I do NOT "accept" insincere apologies, nor should anyone.

[SoCalDem]

There seems to be a major increase in "foot-in-mouth" disease lately, with Imus being the latest.

There is nothing for him to apologize FOR, He spoke his own mind..his own thoughts. he's a bigoted nasty-tempered man.
Was ANYONE surprised when he called those women "Ho-s"?

Is anyone surprised about Mel Gibson's outburst?

Is anyone really "shocked" when Coulter rattles off her diatribes?

Michael Richard's racist hissyfit, seemed out of character, but who "really" knows his inner thoughts?

How about Rush Limbaugh's epithets?

We cannot leave out Michael Savage or Glenn Beck, can we?

When someone speaks the "truth-according-to-them" on the air, waits to see what the REACTION IS...and then goes back on the air (or in print) to "apologize", it's probably WORSE than what they actually said.

The "people with the microphones" ALWAYS get to say what they want. They hide behind the First Amendment in order to SAY it, and then like repentant toddlers, they glibly say "Sorry", and it's supposed to be "all better".

To ME, it's more about the public access than their actual thoughts, at issue here. When media moguls GIVE these people a public platform, it's inevitable that those people's personal beliefs will eventually surface.

That there are bigots, racists & idiots among us, should come as no revelation.

They have always been with us, but in past times, they were more likely to be pamphleteers, nuts on soapboxes in a park, or a band of zealots marching through streets to jeers and taunts from less-than-adoring crowds.

Now they have been glorified, given a microphone and a whole shit-load of money, and expected to be "edgy, shocking, funny, provocative, whatever".

People listen to/watch these people BECAUSE of what they may say/do.

Aside from the goofy young party-people, the dangerous ones are the older ones. the young ones are just out there being mostly self-destructive (like many young people), but the OLDER ones like the radio "shock-jocks" have a large following of less-than-intelligent weirdos who see these people as heroes, and love to emulate them.

There is free speech, and then there is hate speech, and the people who push the envelopes for big bucks, know where the line is, because they cross it almost daily, and then run back to the other side and claim to be "victims".

Their constant "apologies" ring hollow, to me.

While it seems extreme to fire them for a true slip of the tongue, the people who HIRED them, hired them to BE dangerous, so it's hardly fair to "ask them to apologize" after the fact.

The media is just having it both ways, as always, and expects us to keep tuning in, keep buying tickets, keep attending lectures, keep buying books, and to pretend that when these "shocking people" do it again and again, it's just an "oopsie".

I don't buy it for a minute


(edit ..because I never seem to spell check BEFORE I push the button :(...)

[RedCappedBandit]

1. I don't give a shit what any of these people say

therefore, any apology they offer is completely irrelevent.

[UTUSN]

2. Hear, hear!!1 But I'll go a step further. Few if ANY apologies are worth

a bucket of warm ****.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Some Don't Recant

Surely Coultergeist and Rushbo have never recanted a thing they've said...if anything they thrive on the controversy their slander and lies create and when they're not getting the attention they crave. They're like the flasher...they open the trench coat...revolted or turned on, you've looked and they got the attention.

Anus, as you state, is a mean-spirited bigot who thinks it's the "boys will be boys" deal when he and his hyenas open their pie holes and demean all types of people. Just like little boys, it's when they get too silly...go too far...that's when they appologize...and, not for what they said, as much as for getting caught or going too far.

I do think there are some contritions that are genuine...people who display ignorance but then learn differently and do change their minds/viewpoints. A good example here would be Charles Barkley. But those are the exception, rarely the rule.

[blues90]

4. So true !

They are there by design and remain because it works as sad as this may be .

People used to think before blurting out some insane opinion , well most did some time ago .

Now they do still think before the rant and it's a decided action to raise the ratings of their horrific shows , the retraction means nothing at all . The trouble is this sort of attitude has rubbed off in the public behavour and has taken this country quite a few steps down in respect .

I can forgive a slip out of anger by someone I know but never a deliberate slight especially by any public figure . I don't care who it is .

Through the years I have lost of respect for people I felt where open , well meaning and honest . Whether verbal or physical actions , once done there is no taking it back unless one likes abuse .

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. Add to that "Thank you for your service"

when people simply do the job they signed up to do.

Since when did we start thanking people for that?

[SoCalDem]

6. Amen!. It's the new "have a nice day".

It rings hollow to me too..

