Words Used to Describe Hillary Clinton by Her Opponents.

[thesquanderer]

203. The fact that he was addressing his response TO her...

...does not have to mean he was talking ABOUT her.

Really, for the people who are seeing sexism in his statement, do you think it matters that he said

"what I can tell Secretary Clinton, that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want"

rather than

"what I can tell you, Anderson, is that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want"

?

That would have been an equally viable response, but nobody would have seen that as an accusation that the moderator had been shouting, right? So who it is addressed to is really besides the point.

Another point... I would say he didn't even use the word "shouting" literally, in ANY of the many times he has used it and similar words (yelling, screaming, raising voices... see my post #93), because even when you hear people taking their extreme positions (say, Wayne LaPierre) they are not typically literally shouting. There is a figurative use of these phrases, that simply implies people are speaking without listening, that they are more interested in making their points rather than in trying to solve the problem. So let's say that he actually did mean to specifically include Clinton and O'Malley among those he was talking about (remember, he said basically the same thing in response to O'Malley as well), it would logically be in this respect, since, of course, neither of them were literally yelling about the topic. And I think that is a fair reading, too... in this respect, not literally accusing Hillary of shouting, but perhaps including her among that group who he feels is more interested in making political points than in solving the problem... or at least, within the context of the answer she had just given. But that, too, would not be sexist.

Either way, the fact that he said basically the same thing to O'Malley should prove that his perpsective wasn't sexist (if you think such proof is really needed).

His response to O'Malley: "But here is the point, Governor. We can raise our voices, but I come from a rural state, and the views on gun control in rural states are different than in urban states..."

His response to Clinton: "As a senator from a rural state, what I can tell Secretary Clinton, that all the shouting in the world is not going to..."

So:
To O'Malley, he is saying: we can raise our voices, but it won't accomplish anything.
To Clinton he is saying: all the shouting in the world won't accomplish anything.

He gave her the same answer he had just given him. Suddenly it's sexist?

So there are multiple angles from which this accusation just doesn't hold water, i.e. regardless of whether or not you think he was intending to include HRC among the "shouters."

(and the thought obviously wasn't being addressed only at HRC, as he had used the same line many times, including in response to O'Malley just moments before)