Hillary Clinton Should Apologize to Bernie Sanders

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

07 December 15

 

h, what a difference eight years makes – when it comes to Hillary Clinton, that is. Bernie Sanders, not so much. He has hardly changed in 30 years. If Bernie Sanders were debating the 2008 version of Hillary Clinton today, in most cases the differences would be more profound. When it comes to guns, however, in 2008 Hillary Clinton sounded a lot like Bernie Sanders.

“There are some who say that this [gun violence] is an urban problem,” Hillary Clinton told the Charleston, South Carolina, NAACP recently in a clear reference to Bernie Sanders. “Sometimes what they mean by that is: It’s a black problem. But it’s not. It’s not black, it’s not urban. It’s a deep, profound challenge to who we are.”

Clinton was referring to Sanders saying: “We can’t have people demagoguing against folks just because they go out and hunt and they own guns, on the other hand, rural America has got to understand that guns in Vermont are not the same thing as guns in Chicago where they’re used to kill kids or to shoot at police officers.”

Sanders has often substituted “cities” for “Chicago” but in no way has ever called guns an “urban problem.”

Even more disturbing, Hillary Clinton held the same position on the “urban/rural divide” in 2008 when debating President Obama. Like Sanders, Clinton tried to make the case that she was best positioned to bridge the divide, because after all she grew up around guns. She argued that hunting and shooting were a way of life in America and part of our culture.

In a one of the 2008 debates, Clinton said, “We have one set of rules in NYC and a totally different set of rules in the rest of the state. What might work in NYC is certainly not going to work in Montana. So, for the federal government to be having any kind of blanket rules that they’re going to try to impose, I think doesn’t make sense.” Bernie has never argued against any federal gun restrictions …

Clinton went on to say, “I respect the 2nd Amendment. I respect the rights of lawful gun owners to own guns, to use their guns. But I also believe that most lawful gun owners whom I have spoken with for many years across our country also want to be sure that we keep those guns out of the wrong hands. And as president, I will work to try to bridge this divide, which I think has been polarizing and, frankly, doesn’t reflect the common sense of the American people.”

Seems to me that there is not much daylight between Hillary Clinton on guns in 2008 and Bernie Sanders in 2015. If anything, Hillary in 2008 was closer to the NRA than Bernie has ever been.

Hillary also tried to call Bernie sexist because of a statement he made during the first Democratic Party debate.

“As a Senator from a rural state, what I can tell Secretary Clinton, that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want, and that is keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns and end this horrible violence that we are seeing. I believe that there is a consensus in this country. A consensus has said we need to strengthen and expand instant background checks, do away with this gun show loophole, that we have to address the issue of mental health, that we have to deal with the strawman purchasing issue, and that when we develop that consensus, we can finally, finally do something to address this issue.”

A week later at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Des Moines, Clinton said, “I haven’t been shouting, but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it’s shouting.”

If Bernie had been referring to Hillary, she might have had a point, but he wasn’t. For months, Sanders has been saying that we have to stop shouting at each other over guns.

In July, Sanders said that people needed to “stop shouting at each other” on the issue of guns. In August, he said that “people shouting at each other” about gun control “is not doing anybody any good.” In October, reacting to the mass shooting at a community college in Oregon, he said that the nation needed to “get beyond the shouting” on the issue.

Clearly, Hillary Clinton and her advisors are willing to play the race and sexist cards without merit. I think they owe Mr. Sanders an apology.

Now let’s listen to Bernie Sanders’ latest statement on mass shootings and gun control. I think you will agree that President Obama and Hillary Clinton are not any stronger advocates of gun control than Bernie Sanders. They are just more inconsistent.

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Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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