Bernie zeros in on Hillary's 'butt'

[RandySF]

CONCORD, N.H. — As he filed Thursday to run in New Hampshire’s Democratic contest for president, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fielded a colorful question from someone crammed into the secretary of state’s office here: “You ready to kick some Republican butt, Bernie?”

“There’s some earlier butt we have to deal with,” the Vermont senator replied, in a less-than-graceful reference to the Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The remark, which prompted some nervous laughter in a room packed with reporters and supporters, comes as Clinton’s camp has already suggested that Sanders and his team are treating her in a sexist fashion — a notion Sanders has vigorously denied. Thursday’s comment seemed likely to provide additional fodder.

There had been controversy of another sort prior to Sanders’s filing Thursday, with some questioning whether the longest-serving independent in Congress would be eligible to run as a Democrat in the nation’s first primary state.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/05/sanders-says-theres-earlier-butt-to-kick-before-the-gops/

[Kalidurga]

1. Good

[jfern]

2. You guys don't have any real issues to talk about, do you?

[Arugula Latte]

3. ...

[HerbChestnut]

5. Yeah that's all I'm getting out of this too

[Aerows]

12. Why discuss the issues?

Detract and distract is a political ploy when your record doesn't match up with what you are doing.

Nobody anywhere is fooled. It's almost like her campaign is giving its last breath.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

35. Seriously...but we know Bernie leads on all major progressive issues, so Hillary needs to distract...smart strategy actually.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Bernblu]

49. They don't want to talk about the issues!

Perhaps, this is because they are not sure what Hillary's positions are on any given day.

[840high]

80. ....x10+

[peacebird]

161. +10000

[Doubledee]

106. You nailed it

Of all the increasingly absurd criticisms of Sanders by Clinton supporters this one leads the pack thus far. Is it, I wonder, a sign that these Clintonistas are nervous about Senator Sanders chances? Is it that some are simply far too childish in their approach to actual grown up political discussion?

Our elections have become absurd, whichever party one supports I fear. Perhaps it is attributable to the length of the process, campaigning for years, spending money like water, becoming, over time, repetitious and running out of things to say. I do prefer to believe that silly childish accusations like the one that heads this thread come from a small minority of aggressive and thoughtless folks.

[villager]

157. I'm trying to remember the last post that was actually a substantive discussion of issue differences

...I honestly can't summon one to mind.

[George II]

174. At least Clinton supporters don't make up phony claims that Clinton called Sanders a:

Last edited Fri Nov 6, 2015, 04:28 PM - Edit history (1)

"racist" or "sexist".

[jfern]

176. What the hell are you even talking about?

[azmom]

4. Kick ass Bernie!

[earthside]

6. OMG!!!

Butt is a sexist word -- especially if spoke on in any context involving Hillary Clinton!

Where are the tar and feathers?

[Arugula Latte]

8. He probably SHOUTED it at her 'cuz she's a woman!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

39. haha...good one! Hillary and her handlers need a thicker skin...

Can I say that?!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[VanillaRhapsody]

101. Hillary does?

[frazzled]

7. Oh no he di'nt

That was very inelegant. A lot of ways to say you're going to have to fight hard first to win the nomination. That wasn't one of them. Foot.In.Mouth.

And by the way, I'd find it to be a gaffe if he even had said it about another Democratic opponent who was male. You can kick butt, but you don't say you have to deal with a "butt."

[Fearless]

19. Uh-oh naughty words!!>!>!111!!!

Give me a break. This isn't kindergarten.

[frazzled]

25. True: only 5 year olds call people butts.

He has to deal with a butt? That's pretty juvenile.

[Aerows]

27. I'm juvenile

I take great pleasure in calling people that act like buttheads wait for it - buttheads.

I could be more vulgar, by why?

[Fearless]

28. Grasping at straws my dear.

[Aerows]

32. Nailed it

Fearless!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

40. Please tell me you're not bein serious.

[treestar]

116. people who work in the Secretary of State's office

should have a better vocabulary! Too informal to use on that job.

