Circle game or white power? A handy Q&A to help you decide
Just what was Josh Murphy, the son of Gov. Phil Murphy, doing when he flashed an upside-down “OK” sign at the end of his dad’s swearing-in ceremony the other day, something first noticed by SaveJersey.com? Perhaps a good old-fashioned Q&A is called for …
Q: What’s the most likely reason he was doing it?
A: He was trying to get his father — who by default is the most powerful governor in America, who is already being talked about as a 2020 nominee for President, who was taking his oath on the same bible John F. Kennedy took his oath on — to look at the circle he was making with his hand so he could later punch him in the arm andQ: What the hell are you talking about?
A: It’s called the “Circle Game,” and the rules are as follows, at least how I remember them when I was in 7th grade: You make a circle with your thumb and index finger and place it below waist-level. You try and get someone to look at said circle. If they manage to stick their finger in the circle, they get to punch you in the arm. If they fail (or don’t even try) you get to punch them in the arm.
Q: That’s stupid.
A: I said “7th grade.”
Q: OK. That seems legit, if stupid. What else could it have signified?
A: Oh, nothing much, just the white power movement.
Q: WHAT?!
A: Yeah, don’t ask. Seems like the OK symbol may or may not have been co-opted by white hate groups. Q: How?
A: Make an OK sign with your right hand. Your pinkie, ring, and middle finger form a “W,” and the circle is the bulbous part of the “P.” You want to know more, go down the Google rabbit hole. It gets weird.
Q: Oh god. I’m never making the OK sign again. Gonna stick with the thumbs up.
A: You should know a thumbs-up sign is the equivalent of the middle finger in Iran, as well as in parts of West Africa and Russia.
Q: Just stop. Anything else the upside down OK symbol can mean?
A: For a time, men were posting selfies with the OK symbol, up or down, to promote #ItsOKToTalk for suicide prevention.
Q: Heavy. Maybe that’s what it was?
A: I’m thinking no.
Q: White power?
A: I mean, come on. Almost certainly not, but wowwa-wee-wa, what a story that would be, eh? Way-liberal governor raises a white power son? Phew. My tabloid sensibilities are tingling at the prospect. I need a moment.
Q: But he was probably playing the circle game.
A: Yeah, that’s my educated guess. It seems almost certain. I’ll go to 99.99 percent.
Q: What would you do if you were Phil Murphy and your kid did that while you were being sworn in as governor?
A: I would’ve laughed it off as it happened. Then later, in private, I would’ve smacked him in the head and said, “What are you, some kind of horse’s ass?”
Q: What does the governor’s office have to say about this?
A: Nothing yet. Though I did officially ask. Waiting to hear back.
Q: Should we even be talking about the governor’s kids?
A: David Wildstein doesn’t think we should be.
Q: Wait, what? David Wildstein, Bridgegate David Wildstein?
A: Yep. He responded to a tweet from Nicholas Pugliese, the statehouse reporter for The Record. “Seriously, the kids ought to be off-limits,” Wildstein tweeted. Of course, the “kid” is a college sophomore, so there’s that, and he was standing on the podium, so there’s that, and you know, wow. David Wildstein, lecturing the media about ethical behavior. That’s, uh … rich.
Q: Is this much ado about nothing?
A: Well, kinda, except the Matawan police got in hot water a few weeks back when a Facebook photo surfaced of a masked police officer doing the same thing. Plenty of people thought he was flashing a white power sign; his chief said it was just the circle game. So if that got press — almost all of it negative — then this deserves it as well.
Q: What a world.
A: Yep.
Q: Hey what’s that?
A: What?
Q: Down here.
A: Huh? Oh crap …