What a difference a day makes.
In my last post I narrowed down the Vice Presidential field to the four candidates most likely to be on the ticket with Barack Obama in the fall and today we can already cross Hillary Clinton off of that list.
Friday afternoon in an interview with the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Hillary Clinton invoked Bobby Kennedy's assassination in 1968 as a reason for her to continue in this race.
The exact quote: "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June. We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."
This is not the first time during the campaign that Hillary Clinton has invoked the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. She was given a free pass by the media and the Obama campaign last time, but this time she won't get that pass. This time she said it on camera for the whole world to watch, and that is precisely the problem.
The political equivalent of a knee-jerk reflex when faced with the situation Clinton currently finds herself is to immediately scream "Out of context!" And so right on queue, Clinton's campaign released a statement "clarifying" the context of the question Hillary was asked.
While claiming "out of context" is text book, stuck in the mud, old style politics, maybe the Clinton people are on to something this time. They're right, the 10-second sound bite of Sen. Clinton's does not do justice to the larger picture.
So we should pull back and look at the larger picture and really understand the context in which Clinton's remarks should be framed. Let's start with the entire question Clinton was asked and her entire response. Go ahead and watch that here:
If you're sharp enough you may have noticed that the "assassination" comment came at the end of a string of misleading statements and partial truths. She managed to squeeze in het latest hit "I'm leading the popular vote" and made sure to take a jab at the Obama Campaign, accusing them of telling her to quit, when that simply has not happened.
So the first level of context is that this came amidst a stream of disinformation. Sen. Clinton capped off a string of three lies with an absolutely reprehensible insinuation.
But let's pull back further and put the whole interview into context. Sen. Clinton invoked the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. Senator who's seat she now holds. The 40th anniversary of that assassination is approaching in early June. There is no doubt that The Kennedy Family have had this in mind while they also deal with the horrible news of this week that Sen. Ted Kennedy has a brain tumor. It is difficult enough.
Making matters worse, the Senator from Massachusetts and several in his family have not only endorsed Barack Obama, but have compared him to Bobby Kennedy. I don't want to speak for the Kennedy's but it is reasonable to assume that they see some of Bobby's hope in Barack. The thought of losing another candidate who stands for change in a time of great national turmoil is enough to make you sick.
That being said, the Kennedy Family are not the only ones who may feel offended by Hillary Clinton's remarks. Most Obama supporters are aware that there have been many threats on his life already. In fact, Obama received a Secret Service detail a full 18 months before the General Election, much earlier than most candidates running in a Presidential primary.
This is not because Obama was being given some sort of special treatment, it is because homeland security officials were concerned about those threats.
For Sen. Clinton to suggest she's holding out until something finally goes down is reprehensible.
So there's the next layer of context, the national level. It doesn't end there however. There is yet another layer we should take a look at, the global perspective. I mentioned earlier that the world is watching, and that bring us to an uncomfortable topic of discussion.
While this nation has made some great strides in its quest for racial equality, the fact remains that the most significant black leaders in this nation over the past 40 years have either been ridiculed, stereotyped and boxed out of the mainstream or they have been assassinated. We here in America tend to over look that, but the rest of the world knows our history and they don't have the rose colored glasses that many of us put on when we look to our past.
The rest of the planet looks at this election and sees, for the first time, two people who are not white men with the opportunity to set this country on a new and better course. Despite the fact that George W. Bush and his administration have done almost everything in their power over the past eight years to turn this planet against us, the world is watching this election and giving us a chance to set things straight. They are waiting to see what we'll do with this opportunity and they are rooting for us to do the right thing.
When they see Sen. Clinton, however, make comments like she did today, when they hear her inject subtle tones of racism into a campaign against a black man, like many Americans they realize that she wishes to continue with the tired politics of the past in America.
After making this statement, which she clearly understood was a political mistake, she didn't even mutter the phrase "I'm sorry" and she somehow managed to leave Barack Obama's name entirely out of her poorly attempted apology.
In the eyes of many, yeterday's comments and "apology" have made Sen. Clinton look foolish, selfish and short-sighted. And for what? For a perceived political gain that is unlikely to bail her out of the dismal political situation she finds herself in at this late stage in the campaign.
As an American, the perceptions of my values are colored by the actions and words of our political leaders which are beamed across the planet via television, radio and the internet. So when statements like this are made, it is embarrassing.
With the rest of the world watching, one of the top two contenders in our supposed party of change is spouting off and sounding like a racist holding out in hopes that the black man she is running against gets shot.
So there's the context Sen. Clinton, it's comments like yours that embarrass not only you, but your fellow citizens as well.