[Cha]

24. But, he's such a tough guy.. has to talk tough.

[Armstead]

71. I assume you also object to President Obama's use of the term "kick ass" too

[Cha]

73. #berniesoscary Hillary must be shaking by now

[Armstead]

77. That's not what I said

Brniee made a bad joke. You get all "oooooo he;s trying to be a tough guy, he has no class."

So if the phrase bothers your sensitivities and sense of Emily Post rectitude so much, does it bother you when President Obama uses it?

[Bernblu]

56. Oh poor delicate Hillary might get her feathers ruffled!

[yardwork]

97. You're completely missing the point.

[yardwork]

96. That's my reaction too. This wasn't sexist. It was stupid.

A presidential candidate can probably get away with saying "Kick some butt!" I wouldn't advise it though - you're going to offend people and you want to avoid that when running for president.

Turning the phrase into "There's some earlier butt we have to deal with" sounds awkward and leaves that word "butt" just hanging there.

Stupid thing to say.

[ibegurpard]

9. Did it give you the vapors?

[Aerows]

13. I am clutching

the shit out of my pearls right this very moment.

[Armstead]

63. LOL. I was abouot to say "Break out the fainting couch."

[SusanCalvin]

10. Good Lord.

All he did was echo a common term that the interviewer used. Might have made a better choice? Yes. Big deal? No.

[Aerows]

14. Hillary will end up being successful at one thing

Hillary Clinton: "I have been able to make mountains out of mole hills!"

[SusanCalvin]

16. Dunno if it's Hillary herself,

But it's definitely a molehill.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

50. More like an ant hill.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. With these guys, no molehill is so small

that it can't become a Mount Everest.

[Aerows]

22. Absolutely, Art

I wish I was living outside of the US at this point, but I love my country too damn much to see it flushed down the proverbial toilet.

Still, I envy you, my friend.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

41. Precisely! Why are people gettin all butt hurt?! Ooooops...sorry!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Gloria]

11. He's proving to be an ass...

eom

[Aerows]

17. Who?

The OP? The interviewer?

Clarification, if you will.

[Cha]

23. Yep he is.

[Starry Messenger]

30. Very.

[Aerows]

33. If you are eager

for another Arne Duncan, I won't stand in your way.

[Starry Messenger]

36. I am not eager for another Bill Bennett, which a Republican would appoint.

Bernie's descent into amateur-hour would make that even more of a possibility, but he isn't going to win, so I don't put much energy into worrying about it.

[Aerows]

43. I'm pretty sure

it is amateur-hour somewhere, but I like to think we are a little bit more intelligent on DU.

I want to refrain from yelling at my allies, and I count you among my allies because of your many posts about the educational system.

I would ask you this: Will Bernie Sanders be better for the educational system, and he pledged that he would not privatize it, or will Hillary Clinton be better?

You don't have to answer. Just think about it.

[Starry Messenger]

47. He doesn't have a strong record on broadly advocating for educational issues.

A real shame, since we could have used an advocate against corporate privatization over the last 20 years.

If he'd been out in front on that issue for many years, the endorsements with education unions would have reflected that.

[Aerows]

55. Hillary Clinton has spoken up for charter schools.

Bernie Sanders has not done so.

As an educator, I would hope that means something.

My sister has a Master's in Early Education. She knows exactly the threat that charter schools have become.

I speak from a place that gives a good goddamn, not just to blow smoke on DU and score a point.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

60. Bernie is a teacher's best friend.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[Starry Messenger]

86. If Bernie had done anything of substance, he'd have won the confidence of the education unions.

HRC has been a lifelong proponent of early childhood education and child health care and has created policy in this area. She has stated that she believes that teachers are part of the education solution, and she wants to limit testing.

If Bernie had thrown himself into the fray of opposing education reform as a visible ally before he decided to run for higher office, he'd be in a stronger position vis a vis education. But he didn't.

[Aerows]

91. Well, I'm sorry you don't have all of the information on his record

But he has been an advocate to cease the testing the crap out of kids.

[Starry Messenger]

95. Sorry you don't have all the info on HRCs

Teachers' unions are confident in it.

