I have never seen any career politician be as human as Bernie was last night. He held a Student Town Hall Meeting at George Mason University in Virginia that was livestreamed to tens of thousands of students across the country.
The last question was from a woman Muslim student who said that the level of Islamophobia, especially from Republican Presidential candidates, made her "sick." She mentioned Trump and Carson by name. Bernie's first response was to call her up on the stage where he hugged her. And then he said:
Let me be very personal here if I may. I'm Jewish. My father's family died in the concentration camps. I will do everything that I can to rid this country of the ugly stain of racism which has existed for far too many years. And let me tell you something. What racism is about is many many things. It is pent-up hatred, it is lashing out at people in uncontrollable ways, but it is something very different than that. For many years in this country you have had politicians, and I'm old enough to know this, who played black off against white. So they told white workers who are earning pennies an hour, you think you're in trouble but you're better off than the blacks who can't drink at a water fountain or go to your school. And they told straight people, well you think you've got problems, but you're off than those gay people right? And they held men against women. They played one group off against another. Rich got richer and everybody else is fighting with each other.
Our job is to build a nation in which we all stand together as one people. And you are right, there is a lot of anger being generated, a lot of hatred being generated against Muslims in this country, that's absolutely correct. There is hatred being generated against immigrants in this country. And if you stand for anything we have got to stand together and end all forms of racism, and I will lead that effort as president of the United States.
Go below the fold for the link to the video and a few more of my thoughts.
I was moved to tears when I watched the video. I regret to say I cannot figure out how to embed the video of their interaction. Here is the link. Please click and watch. It is powerful and moving!
I have been a fan of Bernie's for many years and have been in his camp from the day that he declared for President. One of the things I admire most is his decency. At the debate, he defended Hillary when he said that the American people were "tired of hearing about her emails." Then this interaction last night.
For contrast, Hillary recently accused Bernie of being a sexist. He frequently talks about getting beyond shouting from both sides about guns and gun control so that there can be a genuine conversation. At the Women's Leadership Forum on October 23, she said:
“You know, I’ve been told to stop, and I quote, ‘shouting’ about gun violence. Well, first of all, I’m not shouting. It’s just when women talk, some people think we’re shouting.”
I was appalled at her charge because Bernie has been as strong a proponent on women's issues as anybody else in Congress. Mika Brezinski,co-host of Morning Joe, said it best:
"I know sexism. Hillary Clinton knows sexism. She should know better than to let her staff make her do that. It needs to be her. She needs to get out there and talk. Everyone stop writing lines for her. They are bad. Really bad. When we talk about sexism, we talk about women and equal pay and all these things that are important, let's not denigrate it with stupidity. Let's not. Because we embarrass ourselves. I am like cringing. ... That was pathetic."
To me, there is no comparison between the decency of Bernie and the sleaziness of Hillary.