It's become a litmus test-just for Hillary-though it was her husband's bill and Bernie Sanders voted for it and until recently boasted of the bill on his website.
The latest rehash is following Bill Clinton's run in with Black Lives Matters protestors. No surprise-they again started with the superpredator thing. I don't get why you get these young protesters saying 'I'm not a superpredator' as if anyone said they were.
No doubt, maybe Bill should recognize that in the charged political atmosphere of today you can't bring any context to using the word 'superpredator.'
Some like Jamil Smith believe that what he said was indefensible.
"There's no defending how @billclinton responded to those black protesters in Philadelphia. http://n.pr/1SDyYXw "
https://twitter.com/JamilSmith/status/718253511444676608
Here is what Clinton actually said. A lot of it doesn't sound so unreasonable to me.
"In a prolonged exchange Thursday afternoon, former President Bill Clinton forcefully defended his 1994 crime bill to Black Lives Matter protesters in the crowd at a Hillary Clinton campaign event."
"He said the bill lowered the country's crime rate, which benefited African-Americans, achieved bipartisan support, and diversified the police force."
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/07/473428472/bill-clinton-gets-into-heated-exchange-with-black-lives-matter-protester?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=politics&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews
Now there is nothing wrong with saying this. It's an empirical claim that can be looked at and debated.
After a protester interrupted him repeatedly, Bill Clinton began to take on that critique directly, making the claim that his crime bill was being given a bad rap.
"Here's what happened," Clinton said. "Let's just tell the whole story."
"I had an assault weapons ban in it [the crime bill]. I had money for inner-city kids, for out of school activities. We had 110,000 police officers so we could keep people on the street, not in these military vehicles, and the police would look like the people they were policing. We did all that. And [Joe] Biden [then senator and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee] said, you can't pass this bill, the Republicans will kill it, if you don't put more sentencing in it."
"I talked to a lot of African-American groups," Clinton continued. "They thought black lives matter. They said take this bill, because our kids are being shot in the street by gangs. We have 13-year-old kids planning their own funerals."
All of that is true. It's irritating that we can't look at this with any historical context. It was also on the heels of a high crime era.
No doubt, though this is the part that he is being killed for:
"I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out onto the street to murder other African-American children," Clinton said, addressing a protester who appeared to interrupt him repeatedly. "Maybe you thought they were good citizens .... You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth. You are defending the people who cause young people to go out and take guns."
That's the party where he maybe shouldn't have tread. Chris Hayes:
I've been pretty immersed in the crime politics/rhetoric of the 90s for something I'm working on. And there's no question the context was..."
"..very different than now. And lots of politicians u wouldn't associate with the ugly racialized rhetoric of "thugs" deployed that..."
"..and worse! The jarring part of the Clinton exchange was hearing a version of that rhetoric in 2016."
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/718188980404162565
Here was my Twitter response to Hayes:
Well those others saying the same thing and worse in the 90s aren't being told they should face war crimes."
"They aren't having to defend their wife from people calling her a monster. Could that be the difference?"
And this is after Bill apologized for the crime bill.
https://twitter.com/KmkMiller/status/718384956515463168
They still insist on this ridiculous hyperbole about war crimes.
I like what Oliver Willis says:
"i decree all discussions of the crime bill should include the participation of a black person over the age of 30. ideally over 45."
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/718232708653191169
"you guys make gen x look strong and all we did was drink surge and ruin mtv."
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/718257722785927170
No doubt there is a generational divide. But one of my Twitter friends, Mr. Weeks, looks to me to be an African American considerably younger than 45.
Here are some of his thoughts:
"we need to modernize the crime bill because we have better evidence of what works and what dont work, but thisprotection of criminals is smh."
"We're debating a crime bill fro. 25 years ago when we have places like Chicago and Baltimore breaking murder rate records every year."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718222991189012482
"The black lives matter movement had an opportunity to do some real justice for our community but just like occupy wall street you've failed."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718229091653193728
"I dont need no young buck black or Berniebot telling me shit about the crime bill. I've wiped the tears from mother face too many times."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718229880190713856
"I was 9 years old when my mother called my myself and brothers into her bedroom to tell us our 16 year old brother was gunned down at school."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718230477786718208
"We can blame everyone for the crime bill but we better include the household thats created these criminals to destroy families & communities."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718233350536884228
"We as people love to point and blame but we never look in the mirror. The police or system didn't raise the murderer who destroyed my family."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718239412363128832
Ok. You get the idea. I could go on quoting the guy all day. But as you can see, powerful stuff. One more quote:
"I was an angry kid. I didnt know how GOD could be this cruel to my family. Now I realized it was his plan to make me an awesome therapist."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718243298540929024
If you don't follow Mr. Weeks on Twitter, you should. He's a special guy.
