January 10, 2020

The best way to campaign is "the face-to-face, handshake, a hug and being able to hold up the children so they can take pictures with you, to ask a question, to do a pinky promise."

Said Elizabeth Warren, quoted in "'Don't tell me it doesn’t matter': Impeachment trial hurts presidential campaigns/Democratic senators seeking the White House will be stuck in Washington rather than Iowa at a critical moment" (Politico).

The pinkie promise! So that's the secret!

Wikipedia:
To pinky swear, or to make a pinky promise, is the locking of the pinkies of two people to signify that a promise has been made.

In the United States, the pinky swear has existed since at least 1860, when Dictionary of Americanisms listed the following accompanying promise:
Pinky, pinky bow-bell,
Whoever tells a lie
Will sink down to the bad place
And never rise up again.
Pinky swearing presumably started in Japan, where it is called yubikiri (指切り, "finger cut-off") and often additionally confirmed with the vow "Finger cut-off, ten thousand fist-punchings, whoever lies has to swallow thousand needles." (指切拳万、嘘ついたら針千本呑ます, "Yubikiri genman, uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu")....
That's rather harsh! Should Warren be doing this with children? I note the suggestion that promise-breakers go to Hell. Trump recently got raked over the embers for suggesting that a man had gone to Hell:



Are we taking Hell seriously today or not?

I don't have a tag "promises." I'm using "contracts." Warren taught the law school course "contracts," you know. Would you do a pinkie promise with a contracts professor? Better a contracts professor than a religionist. Whoever tells a lie will sink down to the bad place and never rise up again.

Contracts answer: It's not a contract.

63 comments:

Kevin said...

Is Warren still running?

traditionalguy said...

It's worse than a contract. It's a covenant under seal.

tcrosse said...

How far apart are the contractions?

Leland said...

I put pinky promises in the same category as promise rings. There are more binding type contracts that for some reason are being rejected for this weaker type of contract. Be wary unless you fully understand the reason.

gspencer said...

Biden campaign advisor, "Joe, I can't believe it. We, you, we've been missing this chance for you to touch even younger children. The pinky promise! That's brilliant. Lets put this plan into action right away. Tonight, at that church supper. Get the parents to come up, with the kids of course, let them get their selfies, and you hone in on the little kids. This is gold, Joe. Gold!"

Fernandinande said...

Would you do a pinkie promise with a contracts professor?

Jefferson had that part removed from the Constitution.

Swallow needles?! As they say in mellower modern Japan "Today Begins to Hello"

stevew said...

Pinky Promise, in sales, my profession, we call that a side letter and it is forbidden as unenforceable. ;-)

Fernandinande said...

"Elizabeth Warren's ex-husband founded DNA testing company"

jaydub said...

She should follow the traditions of her people and smoke a peace pipe with the kids.

Nonapod said...

Wasn't it her side that felt we needed to encase Trump in a giant peach? Be careful what you wish for, you might have to live with the consequences.

Of course with the way Nancy Pelosi has been behaving I'm not convinced that they'll ever be an actual Senate "trial" anyway.

Wilbur said...

No consideration.

Iman said...

“locking of pinkies”? Which thread is this again?

wild chicken said...

There's just no consideration.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Some predictions I have on Biden's campaigning a la Scott Alexander's 'predictions for the new year' style:

- Biden will misinterpret staff suggestions and will kiss hands and shake babies - 75%

- Biden will show up at a campaign event wearing nothing but a cowboy hat holding a chicken - 60%

- It will be revealed that Hunter's stripper baby-momma was doing Joe on the side - 80%

- A then-child - now fully grown - will show up with a locket of Joe's leg-hair claiming molestation - 100%

- Biden will attempt to nibble Obama's outstretched hand while stumping - 90%

rehajm said...

Whoever tells a lie Will sink down to the bad place And never rise up again.

If that's the case not being available for pinky promises would seem to help Warren...

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Did you know that John Dingell once told Trump to go to hell?

but it's all cool when the left does it.

mikee said...

Seinfeld associated the pinky promise with the honor system.
I think that about covers it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jze7b5cG8dw&t=3m3s

Shouting Thomas said...

I always preferred:

Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

Beasts of England said...

I have never broken a pinkie swear.

rcocean said...

"but it's all cool when the left does it."

