CNN says Hillary Clinton was asked to comment on Ferguson after a book signing on Sunday.
After signing more than 700 books at Books & Books in Westhampton Beach, Clinton was asked by two reporters for her reaction to the controversy.
Clinton ignored both questions and left the bookstore.
Clinton has yet to make any sort of a statement on Ferguson. CNN has posted a Vine of Clinton ignoring a Ferguson question, because apparently Vines are something that CNN is doing now.
But Clinton’s not officially running for president yet. Why, you might ask, should she have to make a statement on Ferguson? Because Ferguson matters. Because Hillary Clinton has more influence over the media than just about anybody in America right now. All eyes are on her, and everything she says—hell, everything she doesn’t say—gets repeated in news stories for weeks afterward. What’s more, the fact that Clinton isn’t currently holding office means that she can say things that, for instance, President Obama can’t say about an ongoing investigation. A statement of support from Clinton would mean a lot to people in Ferguson, but Clinton, apparently, can’t be bothered.
Some people agree with Clinton’s decision. Here’s one person who wants Clinton to remain silent:
As a general rule, we really do not need to hear from absolutely everybody in the political class each and every time that something dramatic happens. If Hillary Clinton wishes to pronounce upon the topic, I’m sure she will. If she doesn’t, then she doesn’t have to. Either way, there’s no particular reason we need to hear her take. She’s not an elected official. She has no authority over Ferguson, Missouri. She has no more information than anybody else. She is, for now at least, a citizen of the United States. Nothing more, nothing less.
Who’s urging Clinton to be silent in the above quote? That’s Charles C. W. Cooke, of the conservative National Review. As a rule, I find that if National Review agrees with you on something, you should immediately investigate your decisions, because you’re probably being an asshole.
That last sentence says it all. The one level-headed thing that she could say is that the militarization of the police has gone too far. Libertarians, Progressives, and Liberals can all agree on this point. She’s to the right of that statement of course. There is a reason she and John McCain are such good friends.
She’s testing if she can get elected without ever taking a stand on anything. Her platform so far is “Bein’ Hillary.”