Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Apologies

But Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, a member of the Republican leadership, countered, "Our economy is struggling, families are hurting. And yet, this Congress is poised to demand an apology from a man who has already apologized. It's a disappointment to millions of Americans."

I can't say as I'm one of the millions of Americans who is disappointed by Congress demanding an apology from this Representative. I think the party who brought us the Clinton impeachment needs to really ask themselves if they're in a position to throw stones.

Yanno, when I was a kid, my mother insisted that if we did something wrong, we apologized. Period. To ALL offended parties. Seems to me that Mr. Wilson only apologized to half of the people he offended with his outburst. Apologizing to the President isn't sufficient when he has yet to apologize to his colleagues, AND, (mind-boggling to me) refuses to do so, insisting that "one apology is enough."

Excuse me? How hard is it to stand up when you're recognized by the floor and say, "To my honored colleagues, I regret my outburst during President Obama's speech last week, and I would like to apologize to you."

Unless Mr. Wilson doesn't regret his outburst, and from what I've seen and read, I'm thinking this is a good possibility.

Republicans accused the majority party of hypocrisy and wasting the taxpayers' time.

Um, I invite the party in question to take a look back at their actions of the last, say, 20 years, and try to explain to me how that quote above isn't the pot calling the kettle black. (See the above comment about a certain impeachment as reference.)

Politics has always been fraught with partisanship, but I can't say as I ever recall it being this bad in the past. What does it say about us as a nation to have a member of our Congress exhibit such blatant disrespect for the leader of our country, compounded by the fact that he now refuses to man up and apologize for his boorish behavior?

I don't care if you don't like the President's politics. I don't care what party you're affiliated with, I believe we should be able to expect a modicum of decency and appropriate behavior from our elected officials. I think, no matter on which side of the aisle you reside, that it's not asking too much for you to be respectful of the President AND the Congress you serve. It's a matter of professional decorum. Disagree all you want, that's fine, but do it respectfully.

I don't think this needs to be something that adds to the widening schism between the Democrats and the Republicans. Members of both parties fall on both sides of this apology issue. What I do think? That an apology is owed to the House, where the incident occurred. I think it should've been offered without having to go through this circus to get it. I don't think it was necessary for it to have to go as far as it's gone.

After all, apologizing when you're wrong or have offended is only good manners. And last time I checked, good manners applied to everyone, not just a select few.

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