Pages

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Bill Clinton on the Berners: So Funny Because it's True

Bill Clinton got into a little quicksand with the Black Lives Matter activists, recently, I admit it. I have no problem pushing back against BLM-as their tactics there were outrageous. I mean, the man has apologized for the Draconian sentencing guidelines of his crime bill.

And yet the activists continue to hold up signs in his face accusing his wife of being a murderer and that he should stand for war crimes. Clearly the BLM folks don't accept apologies. It's amazing. I mean black folks have often been very forgiving people-remember when they elected George Wallace in the 70s after he apologized for segregation?! 

So why can't a man be forgiven for some well meant legislation that was in some ways a misguided overreaction to the crime wave of the 70s and 80s? Why must we as a society over do what Hillary warned about as Secretary of State: always give in to the danger of over-correction?

Still, Bill should not have even tried to defend the use of the word super-predator. She had apologized for using the word and he should not have touched that one. Why he did, I think is understandable. Many accuse him of simply wanting to defend his own legacy. I think it's more than that. He was trying to defend his wife. They were holding up signs in his face that she is a murderer. Super-predator was a word she had used.

This has always been the case with Bill Clinton: he really hates when anyone criticizes his wife. I think that's understandable and human.

Anyway, in the newest flap over what Bill said, I'm unapologetically for it. What he is saying about the Berners here is true: they are fired up by pure hatred for anyone with money or who works on Wall St. This is very worrisome. You don't want policies being made out of nothing but pure righteous anger.

If Bernie Sanders were elected president, his supporters would “shoot every third person on Wall Street,” former President Bill Clinton joked on Friday.

"Stumping for his wife Hillary Clinton at an event in Fort Washington, New York, Clinton jabbed Sanders and students who support the Vermont senator's attacks on corrupt financial systems."

"One of the few things I really haven't enjoyed about this primary: I think it's fine that all these young students have been so enthusiastic for her opponent and [he] sounds so good: 'Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine,'" he said.

"The former president also defended his wife’s record of supporting financial reforms like the Dodd-Frank Act, which he said helped reduce the number of people working on Wall Street."

"The inequality problem is rooted in the shareholder-first mentality and the absence of training for the jobs of tomorrow," he said.

"In an interview with NBC News following the event, Clinton insisted his comment was "a total joke.”

But Sanders didn't appear to take it that way, firing back on Twitter: "We should be encouraging young people to get involved in politics, not disparaging them. This seems to be a pattern."

"Nor is it the first time Clinton has made violence-tinged barbs about left-wing critics of the financial industry."

"You could take [Goldman Sachs CEO] Lloyd Blankfein into a dark alley," Clinton once said, according to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. "And slit his throat, and it would satisfy them for about two days. Then the blood lust would rise again."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/bill-clinton-sanders-backers-would-shoot-every-third-person-on-wall-street-222043#ixzz45zoATHnk

Violence tinged barbs? Clinton is not advocating violence, just pointing out these are the sort of base emotions driving so many of the Berners.

I mean, there is no way to deny he's right about slitting Lloyd Blankfein's throat pleasing the Berners for about two days.

Rather than criticize the President of speaking the truth, maybe some of the Berners ought to ask themselves whether policy driven purely by such hateful indignation is the best way to go

No comments:

Post a Comment