[Cha]

34. #berniesoscary

[Starry Messenger]

38. Maybe he needs to talk to a few people outside of his bubble.

He's turning into a gaffe-machine!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

44. LOL, you call that a gaffe? Now THAT'S funny!

[Starry Messenger]

52. The media does. They focus on that kind of inappropriate remark.

You can disregard that phenomenon if you like, but that doesn't change reality.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

58. All the media accomplishes in focusing on a completely innocuous remark is make Bernie look more like the regular kinda guy he is.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[okasha]

142. A guy you'd like to have a beer with?

That didn't turn out too well last time, did it?

[Cha]

66. But bernie's so scary.. he wanted to make sure everyone knew he was gonna kick Hillary's butt..

Oh he's so scary ... I bet Hillary's just shaking.. LOL

That and helping out the gop wasting taxpayer's money on the damn emails he said everyone was tired of hearing about. Way to beat a dead horse Bernie.

[Cha]

57. Yeah, like he's this big tough.. he's so ready to Hillary's butt. Good Grief.. #berniesoclassy

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

59. Classy.

[Fearless]

18. It seems the Hillary camp is trying to actually.

Let me guess? Sexist?

[Aerows]

26. Hey, we have a better candidate.

You can tell that by what they accuse his supporters of because at this point, projection is all that they have.

[pinebox]

20. kick ass

[Cha]

21. Yeah, bernie.. you're such a big scary person. Talking about Hillary's butt.

I bet she's really scared of you now..

LOL.. Bernie needs to stop referring to Hillary's butt and worry about his own.

[SusanCalvin]

29. Please see post 10. nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

48. It's no use trying to reason with these people.

[Art_from_Ark]

31. He made no mention at all about Hillary

None whatsoever.

And given the fact that TPP is very much in the news now, and Bernie is very much against it, he could very well have been referring to that, as far as anyone knows.

[VanillaRhapsody]

103. He wants to kick O'Malley's butt?

Punching down is so undignified...

[Art_from_Ark]

109. He didn't say anyone's butt

Geez. He said *some* butt, and right now he's focused on kicking some TPP butt!

[VanillaRhapsody]

110. who else is there before the election?

hahahaha...right...he meant the TPP....because the TPP has an actual Butt!

Paging Dr Carson....paging Dr Carson!

[Art_from_Ark]

112. Oh for crying out loud

"Kick some butt" is a common expression used to refer to giving all of one's effort to defeating someone-- or something.

Bernie has stated unequivocally that he is opposed to the TPP, and will do what he can to stop it, and the TPP is very much in the news now. Obama has also stated that he intends to sign TPP "sometime after January" so yeah, defeating TPP would be higher on Bernie's list right now than defeating Republicans.

[VanillaRhapsody]

113. First he has to "kick some butt"

in order to even make it to the Primary at this point....the TPP is not in his way for that....

[sheshe2]

182. Ummmm~

All the outrage about him caving on the pipeline nixed. The hair on fire, he will cave cave cave and now no kudos to the fact that he nixed it. Nope, crickets on DU.

Now let's move to TPP. He is selling us out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[840high]

82. Why are you repeating yourself? Not

that clever to begin with.

[Cha]

83. #berniesoscary Hillary is shaking in her boots by now! Big scary bernie gonna kick Hillary's butt

yeah, he is.. you just wait. Scary Bernie. Why I'm scared just thinkin' 'bout it. lol

[aspirant]

100. Was Hills scared of your comments in 2007-8?

Were you scary then too?

[cui bono]

88. So Cha, tell me, what changed about Hillary that made you stop hating her with a passion

and support her this time?

[aspirant]

99. Was Hills scared of you in 2007-8?

[treestar]

117. It's Bernie's butt that is going to get kicked

Hi cha!

[Tommy2Tone]

37. It was a sexist remark and I see his faithful are here in force to say BFD

Shameful.

[JonLeibowitz]

42. Is there anything these days Sanders can say about Clinton that isn't interpreted as sexist? Sheesh.

[Armstead]

69. You ued the word Sheesh....Alert!

That must have sexist connotations.

