Is it an affectation that they’re trained to deploy? (If so, why?) Or is it just a natural thing that happens in the very specific circumstance of being a politician on the campaign trail, and that’s why no one else seems to do it?
I don’t think I’ve seen it in any other context 🤔
Cheers!
You have to do something with your hand. This one’s pretty neutral, because it’s nothing.
It’s not a fishing rod, it’s something much more personal
Like… your favourite PH2 driver?
Torx is superior. I could accept Robertson as well.
It is. But everyone needs a dedicated PH2. With torx, a bit set is the better approach.
Get them from Vessel Tools, best screwdrivers I have ever used.
I just recently got a PZ2 driver from Vessel for my Honda. It was remarkable how nice it was to use compared to a Phillips screw and driver. I felt so much torque could be applied while the grip stayed rock solid.
Also learned PZ screws are often used in cabinetry, and lo and behold, all my kitchen cabinet do in fact have that tell-tale X mark to indicate they are Pozidrive screws.
I’ve still not had the opportunity to use a square drive Roberston screw, but would still like to use them for something one day.
from what i remember, they are coached to do it because pointing is seen as too aggressive but not making any hand gestures is too robotic. so its a way to make a non-aggressive emphatic hand gesture.
Which, ironically, makes them seem even more robotic
Thanks for pointing that out.
Only to people who are actually paying attention to a lot of politicians and likely looking exactly this up.
For the majority of the public? it is just “good public speaking”.
I didn’t look it up and here I am.
And plenty of people use chatgpt instead of google. Not really sure what point you think you are making but…
Your statement could be true about anything depending on the perspective so I wasn’t sure what point you were trying to make
I miss Obama and other politicians who could actually speak.
Yeah.
Although I recently heard him on Marc Maron’s podcast, and was rather disappointed.
He’s still far, far more lucid than most other politicians, but he came off as wildly out of touch, which I didn’t recall him being 10 years ago.
Oh well, that’s the match of time for you.
Well, the man’s retired so he can be I suppose? When (if?) I’m able to retire, I plan on being as out of touch as possible :D
Was he wearing a tan suit?
Obama 》》Grandpa Freeman
you don’t remember him ordering grey poupon? Like a french aristocrat?
Oh that’s right!
And now I’m remembering his scandalous tan suit!
I feel it also adds cadence to a speech, which can help people listen more to what you’re saying.
Marketing is always the answer.
It’s so they don’t point their finger and wag or shake a fist while they are taking. It is seen as a less offensive gesture to people watching body language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomia
They are taught by “experts” that pointing is an ugly aggressive hand gesture.
That’s neat.
Why does that article contain no references more recent than 1806 though. Is it called something else these days? It seems like there should be more modern information on the practice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_jive
Not really tho.
honestly with drawings like that I half expected at least one panel be involving bloodletting
It’s silly how some of them do this while simultaneously pushing ugly and aggressive policies.
Gotta make those policies seem friendly and non-aggressive!
They’re squeezing their hands like that so they don’t accidentally do the nazi solute again.
And this is safer than “air dicking”.
They learn it at The Bohemian Grove.
“People who are more emotive with their gestures than me must be fake”
“People who are less emotive with their gestures than me are robotic lol”
Most people hold both of those views but have wildly different levels of emotiveness… The result? Posts like this
It’s the I’m-pointing-at-you-with-a-pen-but-I-forgot-my-pen gesture.
It’s zuck’s new toy /s
My guess is that they’re accustomed to holding note cards and it’s just a reflexive stance after a while
It’s rude to point, and they all have arthritis.
There are very few configurations of the hand and fingers that aren’t offensive to someone. This one is one of the last few remaining, with “thousand points o’ laght”, a list that doesn’t include “yuge” or the double “okay” sign.
So everyone does it.
“How dare you insult me with your flaccid mockery of a fishing pole grip, you will pay for your insolence”
I wanna say I’ve heard that be referred to as the “Clinton thumb” since Bill Clinton did it a lot when president.
I’ve heard that before too but being an old bastard, I’m pretty certain Clinton didn’t do it until after he was debating Bob Dole. Bob Dole used this gesture because he held a pen during debates. And he held a pen in his non-dominant hand because he had an injury in WWII and the way his hand curled made him look weak.
I remember it as a Dole gesture originally, too
Esoterically speaking, it is a modification of the sign of the fig—a vaginal hand symbol indicating that you are creating with your words. The traditional sign of the fig has the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which you see Bill Clinton do a lot. Others put the thumb on top, I imagine for plausible deniability of being satanic or something. The gesture is very old, going back to Ancient Greece or earlier.
Historically, politicians have been influenced by groups such as the Masons and the Rosicrucians who would have been aware of the meaning of these gestures, and then it filters down over time to become standard political gestures for people who aren’t aware of their origin.
this could be total bullshit but i wouldnt know. seems legit but ya know? lacks references but has the air of authority
I’m a practicing occultist, so my knowledge of the gesture is from that angle. I’m at work right now, so I can’t drag up the best sources at the moment, but here’s a Wikipedia article about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_sign
And here is a Wikipedia article about hand gestures that mentions the “Clinton Thumb” under the single handed gestures section:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gestures
I believe I first heard the Masonic political connection from Lon Milo DuQuette, who I believe is a Mason as well as a practicing occultist like myself. He has over 1000 videos on occultism on YouTube, and I think I probably heard it from there as well as other sources about occult hand gestures.
For the record, I’m not saying it is an occult gesture to imply any conspiracy—just that the history of Masonry and other occult interests in politicians over history have led to certain themes and gestures blending in to the common political vernacular.
The gesture is very old because, and I know this is a wild unsubstantiated theory, it’s a pretty natural and organic way to hold your hand when speaking to or before a large group? I suppose magic makes more sense.
These gestures aren’t exclusive to any particular group—part of the reason they last is that they are easy to discover multiple times and use in multiple ways, plus they seem somewhat natural. It’s similar to how the “devil horns” gesture can also be seen as an owl, a longhorn, or an I Love You. They’re multi-purpose, which is part of why they end up being commonly used.
I’m not suggesting that everyone who uses the sign of the fig is using it in a Masonic or occult way, but rather that some politicians probably picked it up from that background and began using it, and then it was copied by other politicians who liked their style. Eventually, it just becomes a standard political gesture, and only some politicians would be aware of its roots.
It’s possible that they just came up with it independently and copied each other, but if that were the case, I’d expect to see more closed fists with the thumb around the fingers mixed in rather than them synchronizing to the thumb on top (the “fishing reel” as described in this post). This is just my theory—I never had the chance to ask Bill Clinton where his thumb gesture came from, but it aligns with what we know about the connections between American politics and Masonry.
Edit: Here is a good photo of Clinton with his thumb on the middle finger. He did it more commonly in his earlier years, later changing it to the thumb on top with his pointer knuckle jutting out as a base:
And Clinton likely picked it up from Bob dole…
trump and his accordion hands are very noticible, especially when he has to make a lie on the spot.
