PunditGuy — Home

Day: January 10, 2008

Shuck And Jive

“To shuck and jive” originally referred to the intentionally misleading words and actions that African-Americans would employ in order to deceive racist Euro-Americans in power, both during the period of slavery and afterwards. The expression was documented as being in wide usage in the 1920s, but may have originated much earlier.
“Shucking and jiving” was a tactic of both survival and resistance. A slave, for instance, could say eagerly, “Oh, yes, Master,” and have no real intention to obey. Or an African-American man could pretend to be working hard at a task he was ordered to do, but might put up this pretense only when under observation. Both would be instances of “doin’ the old shuck ‘n jive.”

Nice, Andrew. Real smooth.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo

Hillary Clinton’s Namesake, Dead at 88

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to set foot “on top ‘o the world”, is dead.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century’s greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called “Ed” and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.

“Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only ‘knocked off’ Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity,” Clark said in a statement.

“The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived,” she said.

Oh, and Hillary Clinton copped to the urban legend a little more than a year ago, so she won’t be able to use the mountaineers death for political purposes as a candidate for president. Although I wouldn’t put it past her.

Kerry Gives Fredo Kiss to Obama

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president, has thrown his support behind Senator Barack Obama in his bid for the 2008 nomination.

Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, planned to announce his support Thursday at a rally with Obama at the College of Charleston, arguing that the Illinois senator can best unite the country, said a Democrat familiar with the decision. Kerry was timing his announcement before South Carolina’s Jan. 26 primary, a contest that has taken on extra importance for Obama after Hillary Rodham Clinton beat him in New Hampshire.

Following in the footsteps of Al Gore, who in 2004 supported the nomination of Howard Dean instead of his 2000 running mate, Joe Lieberman, Kerry’s endorsement is a slap in the face to John Edwards, his running mate in the ’04 campaign. But it’s easy to understand. No one believes John Edwards has a chance to be the nominee this time.

The ‘Fredo Kiss‘ implication aside, this is probably good news for Obama, regardless of the Kerry baggage. The endorsement follows on the heals of another one received from the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union in Nevada yesterday.

Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, South Carolina, John Kerry