[JonLeibowitz]

75. Go ahead...make my day! :-) n/t

[Tommy2Tone]

76. It wasn't interpreted, it was sexist.

Is there anything Bernie can say or do to offend you?

[JonLeibowitz]

78. Absolutely: something offensive will do just fine. This obviously does not qualify. n/t

[TheFarS1de]

94. Is there anything Sanders can say ...

that isn't sexist in your mind ? Or is it just you have an issue with him because your candidate has only the gender card working for her ?

[CBGLuthier]

70. In what way is it sexist? Are you capable of following a conversation?

Last edited Fri Nov 6, 2015, 02:23 AM - Edit history (1)

Does mentioning a candidate's butt imply sexism when it happens to be a female butt? How does that work? Are you saying that referring to kicking a man's butt is OK but when it is a woman it is sexist? Seems to me that treating a woman's metaphorical butt the same as a man's metaphorical butt is the opposite of sexism.

This may be the most ludicrous complaint in the history of American politics.

[melman]

84. +1

to all of that.

[Marrah_G]

98. This was so NOT sexist

For christ sake, get a grip

[phleshdef]

123. No it wasn't and you don't believe it was.

No honest person is buying that bullshit.

[SunSeeker]

45. Bernie is really not good with that off the cuff thing. nt

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

54. Actually, he's great at it...comfortable in his own skin, unlike other, pre-programmed candidates.

Bernie & Elizabeth 2016!!!

[SunSeeker]

74. LOL. Almost as great as he is at kissing babies...

[Cha]

79. OH dear.. #berniesoscary! poor little thing!

[Starry Messenger]

87. Oh dear!

[Cha]

64. Apparently so.. not good. #berniesoscary

[MrWendel]

46. Watch yourself Hillary...

take it from Obama and watch your butt!

[Cha]

61. OMG! MrWendel!

[SunSeeker]

81. LOL

[leftofcool]

108. LMAO

[treestar]

118. No matter how many times I see that

It still makes me laugh

[sheshe2]

51. KnR

Thanks Randy.

[Cha]

62. LOL@MrWendel, she

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=772248

[Gothmog]

53. So Bernie is going negative

Sanders' promise not to go negative was really sad and was not going to last

[MrWendel]

65. Well you know...

he's evolving.

[Cha]

89. #berniescary.. give him a wide path, pardner!

I knew it was bullshite at time.

[CBGLuthier]

67. So if they treat her like anyone else it is sexist?

What a crock of shit.

Nice biased reporting.

[Art_from_Ark]

72. Biased is right

Bernie made no mention at all of Hillary. The reporter just assumed that he meant Hillary, when he could very well have been referring to the TPP, which he has vowed to do everything he can to defeat.

[melman]

68. lol. Trying way too hard

So much fail on this one.

[cui bono]

85. Thank you for this idiotic OP.

The ridiculousness of it is helping to make it clear to me that DU is more of a waste of time than it used to be. Hopefully I'll remember that before I log on in the future.

[Vattel]

177. That is my feeling too.

[Cha]

90. Yeah yeah yeah.. bernie's wants to kick Hillary's butt.. but he wants the gop to do for him..

by wasting more taxpayers money on the . months of headlines about faux-scandals like “email” and “Benghazi”. It's only makes Hillary stronger but Bernie and his managers haven't figured that out yet.

Big tough Bernie.. "..earlier butt he has to deal with". LOL

[aspirant]

104. "Big tough" Hillary

Did she kick some male and female Republicons "butt" at the hearings

How sexist of her.

[Cha]

105. Big tough talkin' bernie.. get dealing with kicking Hillary's butt, bernie.. we're waiting.

[aspirant]

107. You forget O'Malley is running too

So now it is a challenge, nice evolution

[phleshdef]

125. He can't kick her butt. He'd had to run into the sniper fire to get close enough to do it.

Look, I like Hillary and will vote for her in the general election, but please, stop pretending like Bernie said anything wrong here. He didn't. You know it. And entertaining this silliness should be beneath you.

