful dumb asses **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390 "2011-06-14T02:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/61 "2011-06-15T20:54:15Z")
> [@dbx820](#): > > Arnold Schwartzenegger has to be in the top three succesful dumbasses of all time. > > Made millions in movies, married a Kennedy, elected Governor, couldn’t do shit on office, fathered a child on the side, getting divorced, alienated his kids, lost his movie deals (for now anyway). > > This guy totally thinks with his lower brain. > > Rudy Guliani is also up there. Essentially unsuccesful and unpopular mayor of NYC with no significant accomplishments to his name and then whammo. He played a great father figure for awhile and has milked it ever since. The crime rate did drop significantly during Guliani’s years. Whether or not he had a lot to do with it is debatable but it did happen. And not too many people thought it would happen. Anyone remember the “crack babies will grow up deranged” scare of the 1980s. Keith Olberman. Like Al Gore he has become rich but he is a complete idiot. Joe Bicen could give Dan Quayle a run for his money in talking about how FDR went on TV to calm people after the stock market collapse and his “recovery summer” nonsense. Obama is looking as stupid as Bush with his “shovel ready jobs weren’t as shovel ready as we thought” and continually high unemployment. Oh, and how come Gitmo is still open and we have three wars and 1.5 trillion deficits after you denounced Dubya for having them and $250 billion deficits? Not to mention the tax cuts have been extended because you couldn’t pass a budget despite controlling both houses for two years? I remember a Penthouse article in the late 1970s on this subject that suggested George Washington, Ulysses Grant, Richard Burton and James Aubrey. I can’t remember the name of the Republican congressman who in the 1980s was voted one of the 10 stupidest people in congress and called a press conference to deny it. Sonny Bono never struck me as smart but he did become successful in music, tv, restaurant and politics. I suppose Dean Martin would be the same but he did get out of the steel mills and was the successful one after he and Jerry Lewis split (Tom Snyder once said that he and everyone else were surprised by that). Anna Nicole Smith was so stupid and drugged out that she ended up working in the day shift of a strip club because she was so inept. As it happened that was the only time a Texas millionaire in his 80s could go to the club and she married him. You can find a zillion athletes like Mike Tyson and Lenny Dykstra who make huge amounts of money and blow it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/62 "2011-06-15T21:04:11Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Are you equating LD with stupid? :dubious: Becasue many brilliant people are LD. Indeed. One of my good friends from college is dyslexic. She went to University of Michigan, Ann Arbor for grad school. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/63 "2011-06-16T13:14:45Z")
Curti Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and talk show host. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/64 "2011-06-16T14:45:16Z")
> [@dbx820](#): > > Arnold Schwartzenegger > > Rudy Guliani > [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Guliani > > Keith Olberman. > > Joe Bicen > [@Sparky812](#): > > the whole Balwin family > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Paul Erlich. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Renee Zelweger > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Curti Sliwa In a thread making fun of dumbasses, it might behoove us to spell their names right. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/65 "2011-06-16T15:12:45Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > In a thread making fun of dumbasses, it might behoove us to spell their names right. > > Just sayin’. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/66 "2011-06-16T17:47:47Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > In a thread making fun of dumbasses, it might behoove us to spell their names right. > > Just sayin’. Gaudere’s Law proven yet again! If you’re gonna nitpick spelling, it’s dumb asses or dumb-asses! Just saying.😃 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/67 "2011-06-16T18:37:33Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Gaudere’s Law proven yet again! > If you’re gonna nitpick spelling, it’s dumb asses or dumb-asses! > > Just saying.😃 **dumb ass** - About 10,700,000 results **dumb-ass** - About 13,900,000 results **dumbass** - About 21,000,000 results Hurrh hurrh… Googa say you RONG!!!@ ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/68 "2011-06-17T08:36:26Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > This reminded me one of my favorite quotes by her, because it displays just how ignorant and out-of-touch she is: “Walmart? Do they make walls there?” 😃 Wasn’t it Nichole Richie who said that? ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/69 "2011-06-17T12:04:49Z")
[Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumbass) > [@](#): > > **dumbass** > > **The word you’ve entered isn’t in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the search bar above.** Oxford English Dictionary > [@](#): > > **dumbass** > > **No exact match found for your search ‘dumbass’** ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/70 "2011-06-17T12:12:44Z")
[Karl Pilkington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Pilkington) is a successful producer, presenter, and ‘writer’. He’s also either astonishingly thick, or a gifted performance artist. Allegedly he has an IQ, tested by Mensa, of 83. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/71 "2011-06-17T14:17:10Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dumbass) > > Oxford English Dictionary Yeah. I note that neither dumb-ass nor dumb ass is in those dictionaries. Did you check? It’s not in there because it’s _slang,_ not because I spelled it wrong. Why would it be hyphenated anyway, unless I’m using it as a modifier? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/72 "2011-06-17T14:51:58Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > [Karl Pilkington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Pilkington) is a successful producer, presenter, and ‘writer’. > > He’s also either astonishingly thick, or a gifted performance artist. Allegedly he has an IQ, tested by Mensa, of 83. I haven’t seen a lot of Pilkington, but from what I have seen, I’d be hard-pressed to believe that his idiot persona is anything but an act. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/73 "2011-06-17T15:03:16Z")
> [@anya\_marie](#): > > Paris Hilton has made a bunch of cash from tv and her perfumes adding to her family $$$ and she just seems like she’s can’t-boil-water-dumb. I second Hilton. We think of her in terms of the family money but she’s made literally tens of millions of her own from her entertainment career and various product sidelines by allowing half the population to sneer at her and the other half to envy her. Dumb but _really_ successful. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/74 "2011-06-17T15:10:16Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Yeah. I note that neither dumb-ass nor dumb ass is in those dictionaries. Did you check? > > It’s not in there because it’s _slang,_ not because I spelled it wrong. Why would it be hyphenated anyway, unless I’m using it as a modifier? [Heh](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dumbass). (Potentially NSFW) ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/75 "2011-06-17T15:24:59Z")
> [@Shamozzle](#): > > Wasn’t it Nichole Richie who said that? You may be right. I remembered it being Paris. If so, well, nothing really changes. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/76 "2011-06-17T15:31:54Z")
I’m no fan of PAris Hilton, but I’ll say that the Wal-Mart comment was intended as a poke in the ribs to the Walton fmaily, one of the Hilton’s peer rivals in the social wars. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/77 "2011-06-17T15:59:27Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Sonny Bono never struck me as smart but he did become successful in music, tv, restaurant and politics. Not so successful at skiing, though. :: d&r :: ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/78 "2011-06-17T17:56:07Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Yeah. I note that neither dumb-ass nor dumb ass is in those dictionaries. Did you check? > > It’s not in there because it’s _slang,_ not because I spelled it wrong. Why would it be hyphenated anyway, unless I’m using it as a modifier? Errr…that’s because they are 2 separate words, both of which are in any dictionary. It is a [single-word modifier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-word_modifier) so a hyphen may be used, similarly with smart-ass or half-assed. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/79 "2011-06-17T18:20:49Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Errr…that’s because they are 2 separate words, both of which are in any dictionary. > It is a [single-word modifier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-word_modifier) so a hyphen may be used, similarly with smart-ass or half-assed. But as 2 separate words they don’t convey the same sense. Also, a single-word modifier modifies a word – it’s used adjectivally, not as a noun. It is incorrect to say “Bobby is a smart-ass,” but correct to say “Bobby made a smart-assed remark,” which is often colloquially shortened to “a smart-ass remark.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390/80 "2011-06-17T18:30:02Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Not so successful at skiing, though. > > :: d&r :: Which reminds me of [Michael Kennedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_LeMoyne_Kennedy#Death) Joins **Spiff** in the :: d&r lane:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-successful-dumb-asses/585390.md?page=3)