Assassination Talk: Another Pundit Misses the Point
Bob Ray Sanders, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, defends Hillary Clinton for her unfortunate reference to Robert Kennedy's assassination when explaining why she thought she should stay in the race for the Democratic nomination for President. He says, "don't for one minute think she was subtly suggesting some ill fate for Barrack Obama by referencing the Kennedy assassination." Sanders gets that part right. But he misses the point.
Clinton's remark was unfortunate because talk of assassination during the heat of a Presidential campaign is unseemly when the talk is not to eulogize the fallen. It doesn't help that she only meant that the 1968 California primary was in June and she was not speculating on what another assassination might mean to this year's horse race. It's still a tone-deaf remark. Unfortunate. Clinton realized as much, hence the apology.
Sanders implies that the comment made the news only because it was a "slow news day." It was anything but. The news media was still buzzing about John McCain rejecting the endorsements from Rod Parsley and John Hagee, two conservative Christian preachers. Cindy McCain released a summary of her tax returns for 2006 (with no word as to when the full tax returns for that year or other years might ever get released). Those stories would have dominated the news talk on any other day. Clinton's gaffe had to compete with two big stories.
Sanders tells journalists to "get a grip." Then he loses his own grip as he describes press coverage of the gaffe as a disgrace to the profession of journalism. He says he's waiting for an apology, but he isn't holding his breath. Neither am I. Sanders' attempt to brush Clinton's remarks off as no big deal will probably just have to be filed away as an agreement to disagree.
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