New Rule: If Mitt Romney, Karl Rove and Sarah Palin all think America has never done anything wrong, we must be doing something wrong. Look at them: an empty suit, an empty heart and an empty head. It looks like the news team on Good Morning Hell. And what they've been competing about lately is who would not apologize the most. America is infallible, and apologies are horrible things that must never, ever be given. Except by me when I make a joke about the Pope. "We're perfect -- deal with it," is their new handshake. But I say, what's wrong with America occasionally saying, "I'm sorry"? Because these are the three sorriest white people I've ever seen. If in your eyes America can do no wrong, you should really look into Lasik surgery. There's the rational, mature assessment of our country: that it's a great nation -- especially if you like fried foods -- but it also has its faults. And then there's the Republican view: that it's perfect and pure in every way and it's always right all the time, just like Leviticus and Ronald Reagan. If the founders were alive today, Republicans would be giving them shit because the Preamble to the Constitution says, "In order to form a more perfect union? Hello, it's already perfect! Why are you suggesting American apologetics, Ben Franklin?" One of the things that makes Republicans furious about our current president is their idea that Obama is always apologizing for America's biggest mistakes. Unlike President Bush. Who was one of America's biggest mistakes. In his first week as president, Obama did an interview with Arab TV in which he said, "We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect." Thought crime! And then he went to Cairo and violated one of those absolute eternal rules the Right Wing is always making up out of thin air: "The president must never apologize on foreign soil. Lest our allies begin to doubt that we're assholes. " But what did Obama actually say to make Karl Rove's head explode and the popcorn fly out? Cover your children's ears: When he was asked if he believed in American exceptionalism, he said he did, the same way "the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks in Greek exceptionalism." Yes, our so-called president actually said people in other countries might like their countries better. I was so shocked I nearly dropped the Bible I was using to help me masturbate into my gun. In her farewell speech -- if only -- Sarah Palin kept telling us "how she's wired." Now I'm not a doctor, or an electrician -- but this is faulty wiring, this worldview that, in her words, "we should never apologize for our country." Really? Never? Not for slavery? Or Japanese internment camps, or if we tortured the wrong guy at Guantanamo? The Indians? Nothing, Sarah? "The Real Housewives of Atlanta"? Shouldn't John McCain apologize for... you? When did intractability become a virtue? Mitt Romney's new book is called No Apology: The Case For American Greatness. You can find it at Borders, in the "Suck-Up" section. It's such a perfect title, combining paranoia with arrogance: "No one has yet asked me to apologize but, if someone ever does, fuck them." Conservatives think apologizing is a sign of weakness. It's what liberal pussies do, when they're not busy driving electric cars and feeling empathy. When in fact it's the weak and the scared who are too insecure to apologize. Apologies are actually a sign of strength. That's why six-year-olds hate them. In Rwanda, after a genocide that killed a million people, they set up special courts where people stood up and said, "Hey, sorry I macheted your entire family. My bad." And believe it or not, in most cases, that was enough. That's the power of an apology. A recent study reveals that doctors who are willing to apologize to patients for their mistakes are sued for malpractice about half as much as doctors who aren't willing to apologize. Apologies can do great things, and they can enable great things. And if you still don't believe me, I have three words for you: make-up sex. Bill Maher is the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Fridays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on HBO. Guests on this week's program include Jay Leno, Chuck Todd, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Sam Harris and Jeremy Scahill.
Ehh...Bill Maher. He's almost as bad as Hannity and Limbaugh. How do you affect change when half the country is repulsed by you? I think these guys exist solely to collect their $20 mil salary and that's it. The rest is insincere babble.
Heres a reason why we shouldnt appologize for slavery. I am a 1st generation American. My family didnt own slaves in america(or in ireland as far as i know which is where my heritage is) What gives a politician the right to apologize for something my family never did or took part in. What gives a politician the right to apologize for another politicians actions? Or the right to appologize for a citizens actions? Or the right to apologize for actions of a people and government that happened 150 years ago? Why dont we all go to italy next and have them apologize for ceasers actions. Or lets go to mongolia and have them apologize for ghengis khans actions. Or to england and have them apologize for all thier pasts kings actions. We have made mistakes like the rest of the world. Lets move on shall we. There are alot of slaves in the world right now. Maybe we should worry about freeing them instead of apologizing to slaves in america that have been dead for a century.
apologies open you up to legal settlements engineered by liberal-bloodsucking-trial-attorneys... According to Bill Mahr ... ours is "A Nation Of Idiots" ... He should apologize for contributing to our stupidity, as he is a vile, disgusting, obnoxious pig who spews one falsehood, and ill-devised conclusion after the other.
apologies open you up to legal settlements engineered by liberal-bloodsucking-trial-attorneys... -------------------------- Exactly. Never take responsibility, admit fault or say I'm sorry, you are inviting a lawsuit. This is not the way I prefer but it is what it is.
Before I apologize, I will wait for the Africans to apologize first. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_slave_trade Before the arrival of the Portuguese, slavery had already existed in Kongo. Despite its establishment within his kingdom, Afonso believed that the slave trade should be subject to Kongo law. When he suspected the Portuguese of receiving illegally enslaved persons to sell, he wrote in to King João III in 1526 imploring him to put a stop to the practice.[40] The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, who otherwise would have been killed in a ceremony known as the Annual Customs. As one of West Africa's principal slave states, Dahomey became extremely unpopular with neighbouring peoples.[41][42][43] Like the Bambara Empire to the east, the Khasso kingdoms depended heavily on the slave trade for their economy. A family's status was indicated by the number of slaves it owned, leading to wars for the sole purpose of taking more captives. This trade led the Khasso into increasing contact with the European settlements of Africa's west coast, particularly the French.[44] Benin grew increasingly rich during the 16th and 17th centuries on the slave trade with Europe; slaves from enemy states of the interior were sold, and carried to the Americas in Dutch and Portuguese ships. The Bight of Benin's shore soon came to be known as the "Slave Coast".[45] King Gezo of Dahomey said in the 1840s: The slave trade is the ruling principle of my people. It is the source and the glory of their wealthâ¦the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slaveryâ¦[46] In 1807, the UK Parliament passed the Bill that abolished the trading of slaves. The King of Bonny (now in Nigeria) was horrified at the conclusion of the practice: We think this trade must go on. That is the verdict of our oracle and the priests. They say that your country, however great, can never stop a trade ordained by God himself.[47]
Before I apologize, I will wait for the Africans to apologize first. None of what the "Africans" did makes what America did right...therefore it is not necessary for America to wait for "Africans" to admit to their wrong first before making our own American apology... Your thinking is like a small child who rationalizes their wrong position by looking at what a sibling does that is wrong...
I want to see Jesse Jackson receive reparations and an apology from a Black African leader. It would do a lot to take the issue of American racism out of slavery. We only brought the goods that the Africans were selling us But then Jesse would lose his mojo.