Although some conservatives are jumping on the media for the free ride they have thus far given Senator Hillary Clinton for a remark she made in St. Louis over the weekend, their reasons for doing so are inherently flawed.
In case you missed it, Clinton said of Mahatma Gandhi, “He ran a gas station down in St. Louis,” and then apologized. No biggie. Right?
It took two days before Hillary apologized. Sort of. And that, only after the head of the Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence, an organization founded by Gandhi’s grandson, blasted her words as an ethnic “stereotype” that “could be incredibly harmful.”
But it’s precisely this type of pervasive political correctness that conservatives have been fighting against for years. And for some to now wish it upon Hillary is laughable. Standards are for everyone. Yes, even for Democrats.
Roughly a year ago we witnessed a whole lotta flap surrounding what Trent Lott said at a birthday party. And there are countless other stories as well. But a politician speaking with obviously no malice should not be crucified for his/her remarks, especially when their political opponents know it was an innocent slip-up.
Let’s face it. If you open your mouth enough times under the public microscope, one of those times you’re not going to like what comes out. Surely, the pervading culture of “gotcha” within politics contributes to why so few Americans lend their attention.
So, no, I don’t buy that just because a Republican might not have received a free ride, Hillary should suffer. As much as I dislike the junior senator from New York, her opponents are wrong this time.