The latest rehash is following Bill Clinton's run in with Black Lives Matters protestors. No surprise-they again started with the superpredator thing. I don't get why you get these young protesters saying 'I'm not a superpredator' as if anyone said they were.
No doubt, maybe Bill should recognize that in the charged political atmosphere of today you can't bring any context to using the word 'superpredator.'
Some like Jamil Smith believe that what he said was indefensible.
"There's no defending how @billclinton responded to those black protesters in Philadelphia. http://n.pr/1SDyYXw "
https://twitter.com/JamilSmith/status/718253511444676608
Here is what Clinton actually said. A lot of it doesn't sound so unreasonable to me.
"In a prolonged exchange Thursday afternoon, former President Bill Clinton forcefully defended his 1994 crime bill to Black Lives Matter protesters in the crowd at a Hillary Clinton campaign event."
"He said the bill lowered the country's crime rate, which benefited African-Americans, achieved bipartisan support, and diversified the police force."
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/07/473428472/bill-clinton-gets-into-heated-exchange-with-black-lives-matter-protester?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=politics&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews
Now there is nothing wrong with saying this. It's an empirical claim that can be looked at and debated.
After a protester interrupted him repeatedly, Bill Clinton began to take on that critique directly, making the claim that his crime bill was being given a bad rap.
"Here's what happened," Clinton said. "Let's just tell the whole story."
"I had an assault weapons ban in it [the crime bill]. I had money for inner-city kids, for out of school activities. We had 110,000 police officers so we could keep people on the street, not in these military vehicles, and the police would look like the people they were policing. We did all that. And [Joe] Biden [then senator and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee] said, you can't pass this bill, the Republicans will kill it, if you don't put more sentencing in it."
"I talked to a lot of African-American groups," Clinton continued. "They thought black lives matter. They said take this bill, because our kids are being shot in the street by gangs. We have 13-year-old kids planning their own funerals."
All of that is true. It's irritating that we can't look at this with any historical context. It was also on the heels of a high crime era.
No doubt, though this is the part that he is being killed for:
"I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out onto the street to murder other African-American children," Clinton said, addressing a protester who appeared to interrupt him repeatedly. "Maybe you thought they were good citizens .... You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth. You are defending the people who cause young people to go out and take guns."
That's the party where he maybe shouldn't have tread. Chris Hayes:
I've been pretty immersed in the crime politics/rhetoric of the 90s for something I'm working on. And there's no question the context was..."
"..very different than now. And lots of politicians u wouldn't associate with the ugly racialized rhetoric of "thugs" deployed that..."
"..and worse! The jarring part of the Clinton exchange was hearing a version of that rhetoric in 2016."
https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/718188980404162565
Here was my Twitter response to Hayes:
Well those others saying the same thing and worse in the 90s aren't being told they should face war crimes."
"They aren't having to defend their wife from people calling her a monster. Could that be the difference?"
And this is after Bill apologized for the crime bill.
https://twitter.com/KmkMiller/status/718384956515463168
They still insist on this ridiculous hyperbole about war crimes.
I like what Oliver Willis says:
"i decree all discussions of the crime bill should include the participation of a black person over the age of 30. ideally over 45."
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/718232708653191169
"you guys make gen x look strong and all we did was drink surge and ruin mtv."
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/718257722785927170
No doubt there is a generational divide. But one of my Twitter friends, Mr. Weeks, looks to me to be an African American considerably younger than 45.
Here are some of his thoughts:
"we need to modernize the crime bill because we have better evidence of what works and what dont work, but thisprotection of criminals is smh."
"We're debating a crime bill fro. 25 years ago when we have places like Chicago and Baltimore breaking murder rate records every year."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718222991189012482
"The black lives matter movement had an opportunity to do some real justice for our community but just like occupy wall street you've failed."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718229091653193728
"I dont need no young buck black or Berniebot telling me shit about the crime bill. I've wiped the tears from mother face too many times."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718229880190713856
"I was 9 years old when my mother called my myself and brothers into her bedroom to tell us our 16 year old brother was gunned down at school."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718230477786718208
"We can blame everyone for the crime bill but we better include the household thats created these criminals to destroy families & communities."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718233350536884228
"We as people love to point and blame but we never look in the mirror. The police or system didn't raise the murderer who destroyed my family."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718239412363128832
Ok. You get the idea. I could go on quoting the guy all day. But as you can see, powerful stuff. One more quote:
"I was an angry kid. I didnt know how GOD could be this cruel to my family. Now I realized it was his plan to make me an awesome therapist."
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/718243298540929024
If you don't follow Mr. Weeks on Twitter, you should. He's a special guy.
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