[mhatrw]

92. Get it? Republican candidates have male butts, so you can figuratively kick them.

Hillary Clinton has a female butt, so you can only kick it literally, not figuratively, which somehow makes you sexist because you said "butt" while discussing a female, so you must have meant you want to kick her literal, actual female butt.

And only a sexist would use the same expression for winning a campaign against a male candidate that he uses for winning a campaign against a female candidate.



Was this article written by Beavis and Butthead?

[merrily]

93. Oh, for the love of Was kicking "Republican butt" misandrist and misogynistic?

Keep this up and we are going back to 1955 as far as employers being willing to hire women. All they are going to see walking through the door are potential EEOC complaints and lawsuits. Actually, much worse than 1955 because there was no EEOC then and the law was not as favorable to women as it is now.

Remember the Civil Rights Act? They included women in it only because they thought including women would surely kill the bill, that Congress would be more willing to give equal rights to people of color than it would be to give them to women! Under one measure, they could have been right: The Fourteenth Amendment got ratified. The ERA got killed. No one back then moved out of the neighborhood when (hetero) women moved in, but no one wanted them in the business district unless they could type at least 60 words a minute and take shorthand, and Congress didn't even have bathrooms for them.

[MohRokTah]

102. Sanders really isn't ready for this. eom

[okasha]

148. No, he isn't, and that's the real problem.

Going for the GWB macho doesn't dispell the fact that he was a pseudo-intellectual little dweeb for the first forty years of his life, who never held a steady job until he was elected Mayor of Burlington, after which he sat on his butt in Congress for 20 years and has precious little to show for it besides his pay stubs.

[Vattel]

111. Sigh, another excuse for irrational outrage. Much ado about nothing

[NurseJackie]

114. I guess I have never taken sexism lightly.

[Romulox]

122. Asking for special protection for the female candidate *is* sexist. nt

[NurseJackie]

124. Okaaaaayyyy .... :-/

[Romulox]

126. Nobody thinks "kicks some butt" is sexist. Nobody. So the pretense falls flat. nt

[NurseJackie]

130. I'm not sure where this is going. (Did you intend to reply to someone else?)

[Romulox]

131. Nobody thinks "kicks some butt" is sexist. Nobody. So the pretense falls flat. nt

[NurseJackie]

136. So you said. Apparently somebody does, so the "nobody" defense falls flat.

[Romulox]

138. It's an obvious pretense. It's a charge looking for a place to hang its hat. nt

[NurseJackie]

141. Perhaps a misstep that a better candidate wouldn't have made. Or would have handled better…

after the fact. He created an opening and folks were ready to take advantage of it. It happens all the time. This will all blow over in a few days.

[Romulox]

146. You can't explain how it's "sexist", which speaks for itself. nt

[NurseJackie]

149. You can't explain how he didn't make a mis-step, which speaks for itself.

[Romulox]

153. The onus is on you to support your assertion of sexism. Not on others to disprove it. nt

[NurseJackie]

156. I didn't assert anything. Again, you're barking up the wrong tree.

[Romulox]

159. NurseJackie, post #114: "I guess I have never taken sexism lightly."

I guess I have never taken sexism lightly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=772995

You are just too slick!

[NurseJackie]

160. That's not an assertion. Where's the assertion?

I realize I'm an easy target that you're fascinated with right now, but if this is something that truly bothers you, then you should probably follow things further back in the chain. I'm not sure what you're accomplishing by badgering me.

That's my best advice to you.

[Romulox]

162. Too clever by half. nt

[phleshdef]

127. It wasn't sexist and you don't think it was.

[NurseJackie]

129. Oooo! A mind reader! (I'll bet you already know what I'm thinking now.)

[phleshdef]

132. Not a mind reader, just a bullshit detector.

No one is buying that nonsense. People who do what you are attempting to do accomplish nothing but staining the fight against real sexism with phony sexist allegations. Cut it out.

[NurseJackie]

134. That's it? It's difficult to take your demands seriously.

[phleshdef]

137. After your allegations of sexism here...

...you really shouldn't be talking about "difficulty taking someone seriously". You've already lost on that front.

