Sanders and Clinton: What's all the shouting about?
Sanders and Clinton: What's all the shouting about?
Meghan Daum
LA Times
When Bernie Sanders used the word "shouting" during the Democratic presidential debate, he was referring to the tone of the gun control debate, not his opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton. Despite how obvious this was, Clinton (or perhaps her advisors) began slowly re-purposing the word as a sexist insult.
She made references to being "silenced" and being "told to quit talking" about gun control, one issue on which she differs sharply with Sanders. Finally, during a speech Friday at the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum, she went with the strategy full tilt. "When women talk," she said, "some people think we're shouting."
The quote quickly became immortalized as the kind of bromide-in-a-text-box that gets passed around on social media because it's mistaken for wisdom. In spirited "You go, girl" fashion, women cheered Clinton on and backed her up, channeling their real-life grievances through this pretend affront and chalking Sanders up as sexist, even though his record on women is pretty spotless.
Let's say Sanders had accused Clinton of shouting; a better response from her would have been, "It takes one to know one." Sanders, as anyone can tell, is a world-class shouter. He shouts from the podium, where his volume not only goes up to 11 but also usually starts somewhere around eight. He's been known to shout at interviewers even when they're sitting a foot away. According to reports, he shouts at his staff. No matter where he is or what he's talking about, his delivery sounds like he's trying to order a bagel with a schmear in a cacophonous New York deli.
Was that an anti-Semitic thing to say? No, and it wouldn't have been sexist to say that Clinton shouts about gun control. Because Clinton is a shouter.
But soon enough, she was right back at it. The next night at the Women's Leadership Forum, she couldn't resist going for low-hanging fruit, loudly. Out came the "When women talk, some people think we're shouting" line. Sanders, meanwhile, shouted to CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that he had not accused Clinton of shouting.
I don't expect Mrs. Clinton will apologize, but for her own good she should fire whichever advisor cooked up this strategy as it's blowing up in her face.
Related:
Analysis: Is Sanders Sexist, as Clinton Claims?
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Thom Hartmann to Hillary Clinton: Challenge Bernie Sanders on Real Issues
Thom Hartmann: Clinton lied to Rachel Maddow on DOMA and played "poor me victim" on "shouting"
Hillary Clinton Falsely Calls Bernie Sanders a Sexist
