joe the plumber: "almost as good as sammy davis jr"

[robfilms]

boy, does this guy sound like a republican operative.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...tlight/?hp

be well

rob

[Black Landlord]

I don't get the Sammy Davis Jr. reference, sorry.

[graylocks]

Black Landlord wrote:
I don't get the Sammy Davis Jr. reference, sorry.

i don't want to insult you so i'll ask first - do you know who Sammy Davis Jr is? depending upon how old you are, you may not.

[AlphaDog]

I certainly know who Sammy Davis, Jr. is (was) but I don't get it either. I've looked at this several times and couldn't get beyond "huh?"

So, BL, whatever you're missing, you're not the only one!

[Don Kiyoti]

Sammy Davis Jr. was a very good tap dancer. Joe Plumber felt Obama "tap danced" around his question about small business taxes. Hence the analogy. Davis was seen by some people as something of a "token" (which I think was unfair to him). It might be fair to say that at one time Davis was the only black man many whites were familiar with. That's why Joe Plumber's reference to Davis may seem vaguely racist. But I immediately understood it to mean that he felt Obama had not adequately answered the question. Much ado about nothing.

What's more interesting is that, as luck would have it, Joe Wurzelbacher turns out to be an unfortunate hero for the Republicans: he's unlicensed in violation of Ohio law, and he has a lien against him for unpayed taxes.

[graylocks]

what Don K said including the slight racial overtones although, in fairness, i wouldn't expect a white american to be that familiar with Davis being considered a token by the black community. also, SDJr was thin as a rail like Obama...

[Black Landlord]

Don Kiyoti wrote:
Sammy Davis Jr. was a very good tap dancer. Joe Plumber felt Obama "tap danced" around his question about small business taxes. Hence the analogy. Davis was seen by some people as something of a "token" (which I think was unfair to him). It might be fair to say that at one time Davis was the only black man many whites were familiar with. That's why Joe Plumber's reference to Davis may seem vaguely racist. But I immediately understood it to mean that he felt Obama had not adequately answered the question. Much ado about nothing.

What's more interesting is that, as luck would have it, Joe Wurzelbacher turns out to be an unfortunate hero for the Republicans: he's unlicensed in violation of Ohio law, and he has a lien against him for unpayed taxes.

I thought I watched that whole clip but I didn't catch any reference to Sammy Davis Jr.
I must say, however, I think it's genius the way Rob Films packed all of the above into one cryptic analogy.

[Black Landlord]

graylocks wrote:
[quote=Black Landlord]
I don't get the Sammy Davis Jr. reference, sorry.

i don't want to insult you so i'll ask first - do you know who Sammy Davis Jr is? depending upon how old you are, you may not.
Well, at least you asked.
To answer your question, yes, I grew up on the same planet you did.

[Black Landlord]

OK, I think I may have it-- watch the clip again, and pay special attention to the way Joe's eyes don't quite move together.

[AlphaDog]

Got it! The problem was that I think of Sammy as being part of the "Rat Pack" and had forgotten he was actually a dancer. Wasn't he also a very gravelly voiced singer? I know he acted.