Apologies
"For those of you I may have offended by my apology, I apologize. And in case that's not good enough, I apologize for that."
Trent Lott
Websters II, 1984
apology
1.An expression of regret for an offense or fault.
2.A formal defense:justification
regret
1.to feel sorry or distressed about
2.Distress over having done the wrong thing.
3.An expression of disappointment or sorrow.
4.regrets - A polite declining of an invitation
First, by demanding an apology, an assertion of power is extended or implied.
The apology, if given, acknowledges the power or legitimacy of the demander.
In the case of a Senator or other political figure, this power can be the voters, the party leadership, the parties that were "harmed or offended," and sometimes his/her own actual remorse.
A refusal to apologize can signify one or more of several situations.
One, for instance is that the one asked to apologize is not sorry, or considers the action or inaction justified.
Three examples of this:
December 1, 1991: President Bush refuses to apologize for the use of atomic bombs in World War II.
April, 1995: President Clinton says, "the United States owes no apology to Japan for having dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
September 25, 2002: Senate leader Tom Daschle demands that President Bush apologize for suggesting that Senate Democrats care more about special interests than national security.
What do the demanders of apologies want or expect to accomplish?
To extend redemption if the apologizer is effectively chastised to their satisfaction?
To deny redemption if the apologizer doesn't appear sincere?
Some examples of possibly insincere apologies:
July 17, 1984: At the Democratic National Convention, Jesse Jackson asks Jews for forgiveness for insensitive remarks he had made.
Apologies seemed to be the order of the day during the last administration and were some of the most well crafted and well known "apologies" in recent memory.
March 26, 1998: President Clinton apologizes for inaction during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
This statement by President WJC is a crafted masterpiece of an apology.
AmericanDaily:
"Throughout the Clinton years, the former president was constantly apologizing. When visiting Africa he apologized for slavery. And he apologized for the burning of black churches in Arkansas when he was a child, though no such church burnings ever took place in Arkansas during that time."...
What can a good apology accomplish? Maybe a better question would be how much damage will a bad apology do? We can look to recent history with Trent Lott for an example. His transgession? A comment intended only to make a 100 year old politician smile at his birthday party. The thirst for blood by the "apology demanders" got red meat everytime he tried to clarify or apologize.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
What about ignoring calls for apologies for charges that are unfounded or bogus?
What do you think makes an apology sincere or real?
Was Senator Durbin's emotional performance enough for you, or was he only a shadow of the apology meister in chief, WCJ?
Labels: Bill Clinton, Dick Durbin
posted by VPCheney @ 8:17 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
An insincere apology is the worst kind.
Makes him look hypocritical or like an appeaser.
I apologize for not responding sooner...
Durbin's apology was only there to appease those who didn't like the Nazi/American serviceman comparison. It was NOT a full-fledged apology for saying that American servicemen were torturing terrorists, when indeed, there is no documented case of that happening at Club Gitmo.
Many may not like the fact that we are extracting information from terrorists to help prevent more terrorism. I wish we didn't have to do it either, but these guys were party to the murder of 3000 people and countless others all over the world. THEY are the nazi's of our time, and by golly, I would do anything (within reason) to get information to prevent their hate from spreading. Treating these guys better than they had it at home isn't good enough for our liberal buddies? What should we do, apologize for being a nation that is predominantly Christian and that because of that we provoked them to attack us on 9/11? It just doesn't make sense.
I apologize for ranting on like that, I (sob) really do (sniffle.)
Note...
One of the references for the dates of the apologies cited is here. (Thought I'd add some attribution, just in case Decaturite is hiding out as an Annie now.)
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