What follows is a diary I did not publish at the time. I felt like there was too much discussion about it, already. But now, seeing that the same thing is happening again — only with actual traction — I begin to see it is a pattern. This is what I did not publish a few weeks ago in regard to Trump’s abortion comments. Here we are in the same situation. Secretary Clinton using the media to come to the “brink” of attacking someone … without using the worst of the words: unqualified, for example. Then she lets the media go into attack mode on her opponent for being honest about what just happened. And she pretends to take the moral high road — all while using the attack she (IMHO) started as a fundraising tool? Insinuation versus honesty. How strongly do you insinuate something before you are actually saying it? What is better? Insinuation or outright honesty?
My previously unpublished diary:
The Other Clinton Emails
I haven’t written a diary in so long (2008) and only one that year, that I hardly understand how this works. But, I have to comment on an email I received this morning and again this afternoon (two different addresses) from Hillary Clinton, via Dailykos. Apparently, since I am a woman, my email address had been shared with the Hillary Victory Fund. Of course, the email was about her outrage at Donald Trump’s comment.
But this is the line within the mail that got me:
“We’re outraged -- and we should be. Any insinuation that Trump’s statement doesn’t deserve a reaction demonstrates a lack of appreciation for how serious this is. “
(emphasis mine)
Wow. Who is she outraged at? Trump … or Sanders? The only insinuation came from Hillary when directly attacking Bernie Sanders in an interview with Rachel Maddow. She expressed this sentiment (almost word for word) in the context of an exchange that was so forced, so fixed, so orchestrated (IMHO), that it only goes further to prove that Sanders is, by far, the most honest politician running today. Rachel Maddow had time to interview Clinton (supposedly while Mathews was interviewing Trump), then “race” to interview Sanders for an extended period of time (including being able to ask him about Trump’s statement), then “race” back to conveniently find Clinton still standing at-the-ready to be asked an entirely misleading (some might say factually wrong) question about Bernie. (ALL this racing while she asks Clinton about comments and redactions Maddow says were made “hours earlier.” Hmmm ….)
That incredible (truly “incredible”) timing aside, this was not a debate. Sanders could not defend himself and the context of his statements. Yes. “Run” back (hours later) to ask Clinton about the abortion statement. I get that. It’s important. I was happy to hear Hillary react to it.
But why bring Sanders into it?
As a woman, I DO appreciate the seriousness of the issue. I appreciate it so much that I’d like to know why the media is salivating over Trump’s every statement, rather than exploring his “real” positions on absolutely anything. Anything. In other words, why isn’t the media doing as Sanders suggested?
Why would any media time (even a single paragraph in a fundraising email) be wasted trying to disparage another candidate on an issue where they both share common ground, rather than continue to force an explanation of where their Republican opponents stand? THIS is what Sanders was warning against.
But what really gets me is that on Dailykos now it’s not okay to talk ill of Hillary Clinton, but our email addresses can be sold to her campaign and used to disparage another Democratic candidate?
Does anyone realize that the truth in this whole wanna-be-gotcha-moment-that-never-was (thank, God) is that Bernie is, again, telling the truth? If we spend all our time being outraged at everything Trump says, then we’ll be victims of the daily “Look over here!” media manipulation. I trust both Democratic candidates to protect women’s reproductive rights. I trust Hillary, even as I support Bernie. I do not trust ANY Republican. On this issue, let’s not waste time on faux outrage at each other. Let’s let the media know it matters by directing our outrage solely at the Republican party, where it belongs.
I’m glad this issue is getting attention … but only because it’s a real issue the media should not have ignored for this long. I am equally worried about Trump’s unintelligible statements about nuclear weapons. Let’s talk about women’s rights. Climate change. War. Wealth inequality. Again, that is what Sanders is talking about.
Oh. And, yes. I asked to be taken off the Hillary Victory Fund (via Dailykos) email list.
