Mahatma Gandhi - The Man, The Myth, The Gas Station Attendant by Hillary Clinton

Broken Newz ^

[Sub-Driver]

Mahatma Gandhi - The Man, The Myth, The Gas Station Attendant by Hillary Clinton 1/7/2004 - Marni Malarkey

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Senator Hillary Clinton has apologized if a comment she is reported to have made at an event on Saturday offended anyone, but has said she was "misquoted by the vast rightwing conspiracy in the press."

The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser in St Louis, during which she allegedly introduced a quote from Mahatma Gandhi by saying: "You all know Gandhi. He ran a gas station down in St Louis." Americans of South Asian descent have protested Senator Clinton's words, saying they play into unfair racial stereotypes, in particular the notion that certain immigrants necessarily always run petrol stations.

But Senator Clinton, speaking this morning on Good Morning America, said that while she was upset if the reports about her comments hurt anyone, she in fact was "slandered and misquoted by the same vast rightwing conspiracy that tried to run my husband out of office. You know my husband, don't you? That man who is so devoted to me, and to whom I am so devoted? Him. It's those same media rightwing sleazeballs that rule the airwaves that made this up. I never said Gandhi ran a gas station.What I said was, 'you all know Gandhi. He ran a convenience store down in St. Louis.' Because let's face it. Those people pretty much run all the corner stores in the damn country. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I mean, if it weren't for them, where else would you get a Malted or a Slurpy or even some porn at 3 in the morning? Nowhere."

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Imagine if John Ashcroft or Mitch McConnell or any Republican "leader" had let this "lame attempt at humor" loose -- the NY Times and every Democrat in the country would be clamoring for their resignation.

Maybe Hillary isn't the smartest woman in the world -- maybe instead the dumbest boob!

[OXENinFLA]

I heard the clip of her saying this today, this was despicable!

[Maria S]

"It's those same media rightwing sleazeballs that rule the airwaves that made this up. I never said Gandhi ran a gas station.What I said was, 'you all know Gandhi. He ran a convenience store down in St. Louis.' Because let's face it. Those people pretty much run all the corner stores in the damn country. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I mean, if it weren't for them, where else would you get a Malted or a Slurpy or even some porn at 3 in the morning? Nowhere."


Please excuse my doubt that Hillary actually said 'damn country', 'those people', or '...even some porn...' I didn't see 'Good Morning America', but I have to wonder if "Broken Newz" isn't a spoof site like "The Onion".

[Betteboop]

The New York Democrat made the remark at a fund-raiser in St Louis, during which she allegedly introduced a quote from Mahatma Gandhi by saying: "You all know Gandhi. He ran a gas station down in St Louis." Americans of South Asian descent have protested Senator Clinton's words, saying they play into unfair racial stereotypes, in particular the notion that certain immigrants necessarily always run petrol stations.

Truth Hurts!!

Seriously, if that were a Pubbie who said it, he'd be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

[smiley]

For the love of God, Hillary....move on and dispense with the vast right wing theories.....please!

[Sub-Driver]

it's Satire..

[Conspiracy Guy]

Humor loses it's glow when you have to explain it. I thought it was funny as heck. But Hillary is wrong. Gandhi changed his name to Patel and owns the Best Western at exit 5 on I85.

[Dallas59]

"You all know Gandhi. He ran a gas station down in St Louis."

Oh Hitlary...really.

[Quilla]

Hey! I'm clamoring for her resignation. Do the right thing, step down Hillary.

[FFIGHTER]

Woman, that is a bit of a stretch, the jury is still out on that one.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Hitlery is the cause of Mad Cow disease. MeekNMing made the picture and I wrote the caption.

[Sloth]

Not as bad as what Dean did.

[OXENinFLA]

Is there a sound bite of this out there?

[thepatriot1]

Does the name 'Trent Lott' comes to anyones mind? He had to step down as the Senate majority leader for saying less than this. I just checked the CNN, MSNBC and even Fox websites. Not a word.

[petro45acp]

I saw this bit of tape. So it was a "high brow" version of every "whose running the 7-11" joke we've ever heard. Her delivery sucked, and she had no contextual framework. Robin Williams could have delivered that joke, the JUNIOR senator from new yuk could not. Frankly, I think it was intended, knowing how forgiving her constituency is, to get her name back up to the surface. Similar to yelling "here I am."

Frankly, I know not all 7-11 franchises are run by Hindi or Paki Folk. HOWEVER!, a certain percentage of stores are in fact staffed by these people. They are also staffed by Koreans, and Viet/Cambodians, and Arabs, and black Americans, and white Americans. The point is, the head of Southland Corp (I believe a Pakistani fellow) has managed to staff a national chain with local folk regardless of ethnic origin.
If that isn't a fecund field for humor, then this is not the America it is supposed to be.

Personally, I wouldn't defend the lying sack of ....... politician for any reason (I don't think), but making a big deal about a Hindi gas station owner joke is like making a big deal about the plural spelling of a starchy tuberous vegetable.

[Quilla]

I saw a clip on her comment on Fox News (Fox & Friends) this morning. She said, "He ran a gas station down in St Louis." Haven't been able to locate a sound bite, but I suspect one will become available soon.

[m1-lightning]

Mia T,

Have you been able to et a hold of a sound byte of this yet?

[tractorman]

I heard it on WLS (890 AM) this morning out of Chicago.

What next? Quotes from Martin Luther King, you know, the guy who shines shoes at the airport who had a dream……..

Hillary showed her true colors because the remarks were scripted and she actually thought they were funny. Good humor is always based around some semblance of truth and in this incident her true bias against Asian minorities is revealed. A lame attempt indeed!

[Dante3]

I never thought I would be defending Hillary. However, I am sick of people going into a frenzy over some silly statement. It's not like she advocated violence, a la Geragos & Michael J. Trent Lott, Johnny Rocker, the Dixie Chicks and scores of others had made comments that did not deserve any reaction. In all of that I see an erosion of our freedom of speech.

Yet when Supreme Sandra O'Conner tells she is breaking her oath of office and rule according to what is she believes is the World Opinion of the Day, there is no outrage. There is little outrage when certain entertainers/athletes promote rape and violence and the killing of cops or when court employees laugh and placed bets when Terri Schiavo will die.