"I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance."

[ColesCountyDem]

I'm a lifelong Illinoisan who had the distinct honor and privilege of knowing the late Adlai E. Stevenson II (he and my granddad were good friends), and the subject line of my post is a quotation of his reply to a anti-UN heckler in Dallas TX in November 1963...

Sen. Clinton made a huge gaffe when she referenced Bobby Kennedy's murder in June 1968, no doubt, but it was just that-- a gaffe, a thing done in ignorance, but without malice.

I've done it.

You've done it.

We've ALL done it!

She has apologized (as she should have), so whaddya say let's all just let it go, OK? I accept her apology and am more than ready to move on with the important task of electing a Democrat as President of the United States in November, and I'd like to think that you are, too.

I'll hush up now...

:hi:

[skooooo]

1. can we forgive Imus too?

[ColesCountyDem]

2. I fail to see how the two events are analogous. n/t

[skooooo]

29. figures

[apocalypsehow]

30. Then you don't see too well. I'd get that problem checked out. n/t.

[DJ13]

3. Yes it was a gaffe

But it speaks to the underlying desperation of her ambition, and explains why she has stayed in the race despite the odds.

It was a gaffe saying it IN PUBLIC, but its obvious her campaign has been thinking through all the things that might happen to Obama in justifying her continuing, and the notion of an assassination is one of them.

[SoxFan]

4. I don't buy it

I'm a lifelong Democrat. My grandfather knew Tip O'Neill; heck, Tip went to his wake. I don't think either of them, despite being hardscrabble Davis Square pols, would ever put up with this sort of crap.

I don't buy Hillary's apology or her explanation. This is the fourth time Hillary or her campaign has raised the specter of assasination. One time might be a gaffe. When it happens a second, third, and fourth time, it is a deliberate, calculated, cynical, and sick strategy.

[ColesCountyDem]

6. She's exhausted...

Tired people often say really dumb stuff.

[SoonerPride]

11. The she is unqualified for the job and this proves it.

If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Didn't she spout that a few weeks back?

She's tired so she says crazy shit?

Then she is unqualified to be POTUS.

[ColesCountyDem]

12. Sen. Obama said there were 57 states, too.

They're BOTH tired.

[SoonerPride]

15. If you want to compare that to this, then you are delusional.

[ColesCountyDem]

24. I'm quite sane, actually. n/t

[beezlebum]

27. i won't question your sanity, but

i will question your basic comprehension abilities and critical thinking skills.

[ColesCountyDem]

28. 'Critical' is an oddly-appropriate word in this instance, I believe.

It's quite obvious that many posters in GD-P are ever-ready to be critical and/or offended by virtually anything Sen. Clinton says. I'm just not prepared to spend the emotional capital that such a silly reaction requires-- I'm saving my outrage for Sen. McCain and the fall campaign.

[beezlebum]

32. i didn't know

we were designed with a limited and apparently costly capacity for outrage.

i'm perfectly suited to call out dems when they have done wrong, just as i do and will continue to do when it's mccain et al.

i won't go the blind allegiance route. it's akin to nationalism, and just because hillary claims democratic ideals placing a "D" next to her name does not make her infallible and exempt from "criticism."

i have been "critical" of senator clinton, but with the ability to discern between a flag pin and turning assassination into a talking point. this is deserving of criticism even from her supporters- if obama had said it, i would not be defending him right now.

patriotism requires holding those in charge responsible for their egregious "errors," not placing them on a pedestal and patting their backs and telling them it's okay...repeatedly- that's how we ended up in the mess we've been in for the better part of a decade- have you ever talked to a 28%er? eerily similar in terms of loyalty.

sorry. i refuse to give her a pass on this one, and i remain perfectly capable of and eager to deliver the same "criticism" to mccain.

[SoxFan]

16. She's been saying it since January

[BlooInBloo]

5. It's not a gaffe if you do it over and over and over. And she didn't apologize.

[ColesCountyDem]

8. I say 'po-TAY-toe' and you say 'po-TAH-toe' ...

I'm and Obama supporter, and I took her 'explanation' as an apology. Wearing sackcloth and ashes isn't a requirement of mine before something can be considered an apology.

I'm hopelessly old-fashioned, I know...

(Edited for a spelling error made because I was tired)

[BlooInBloo]

14. At no point did I say, suggest, or imply that a "sackcloth and ashes" was required....

for an apology.

Not one single person has.

[ColesCountyDem]

20. We must be reading a different thread.

Sen. Clinton never said that Obama would/could be murdered, either, but many, many posters took it that way. Why would it be so odd for me to take many of the replies made here in the same light?

[BlooInBloo]

22. Oh. Then there was no gaffe. And certainly not a gaffe repeated over and over and over.

[Yotun]

34. Tomato, not potato...

[SoonerPride]

7. Actually, she didn't apologize. She said I'm sorry if you were offended.

An apology includes the words "I apologize" or "I am sorry for what I did"

"I regret you were offended" is not an apology.

Fail.

[ColesCountyDem]

10. See my reply to BlooInBloo. n/t

[SoonerPride]

13. An apology must include an apology. She failed.

This "I regret you were upset" is not an apology.

See I'm old fashioned too.

She should apologize. For real. And mean it.

[BlooInBloo]

17. And apologies do not have conditions.

[SoonerPride]

19. Like a kid who says they were sorry they got caught stealing.

She's not sorry, nor does she even understand WHY what she said is outrageous.

She is unfit for office.

[C_U_L8R]

9. Once is a gaffe, several times is a talking point

This is part of a very purposeful strategy to justify Hillary's continued campaign
in spite of all possibility that she might win fairly and by the rules;
by seeding doubt and hesitation among the remaining superdelegates that
"something might happen".

It's purposeful, it's transparent and it's wrong.
And rightfully so, it blew up in her face.

[SoonerPride]

18. Before it was code "anythign might happen"

Now it is is revealed as "Obama might get RFKed"
I agree.

[beezlebum]

21. no, it was NOT a gaffe.

once is a gaffe. twice is a codefying pattern, but perhaps forgivable mistake. three times is a tactic and/or talking point- not a gaffe, do not pass go.

(ht to tblue and bloo)

[kevinmc]

23. When "Elected Leaders" do things in ignorance ..... you get things like Invading Iraq...n/t

[Buck Rabbit]

25. I agree , but i have a big but ....

(sorry Pee Wee)

She didn't apologize to who she should have.

She pounced on Kerry's blown joke, she pounced on the "bitter" gaffe and others.

<insert your favorite bad karma metaphor here>

[ColesCountyDem]

26. I'll agree that it was a less-than-perfect apology.

I've said all along that it was a DUMB THING to say, and I'll admit that she could have done a better job apologizing. Still, if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's almost certainly a duck.

hi:

[stillcool]

31. It is no gaffe..

it is a campaign strategy.
the sky will open, the light will come down, a lightening bolt will strike Senator Obama, and the celestial choirs will be singing my name.

[Medusa]

33. That's your idea of an apology?

Wow, some people here have very low standards indeed.

[ColesCountyDem]

36. Some people are willing to forgive, too. n/t

[WeDidIt]

35. A talking point CANNOT be a gaffe

by definition.

[shadowknows69]

37. I'm becoming less and less sure about the redemption of ignorance part.