On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:44:14 -0400 Michael Smith <mjs at smithbowen.net>
writes:
> On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:24:13 -0400
> Julio Huato <juliohuato at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Carrol,
> >
> > It'd be great to hear you say I'm sorry every now and then.
>
> We've had a nice spate of apologies lately, which does us
> all credit. But let's not turn it into an orgy. Amurrica
> has developed a cult of the apology lately to which only
> Japan's bears any comparison. And *demanding* an apology
> is a very Amurrican wrinkle.
What Amerikans have really pioneered, is the non-apology apology. "I am sorry if anyone was offended by remarks", which implies that the problem wasn't really with what I said but rather with some people's reactions to it. In other words, an insecere apology. That sort of thing has become increasingly common in recent years, and I have heard all manner of public figures deliver such apologies. Nothing gets my dander up like hearing another public figure issuing one of these kind of apologies. Better if they kept their mouths shut and not apologize like that.
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math
>
> --
> --
>
> Michael J. Smith
> mjs at smithbowen.net
>
> http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org
> http://www.cars-suck.org
> http://fakesprogress.blogspot.com
>
> "I think the American people want a solemn ass
> as a President, and I think I will go along with them."
>
> -- Barack Obama
>
> (Okay, okay, it was really Calvin Coolidge.)
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