[NurseJackie]

143. As did you, with the mind reading trick.

[phleshdef]

145. There was no mind reading trick

Just a call out of painfully obvious bullshit that just about anyone who is a thinking person would be capable of detecting

[NurseJackie]

147. So you said. I don't believe you. I know better.

[phleshdef]

150. No you really don't know better

If you knew better about anything, you would drop this facade of believing that Sanders said something sexist. No one is dumb enough to buy that even if they pretend to be. You're just embarrassing yourself at this point.

[NurseJackie]

151. No, not really. (But apparently I'm annoying you, so there's that.)

[phleshdef]

152. I'm not annoyed.

I'm laughing at you in a very condescending fashion

[NurseJackie]

154. Work on your delivery.

[phleshdef]

164. Work on your honesty

[NurseJackie]

165. You're really in no position to lecture on that.

I stand by my original statement. I believe what I believe, and your efforts to prove otherwise will always fail. Always.

[phleshdef]

168. Yes I am and I am exercising that position on you

And no you don't stand by your statement, up thread you tried to deny even making it to another poster.

[NurseJackie]

169. I guess I have never taken sexism lightly.

[phleshdef]

171. I don't know about that but you certainly don't take honesty very seriously

[NurseJackie]

172. I guess I have never taken sexism lightly.

[Vattel]

173. If only there were some sexism to complain about.

[NurseJackie]

175. We see things differently.

[treestar]

115. LOL. I don't think sexism is the cause of that

but simply repeating the word as used in the question to refer to other candidates.

But it is the type of thing Obama would have handled better.

[Go Vols]

119. lol

[leftofcool]

120. I really hope Bernie gets more ready for the big leagues.

[Romulox]

121. This is embarassing for the OP and those who recommended this. nt

[workinclasszero]

128. Words of wisdom by that great socialist thinker and the savior of us all

Bernie Sanders...“There’s some earlier butt we have to deal with,”


Sounds like a quote right out of a republican clown car debate.

[BillZBubb]

135. Trying to make this statement a big issue is what is right out of the republican clown car.

The right wing always blows up the littlest things into huge "scandals." It looks like the Hillary fanatics are taking a page right out of the republicans playbook.

[workinclasszero]

139. I think St Bernie is going to pull back a bloody stump...

after trying to kick that "earlier butt"

[Arkana]

133. No one cares. It's a figure of speech.

[tularetom]

140. I'm not sure what your point is

Does she not have a butt or is she somehow exempt from having it figuratively kicked in an election?

Make up your mind, dude. Is she a strong independent woman or is she a member of a protected class? You may think she can have it both ways but the voters won't.

[Autumn]

144. Thank god he didn't zoom in on Hillary's 'butt'

Zero is nothing. Which is what Bernie did in regards to anybody's butt. Zero. Nothing. Nada. Zip

[riversedge]

155. As the article said-it was a less than graceful comment from Sanders.

But it happens. Joe Biden is still the King of less than graceful comments IMHO.

[MoonRiver]

158. Yes, and he is still not President.

[blackspade]

163. This has to be one of the fucking dumbest ginned up 'controversies' yet.

The M$M is pathetic and open in it's attempt to create strife within the Democratic Party.

Shame on those buying this garbage.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

179. Is this what counts as hard-hitting journalism from the once mighty Washington Post?

How utterly depressing.

Well, at least we all have a clearer understanding as to who all the "poutraged emoprogs" are... such delicate little micro-aggrieved flowers.

[blackspade]

180. No doubt.

I expect way more from a campaign that's 'winning.'

[NCTraveler]

166. He needs to zero in on it now. He is losing sight of it as it pulls away. nt.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

167. Tsk. Tsk.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

170. Not nearly as much as Hillary's supporters zero in on it.

[GeorgeGist]

178. Conservatives have no sense of humor.

[Beacool]

181. I see, NOW he's a Democrat. Isn't that special?

As for the butt kicking, I don't find it sexist, only a bit crass. Besides, if anyone is going to do some butt kicking I doubt that it's him.