### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/41 "2018-09-09T23:10:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The first time she used the sign, it might have meant “OK” (though I’m not sure who she would have been signalling OK to). Doing it again, though, after it was pointed out?
My suspicion is that she did it the first time as a subtle (or maybe not so subtle) sign or call-out to someone (maybe her husband) who would have been watching the hearing on TV, but that it wasn’t intended to be the trollish White Power gesture. She may have been amused by the unexpected furor it caused among liberals, and did it again to actually troll them.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/42 "2018-09-10T04:33:52Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Right. It’s exactly the same as the LGBTQP/Pedosexual thing that was going around a while ago: /b/ wants people to get angry, so it invents a fake movement of pedophiles trying to link themselves to the GLBTQ+ movement.
>
> There’s nothing behind that, and there’s nothing behind this “racist hand sign” or whatever it’s called.
Not quite, because it was adopted IRL by alt-right racists.
Link to picture of Proud Boys, an alt-right group. Lots of ok signs. Note racist [Chuck Johnson](https://www.adl.org/news/letters/adl-letter-to-congressman-matthew-gaetz-regarding-charles-johnson) with the red beard in lower right corner.
[https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23231243\_366804433767893\_6792455136827154676\_n.jpg?\_nc\_cat=0&oh=2d2830c94d2f1078ae2656d005421863&oe=5C2AF6C2](https://scontent-mia3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/23231243_366804433767893_6792455136827154676_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=2d2830c94d2f1078ae2656d005421863&oe=5C2AF6C2)
Facebook page:
[https://www.facebook.com/bayareaproudboys/](https://www.facebook.com/bayareaproudboys/)
More pics of 4chan alt-right gang signal in use:
>
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> My suspicion is that she did it the first time as a subtle (or maybe not so subtle) sign or call-out to someone (maybe her husband) who would have been watching the hearing on TV, but that it wasn’t intended to be the trollish White Power gesture. She may have been amused by the unexpected furor it caused among liberals, and did it again to actually troll them.
Possible. Or she might have been making the asshole symbol.
The 2nd time she flashed the ok sign quickly fwiw. We should note that she works on immigration in the Trump administration and did not resign when reports of locking kids up in cages emerged. So it’s reasonable to suspect she has white nationalist sympathies.
---
### Author:  [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/43 "2018-09-10T18:07:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I’ve just moved the boulder out from the cave entrance.
>
> What is the difference between the [‘OK’ sign](http://tripsandtipsandsocialtricks.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/hand-gestures-that-are-offensive-in-other-countries-ok-sign.jpeg) and the [‘White Power’ sign](https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/white-power.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&strip=all)? 😕
Based on the OP’s examples, I would guess the difference is - whether the person making the gesture is black or white?
But seriously - I have never heard of this until this controversy erupted. (I remember the mayor-gang sign thing, though; and when people ask why I am wearing mostly black, I tell them it’s my gang colours).
But the general consensus sounds most plausible - it started as a joke, and some people are built too low and it went over their heads.
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### Author:  [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/44 "2018-09-10T18:48:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> She may have been amused by the unexpected furor it caused among liberals, and did it again to actually troll them.
I so hope this is the reason. It’s pretty funny.
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/45 "2018-09-10T20:40:54Z")
Fortunately, I stopped using the OK sign decades ago when I married a Brazilian woman. The familiar OK gesture is similar to a rude gesture in Brazil.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/46 "2018-09-10T21:06:33Z")
I think the “trolling panties-twisted bed-wetters” is the most likely and logical explanation to this (at least the second “OK” sign), but for those that disagree, what’s the alternative? That she was trying to subtly signal the secretly-white-power-supporting senators on the committee to vote for Kavanaugh? Why wait until a televised hearing to do that? Kavanaugh is meeting with the senators individually in the privacy of their own offices. Why not just do it then?
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/47 "2018-09-10T21:17:41Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> I have nothing to live for now.
They have you worked up. They won a while back. Maybe, going forward, you should take into account that there are people who enjoy causing anger and strifejust for the lulz.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/48 "2018-09-10T21:40:56Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> I think the “trolling panties-twisted bed-wetters” is the most likely and logical explanation to this (at least the second “OK” sign), but for those that disagree, what’s the alternative?
So you don’t think she was being sincere in signing “okay”? I find this intriguing.
On one hand, you’re telling us that only crazy conspiracy nut cases believe that sign has been co-opted by alt-right groups to convey an ideological message.
But on the other hand, the idea that she might actually be using the damn thing to convey an innocuous “okay” seems to elude you.
---
### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/49 "2018-09-10T21:49:48Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> But on the other hand, the idea that she might actually be using the damn thing to convey an innocuous “okay” seems to elude you.
Hey, it eluded a lot of people on Twitter who called her a White Supremacist, too.
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### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/50 "2018-09-10T22:29:18Z")
> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Hey, it eluded a lot of people on Twitter who called her a White Supremacist, too.