That's because Trump is a religious man and he's being hypocritical. And because the MSM and Left is full of bible believers upset at someone going to Hell.

Oh wait. That's not it.

madAsHell said...

Shouldn't she be running for the president of the PTA??

wendybar said...

She gets crazier every day. 2020 is going to be so much fun.

rcocean said...

We didn't do "Pinky swears" - we did "Cross your heart and hope to die"

madAsHell said...

Oh.....moderation!

The unwritten algorithm.......does moderation bias your blogging selections?? Can you anticipate the shit storms?

Ann Althouse said...

"Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

Said Jesus, quoted in Matthew 5 (KJV).

madAsHell said...

.....or maybe not!!

mccullough said...

Sanders and Warren can resign from the Senate to campaign. They won’t because they like being senators. It’s an easy job and easy money.

JAORE said...

Sanders, Pinkie promises.
Bernie, Pinko promises.

phantommut said...

Of course with the way Nancy Pelosi has been behaving I'm not convinced that they'll ever be an actual Senate "trial" anyway.

Under Current Plan C ("A" was to quash the Impeachment madness in the House, "B" was to let it run under the cover of Darkest Intelligence Committee to get real actionable charges; both miserable failures) the play was/is to push through the vaguest charges possible, say the President has been Impeached!, and hope to make Cocaine Mitch and the Senate Republicans look like obstacles to Justice. It's pathetic, Nancy knows it's pathetic, but it's what she's got so she has lipstick in hand and is chasing that pig.

Jupiter said...

If that's the "best way to campaign", why is she wasting money on television advertising? Oh, right, because she has never meant a single word she said.

Tank said...

Tank made someone pinky swear last Saturday.

Coincidence? I think not.

Earnest Prole said...

Warren is right: Other things being roughly equal, human connection trumps all.

etbass said...

"Are we taking Hell seriously today or not?"

We certainly are not, even the Bible believing Christians are not taking it seriously. It is not preached in Church anymore. When someone dies, we all speak as if that person is in a better place, irrespective of any Christianity.

It is cruel and judgmental to suggest that anyone might be in a different place than heaven. Or neanderthal.

Bible believing Christians profess to believe the words of Jesus. But His clear words concerning the afterlife are ignored by all.

Everyone is going to heaven.

Bay Area Guy said...

I think Warren already sunk her ship. Her Medicare for All and wealth tax spooked a lotta rich NY Dem moneymen. Fuck that, they said collectively. .

The problem is that Obama certainly doesn't want Bernie, and doesn't appear to want Biden either, by virtue of his deafening silence. So, that leaves Warren -- or someone else from the sidelines...

Lucien said...

So does that mean Warren supports McConnell’s plan to have a short trial, and that she only needs to show up to cast her vote (if that)?

Big Mike said...

I find it difficult to believe that Warren gains votes by meeting people face to face. I assume she scares people away by the dozen.

Wince said...

Warren promise with forked pinky.

Bob Boyd said...

Harvard should have asked Warren to pinkie swear she was really an Indian.

TreeJoe said...

Oath of a US Senator: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

....

Unless I'm actively campaigning for President....
Unless I refuse to recuse myself from an impeachment trial of a President I'm actively campaigning against.
Unless I'd really do better campaigning in Iowa for my poll results....

...

Any Senator who complains about being in washington DC during an impeachment trial against a sitting president should be invited to resign. And not run for President. It's about the most selfish action and is quite literally counter to their oath of office...and office they are CHOOSING to stay in while running for President. It's disgusting.

stlcdr said...

We don't need a twat who can shake hands and kiss babies running the country.

Go cancer? No problem, I look good on camera. This shit pisses me off; not so much that this worthless pile of crap says this sort of thing, but that people lap it up and support her it.

gerry said...

"YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DOCTOR."

Democrat pinky promise.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Warren is right: Other things being roughly equal, human connection trumps all."

Which is why Trump's rallies are effective. You're making a human connection with several thousand people at a stroke.

Todd said...

stevew said...
Pinky Promise, in sales, my profession, we call that a side letter and it is forbidden as unenforceable. ;-)

1/10/20, 9:58 AM


We put them in contract addendum A...

~ Gordon Pasha said...

The pinky finger of the left hand is essential to the proper grip of a katana (Japanese sword). Without that finger the hasuji ("blade flight' or angle) cannot be maintained and frequently the cut will be missed. Cutting off the finger is a frequent yakuza punishment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYs-1326nHU

Yancey Ward said...

