I’ve been really frustrated with the inconsistency here. Yesterday Bill Clinton said some incredibly offensive and racist things. When challenged by BLM protesters, both him and his wife have gone into defensiveness, anger, and condescension. We saw the same thing when Ashley Williams challenged Hillary Clinton as well.
Now I want you to imagine if Ted Cruz or Donald Trump said what Bill Clinton said yesterday. This ENTIRE site would be in outrage and condemning it 100%. I can’t think of a single person here who would defend those types of comments if they came from the fascist Republican right.
So why does anyone defend the comments when Bill Clinton says them? Why is it ok to go after Republicans for saying incredibly racist things and then turn around and defend essentially the same actions on the left? Why is it ok to white-splain to people angry about this that his comments weren’t racist?
This is the often incredible inconsistency that frustrated me about the left. What kind of Democrats, liberals, and progressives are we? How can we call ourselves Democrats if we resort to tribalism and defend these sorts of comments because they come from our “camp”? I don’t think we can call ourselves liberals or progressives when we don’t defend and stand up with those among us that need it the most.
The activists of BLM and Occupy are brave and dare to challenge the status quo on both the right and the left. The difference between Republicans and Democrats is our willingness to be open minded and challenge authority versus marching lockstep in line with those in power. And we should be proud of that!
What Bill Clinton said yesterday was wrong. What he said was un-Democratic, dismissive of a group of our citizens, and unapologetic in its racism. What I would expect ANY Democrat to say is, “This is inappropriate, wrong at its core, and doesn’t belong in our party.”
If you’re a Hillary Clinton supporter, you should be adding “I will still vote for her and I support her, and she needs to get him to apologize or make an apology herself.”
It’s ok to have it both ways. You can support Hillary Clinton AND be against these sorts of comments and this sort of racism. Look, I’m a Bernie voter and will vote for her 100% if she wins the nomination. I can do that and call out this sort of bullshit. This doesn’t make me a purity troll.
I’m not surprised or upset by what he said. I’m more mad at how people within my Democratic, liberal, and progressive party are defending it in the name of tribalism. This isn’t what we’re supposed to be.
Just remember, if Cruz or Trump had said it, would any of us be ok with it?