“Paddy Power is paying out to customers who backed Hillary Clinton,” I read. Reminds me of another story about election day bets that make punters sweat.
Early in the evening of November 8, 1932—election day, that year—Sam Lamport was running around Democratic National Committee headquarters in mid-Manhattan (just by Grand Central Terminal) trying to find Bob Jackson—not the judge, the other one; the judge, who would later be Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attorney general, chief Nuremberg prosecutor, and Supreme Court Justice, was known to Democrats of the day as “the good Bob Jackson,” while this one—the shrewd political operator, DNC Secretary, cultivator of attractive actresses and general Prohibition scofflaw—was known simply as “Bob Jackson.”
Lamport had a lot of money, did well in the textile business, and backed Roosevelt through the campaign. He was also a serious Ivy League jock, decent-sized man—had played quarterback for Brown—unusual for a Jewish fellow. And in an expansive moment late in the campaign, he had bet $1000 to Jackson’s $100 that Hoover’s beating wouldn’t be so awful that the president couldn’t win more than six states.
But with early returns coming in, it looked bad for Lamport’s 10:1 bet. So he finally found Jackson, pulled out a roll of bills, and said, “I’ll give you $200 to be let our of our bet.”
Jackson didn’t get to be not-good “Bob Jackson” for nothing. Although he thought it would be “a minor crime” and perhaps preying on Lamport’s generosity, you see, to take him for $1000, he also thought it was a poor businessman who took a first offer. “Make it $300,” he said.
Lamport didn’t stop a moment, but peeled off another $100, and was glad to be shut of the bet. Good thing for him, too.
{ 3 comments }
John Jackson 10.21.16 at 5:51 pm
I once heard a Chicago attorney remark in a discussion of the Chicago 7 trial about Julius Hoffman, the judge in that trial. Hoffman had famously lost control of the trial making into a circus of sorts. The attorney told us that there were TWO Judge Julius Hoffmans in Chicago. The other Julius Hoffman was known as “Julius the Just” by the attorneys. The infamous Julius Hoffman was “just Julius.”
Eric 10.21.16 at 6:05 pm
Nice.
kidneystones 10.23.16 at 2:51 am
Siding with the rich – (NYT Robert Frank October 22, 2016) Polls of top-earning households confirm the richest in America favor the 1% Democratic candidate by a margin of 2 to 1. CT and the majority of the 1% want the same 1% candidate to win. The 1% candidate of the Republican party enjoys far lower support among the 1% and practically no support among the CT community.
Different Environmental Priorities – (Daily Mail David Martosko October 22, 2016) The 1% candidate of the Republican party promised to cancel billions to international climate change programs and commit the funds to improving water quality and environmental infrastructure in the US.
95% Chance of Democratic Candidate Winning – (Reuters, October 22 and 23, 2016) If the election had been held this weekend the Democratic candidate might have won the Electoral college 321 to 212. In the same week, however, the Republican candidate cut the Democratic candidate’s lead by half to just 4 points.
Most women support the 1% candidate of the Democratic party, as do most minorities. The enormous lead the 1% candidate of the Democratic party holds in Electoral college votes clearly points to a victory for the majority of the wealthiest 1%, and incidentally for other voters. The volatility of the electorate and the collapse in support for the 1% Democratic party candidate in the last week cannot be ignored, although some partisans will likely argue it should.
Momentum has swung back in favor of the 1% percent Republican candidate in the 3rd week remaining before the November vote. Can the 1% percent Democratic party pretend to care about the non 1% more effectively than the 1% Republican candidate and stop the slide? Email (hacked, or ‘doctored’) strongly suggests the media will continue to collude with the Democratic party. The public is deeply suspicious of the media in general, however.
The race to the finish begins now with 2 weeks to go. The final result is very much an open question.
* Apologies in advance in the event of an html fail. One small related question/point: if auto-moderation continues, does this mean that commenters can insert more than a single link in a comment?
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