The answer is for Warren to resign or recuse herself. Same for Sanders.

Todd said...

etbass said...

Everyone is going to heaven.

1/10/20, 10:53 AM


I hope that is true but I also hope that each person does so [and for all of eternity] with the full and clear knowledge of how they failed themselves and their God by their sins/actions.

Kind of like being at the very best party ever but you had to tag along with the person that was actually invited and your underwear is too tight, so you are never as comfortable as you wish you were and are fully aware why.

robother said...

Never trust an Injun giver, even when she pinky promises.

Michael K said...

So, I guess she wants those impeachment articles delivered tout suite.

Sebastian said...

"It's not a contract."

But progs do keep their promises: coercion and confiscation, with no consideration.

Drago said...

I'm not getting anywhere near Warren.

I don't want to get scalped.

Drago said...

gerry: "YOU CAN KEEP YOUR DOCTOR."

Democrat pinky promise."


"I AM A LIFELONG REPUBLICAN CONSERVATIVE!!"

Democrat pinky promise.

AllenS said...

To pinky promise, or not to pinky promise, that is the question.

alanc709 said...

If heaven is eternal life, then the opposite is not hell but non-existence.

Howard said...

The big assed rockous rallies works for Trump. Fly in, yammering stream of consciousness for an hour or so, fly out. Very efficient. Elmer Gantry approved this message.

MadTownGuy said...

"That's rather harsh! Should Warren be doing this with children? I note the suggestion that promise-breakers go to Hell. Trump recently got raked over the embers for suggesting that a man had gone to Hell..."

Warren is just channeling Madeleine Albright.

"Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright apologized on Friday for comments that sparked controversy last week while she campaigned for Hillary Clinton, saying it was the wrong time to use her trademark phrase that, 'There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.' "

Maillard Reactionary said...

AA: "That's rather harsh!"

The Japanese don't mess around with this sort of thing.

One way to recognize yakuza is a missing finger joint or two.

Ryan said...

My Japanese wife has a saying where your head gets cut off and she will drink the blood out of your severed neck with a straw, if you break your promise.

Anonymous said...

Donald J doesn't do State Fairs. He doesn't do the pancake breakfasts. He doesn't say, "Wait let me get a beer". So sick of phony hand shakers, and baby kissers. Who isn't.

John henry said...

For the lawyers here, why wouldn't a pinky swear be a binding enforceable contract?

I agree that it might be difficult to prove but assuming that can be done, wouldn't a court enforce it? Or could one party say "yes, John is right about what I agreed to. But it's not written down so I'm not going to do it."

I sold large (often $100m+) capital equipment for more than 20 years, and still dabble a bit.

I seldom had anything in writing from my principals. Basically an understanding that if I sold the equipment I would get a certain pre-agreed percentage of the price as commission.

A couple minor problems over the years. Twice I had to have a lawyer send a bark letter. But then they paid with no further action. Once they refused to pay on the somewhat reasonable grounds I had not done anything.

My ex-partner taught me that if a handshake is not good enough, a ream of paper contract won't be either. If I think I need a formal contract, don't get in bed with them

It served him well for 40 years and me for more than 30

John Henry

John henry said...

I'd enter into a deal on a pinky promise with you, Ann, if you trusted me likewise.

And I would fully expect both of us to honor it.

Ditto some commenter.

Otoh, there are some people and commenters, I wouldn't trust if we had a 100 page contract negotiated and witnessed by the chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

John Henry

Anonymous said...

Now I'm gonna have to go to Puerto Rico. Never been there, but I'm diggin' this guy John Henry. Filling up my 2020 calendar. No Ann, I ain't commin' to Wisconsin. Anywhere in this world, but NOT Wisconsin, or Minnesota. A man has to draw his lines. Thinking about North Dakota though. Afterall, I'm not a communist.

Ryan said...

"For the lawyers here, why wouldn't a pinky swear be a binding enforceable contract?"

Oral contracts are enforceable as long as they do not violate the statute of frauds. Generally a contract for sale of goods over $500 requires a written agreement to be enforceable.

Disclaimer: no attorney-client relationship is formed by this post.

phunktor said...

"Everyone is going to heaven."

I wanna see Mengele's participation trophy!