Bill Clinton: Words matter - on the 15th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing

Gabrielle Giffords was disturbed - frightened - by the surge of Don't Tread on Me talk, the rise of extreme rhetoric often accusing the Democrats (when they were in the Congressional majority) and President  Obama of tyranny, etc.  President Clinton discussed the issue last year on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.  


In this past year when we saw a surge of anti-Muslim, nativist sentiment I often wondered why we didn't hear a lot of warnings about the dangerousness of white guys, why we didn't hear anything about the need for white men to stand up and apologize on behalf of white men for Oklahoma City - contrary to what we often heard Muslims should do for 9/11. Below is an excerpt from Clinton's remarks.

  

"W]hat we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or reduce our passion from the positions we hold -- but that the words we use really do matter, because there's this vast echo chamber and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike. And I am not trying to muzzle anybody. But... no law can replace personal responsibility. And the more power you have and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have.

Look, I'm glad they're fighting over health care and everything else. Let them have at it. But I think all you have to do is read the paper everyday to see how many people there are who are deeply, deeply troubled.... By all means, keep fighting. By all means, keep arguing. But remember words have consequences as much as actions do. And what we advocate commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for. We owe that to Oklahoma City.."

longer excerpt HERE at MSNBC.com