Political elites don't respond well to hecklers. They are above everyone, in their opinion, so why should some lowly dissenter be allowed to talk?
In the case of Bill Clinton, the heckler was a United States Marine who spoke up during a "Hillary Clinton for President" rally in South Carolina. When the retired Marine Sergeant spoke up about Benghazi, the former President of the United States responded, "Shut up and listen."
The man was hustled out of the room by county deputies, at which point Clinton said, “His mind has been poisoned by lies and he won’t listen.”
The Marine's partner, who had been videotaping the event, then chimed in. She shouted, “Hillary lied over four coffins, she lied to those families, so all those families are liars?”
The deputies then escorted the woman from the room.
The former president spoke up for his wife, who as secretary of state was responsible for the Benghazi compound’s security, after the crowd quieted down from all of their booing of the "hecklers."
“You can imagine how she feels when people make these charges,” he said. “She lost a lot of sleep over this, believe me.”
And he bemoaned the loss of civility in politics. “Americans have one remaining bigotry,” he said. “We don’t want to be around anyone who disagrees with us.”
Is that why they were escorted out? Clinton didn't want to be around anyone who disagrees with him?
In reality, we see these kinds of outbursts on both sides, and the actions taken were pretty typical, so I am not surprised the people were escorted out, and I would expect the same to happen at a Republican Rally. However, what happened did not catch my attention as much as what was said.
"Shut up and listen." Hardly a response based on a desire to engage in a healthy debate. It would have been better if Clinton had said nothing, and simply waited for the "hecklers" to be escorted out. But, "shut up and listen" was an automatic response. People who believe themselves to be above those around them, to be superior and elite compared to the common citizen, and look down their noses at people, say things like that.
It is much like the way Muslims view non-Muslims. The slaughter of Christians and Jews mean little to them because as far as they are concerned, Christians and Jews are nothing more than animals. Killing Christians and Jews, to a Muslim jihadist, is no different than killing a rat in your attic. In a like manner, the liberal left progressives view their opposition as lower life forms, stupid, and irritating in a manner that could be attributed to a silly child, or a barking dog. So, Bill Clinton looked down his nose and said, "Shut up and listen." He might as well have said, "You stupid little child," or "You irritating peasant." That is the way the liberal left progressives view anybody who is silly enough to oppose them.
While opposing ideas like Net Neutrality, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said, "I think it's dangerous, frankly, that we don't see more often people espousing the First Amendment view that we should have a robust marketplace of ideas where everybody should be willing and able to participate."
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton is telling someone who was willing to offer his idea to, "Shut up and listen."
"The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism." -- Karl Marx
The Freedom of Expression is slipping away because the liberal left is working to silence all opposition. "Shut up and listen," they are saying - hoping to silence all opposition, in the log run.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
'Shut up and listen,' Bill Clinton tells off Marine during rally - New York Post
FCC commissioner: U.S. tradition of free expression slipping away - Washington Examiner
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