So all that means is that you, **Scumpup** , and **Hurricane** have more in common with those folks than you are able to appreciate.
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/51 "2018-09-10T22:44:16Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> So all that means is that you, **Scumpup** , and **Hurricane** have more in common with those folks than you are able to appreciate.
Ah, yes…the rubber/glue gambit. Well done.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/52 "2018-09-10T23:07:45Z")
You have to admit it gets confusing. Is the OK symbol now a “proud white trash loser” sign of solidarity or merely a joke conjured up by “inbred redneck 4chan losers” devoted to trolling? I can’t sort it out.
---
### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/53 "2018-09-10T23:17:27Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> So you don’t think she was being sincere in signing “okay”? I find this intriguing.
That’s a probable explanation too. It seems most unlikely to me that she’s signaling her support for “white power”. Do we agree on at least that much?
---
### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/54 "2018-09-10T23:19:04Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> So all that means is that you, **Scumpup** , and **Hurricane** have more in common with those folks than you are able to appreciate.
No, I don’t think so. I think you are just easily trolled.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/55 "2018-09-10T23:55:12Z")
So … trolling … is acting in a manner that looks like the way a horrible person acts … and then laughing at people who see that and think you might be a horrible person … because you’re not a horrible person … but it’s funny if people think you are a horrible person, just because you’re intentionally acting just like one.
And doing this is apparently human nature.
Is that right?
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/56 "2018-09-11T00:11:27Z")
> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> So … trolling … is acting in a manner that looks like the way a horrible person acts … and then laughing at people who see that and think you might be a horrible person … because you’re not a horrible person … but it’s funny if people think you are a horrible person, just because you’re intentionally acting just like one.
>
> And doing this is apparently human nature.
>
> Is that right?
It only “looks like the way a horrible person acts” to a few really gullible people. Only a handful of conspiracy theorists actually “think you are a horrible person”. That’s what makes it funny. The rest of us all have a good laugh at the fools.
ETA: ever been snipe hunting?
---
### Author:  [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/57 "2018-09-11T00:14:14Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> That’s a probable explanation too. It seems most unlikely to me that she’s signaling her support for “white power”. Do we agree on at least that much?
If she was being intentionally disingenuous with her use of the sign, then she forfeits the benefit of the doubt, in my opinion. Why should anyone think she _isn’t_giving a shout out to her Nazi homies, if we treat as fact that she’s shamelessly being insincere in her communication? We’re free to interpret whatever it is we want to, in that case.
Like I said before, in our current environment, anyone who doesn’t mind being mistaken for a white supremacist (and actually finds the idea funny) might just as well be a white supremacist. If you’re a 4chan troll, your goal is to get off on feeling superior to other people; guess what your goal is if you’re a white supremacist? Ain’t nobody got time for parsing out difference.
As for Bash, I’m actually inclined to believe she’s just really absent-minded and used the sign to communicate okay to someone across the room. At first I thought otherwise, but then I read that there were things going on around the table where Kavanaugh sat, involving coffee or water refills, that would make an “okay” sign a logical thing to whip out in the moment. Still a pretty stupid thing to do after the kerfluffle the day before, but I think it’s plausible enough to accept.
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### Author:  [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2018, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/58 "2018-09-11T00:19:03Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> … We’re free to interpret whatever it is we want to, in that case. …
Yes, we are indeed.
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> … As for Bash, I’m actually inclined to believe she’s just really absent-minded and used the sign to communicate okay to someone across the room. At first I thought otherwise, but then I read that there were things going on around the table where Kavanaugh sat, involving coffee or water refills, that would make an “okay” sign a logical thing to whip out in the moment. Still a pretty stupid thing to do after the kerfluffle the day before, but I think it’s plausible enough to accept.
After reading the WaPo explanation on it, I’m inclined to believe the second use was innocuous too. I don’t know that it was necessarily “absent-minded” or “stupid” to use the sign again. Perhaps she just DGAF what a few goofy conspiracy-theorists believe, and doesn’t want them controlling which hand signs she uses or doesn’t. It’s a sign I’ve made at least hundreds of times in my life, and that’s probably the same for many adults. “Some idiots on the internet believe …” hardly seems like a good reason to give it up.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/59 "2018-09-11T00:20:20Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#):
>
> So all that means is that you, **Scumpup** , and **Hurricane** have more in common with those folks than you are able to appreciate.
Do you have a point, or are you just insulting people at random?
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-vs-white-power-sign/820971/60 "2018-09-11T00:21:58Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#):
>
> ETA: ever been snipe hunting?
What is the defining limit of a “small number of gullible fools”? At some point you are doing so well at pretending to be a horrible person that you’ve exceeded some boundary that defines “small number of gullible fools.” At that point you are celebrating the fact that a lot of people think you are actually being a horrible person.
I know what snipe hunting is. I have a a very low view of people who enjoy doing that kind of thing.
So essentially you’ve just confirmed that they actually are being horrible people.
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