[DaveJ]

7. Popular saying: "love means never having to say you`re sorry"

And conversely, apologies are usually (don't know a good word for this) a reaction-to-and-involvement-in hate.

[SoCalDem]

9. passive aggressive?

most of the "sorrys" I hear are not really "sorry"..just another insult, wrapped up in shiny paper..with a bow on top

[BuelahWitch]

8. K&R

[rasputin1952]

10. I am w/you 100%...These are not apologies, they are escape

mechanisms, used when caught or called on what they say.

When an apology is offered, it must be sincere, and offered in the hope of forgiveness from the offended; forgiveness means the end of the situation.

It takes both parts for the situation to work properly, sincerity on the part of the offender and acceptance by the offendee(s). Which of course makes sure that if effective and taken to heart by both parties, neither should ever bring it up again.

If a person attempts an apology for saying, "ho's" or whatever, they can't use that to do the same thing in the future. It takes a profoundly stable person to ensure they will not again be remiss in their behavior, which is the key to an apology; it is a life changing event, not merely a pass to go on with poor behavior, but a change away from that behavior.

On the other side of the equation, the offendee cannot say, "but you said......", unless it to remind the person of a behavior not changed after the apology. One can say, "didn't you say you would not do that again?"; to do other than that, which places the mantle of blame upon the offender, is to not show forgiveness for the previous offense. It has to be reciprocal to be effective.

It is a complicated dance, simply because most of us hate to express our faults so glaringly; however, we find it very easy to find fault w/anything we don't happen to agree with.

By far the best option is to avoid bad behavior if possible, not always an option.

The lowest denominator keeps these people on the air, they buy products hawked by these jerks, they show up at "rallies" for these jerks, and they call in w/support because they have never had to live in anything but a world of fear and an exaggerated sense of their own self worth. If these people who called these shows enlisted in a branch of the service they so love to claim they support, I might think there was some hope...but alas, even these miserable excuses for humanity rake in millions of dollars for their moronic "opinions", not ONE of them has ever served a DAY in the Service. The hypocrisy is revolting.

[cascagraphic]

11. kick

[spooky3]

12. It's even worse than that...

at least some of the time, the people you named are saying these things DELIBERATELY to get attention, controversy, and they hope, a bigger audience. And it often succeeds.

The apology Imus offered was simply to try to keep his name in the free publicity "news" and mollify those people who are either too sweet-natured or too dumb to realize he is insincere.

[SoCalDem]

15. Yes.. and MSRNC "knows" what Imus considers "funny & acceptable"

They hired him BECAUSE he's a loose cannon ..they need to be the ones apologizing for hiring such a ridiculous old coot:)

[hootinholler]

13. Well Excuuuuuuuuuuuuussssse ME!

That's not foot-in-mouth disease, it's Rectocrainiumitis, generally cured shortly after a loud popping sound, which is either a gunshot or a Rectocrainiumectomy.

Now I'm off for my Bottleinfrontofme.

-Hoot

[kdpeters]

14. I'm a big believer in redemption.

People have value and we all make mistakes. I was raised in rural Georgia and thought I was raised to not be racist. In comparison to the environment, I was self assured that I had no racism in my heart. Then I left the south. I have a dear friend who is African American but the nature of our friendship didn't often raise issues of race. He was a very strong and very patient man, but didn't let me get away with anything. It was very difficult to confront that indeed I had picked up ambient or subsurface attitudes from the environment that I had to work to rid myself of. Only because I had someone who saw me for my sincerity and cared about me enough to put me in my place if I needed it, but be there and allow me time to learn a lesson.

Now, don't get me wrong. That's not easy to write here at all. It's just honest. I'm not sure why I offer it, but to consider if in your personal life, you have the influence to actually lead someone out of the bonds of bigotry, be every bit as intolerant, but a little more patient and forgiving -- especially as long as there is forward progress. It was one of the best gifts I've ever been given. I myself have learned how to wield that kind of patience to change attitudes toward gay people. I fantasize that it keeps paying itself forward. :)

[SoCalDem]

16. While I agree with a lot you said, Imus did not make a "mistake"

He does this schtick PURPOSEFULLY, and then expects that a weak "sorry" makes it all better..

He's nothing more than an old, addle-brained, burned-out, former dope-head , Stern-wannabee, and MSRNC and his radio people apparently could not afford Stern, so they put up with him.. :puke: