Ken Berwitz
The following exchange took place at last night\’s Ohio “Town Hall”, between CNN host Jake Tapper and Democrat presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders:
TAPPER: “Some ofyour supporters in Chicago were acting violently as well and the guy who rushedthe stage yesterday at Donald Trump, voted for you. Now, I know you\’re not encouraging theviolence, but you need to tell your supporters…”
SANDERS: “Jake,millions of people voted for me. If Ihave to take responsibility for everybody who voted for me, it would be a verydifficult life.”
Note To Bernie Sanders:
Not even a nice try, Bernie. It doesn\’t wash.
The guy who rushed the stage is one thing. No one expects you to answer for an individual\’s actions. But:
-Your supporters in Chicago were mobilized and organized by moveon.org, an organization which claims millions of members and which vociferously supports you.-Its members, in support of you, were front and center in shutting down Donald Trump\’s rally, thus preventing him from speaking to the thousands and thousands of people who came to hear him.-Its members, in support of you, were the ones gleefully chanting “Bern-ie! Bern-ie” when the decision to cancel Trump\’s event was made.
You insult our intelligence by suggesting this is something you have no responsibility to address.
I have never liked your politics, Mr. Sanders. But I have written numbers of blogs commending your authenticity, your honesty, your integrity.
Playing dodgeball with what a major organization does on your behalf flies in the face of every one of those attributes.
All it takes is a statement – a sincere statement, not a boilerplate BS one – that you disavow any effort to prevent Donald Trump from exercising his right to free speech and ask that it not be done in your name. Then your hands are clean.
Without that statement, you\’re as dirty as they are.
Think about it.
