On 2009-Jan-26, at 16:47, Roger Howard wrote: > We still have no idea what he'll actually do - we think we know > where he > stands, but the hard decisions are still ahead. As Chuck points out, > it > would be political suicide - particularly if, after apologizing and > renouncing previous policy, we end up (whether by cause or not) in > another > dire situation... if we got attacked again on domestic soil, if his > solution to Gitmo is no more popular or legitimate than Gitmo > itself, if > we have another torture scandal, if the economy continues to get even > worse.
What y'all are basically trying to say: - Obama is the apology - Bush was the problem, so an apology from Obama is meaningless - the Pope never "apologized" - talk is cheap so why apologize anyway - it would be silly - German apology was only after 50 years - the american people as a whole feel very different now about the last 8 years - apologies are just meaningless platitudes - apologies embolden your enemy - apologies are a propaganda victory for the enemy - it is too early to apologize - it would only be appropriate if in 4 years time we see evidence of actions that can back up an apology - it would be political suicide Can you see a pattern? I can't. But wait... It is almost as if y'all are trying to say that you want that Obama should only ever apologize if and only if the apology was genuine and truly sincere. And seeing as no American group seems to feel any genuine remorse for America's actions over the past 8 years, with all the bombing and invading and all, then an apology is totally out of the question. It is a principled stance, I suppose. Three points I'll take to heart: Lawrence says I don't understand the American people; Lewis says America is ready to lead; and Roger you're imagining possible worse scenarios to come. Well we're seeing a lot of hope for Obama. But is there any hope for the American people? Apparently when Blair tried to apologise for some British abuse or other, the effect was that a load of Brits came out staunchly reaffirming that the "wrong"--what he was apologizing for--was actually a "right". Apparently apologies are not just meaningless words. Apparently they are quite risky. Imagine, Germany was lucky; an apology for Nazi atrocities could actually recruit people to become Nazi sympathizers. Apologizing for Apartheid could actually make a new generation of racists. And so on. Aren't people funny? So America, you have a shiny new president, who talks of hope. And as a people you talk about it being time to lead again--as opposed to whatever y'all thought you were doing the last 8 years (knitting, I suppose)--and as a nation you're going to lead us all towards freedom and prosperity and away from terrorism and poverty. And you're going to do all that, as a great nation, a nation made of a people who can't even feel remorse. What hope, truly? Stefano _______________________________________________ OSX-Nutters mailing list | [email protected] http://lists.tit-wank.com/mailman/listinfo/osx-nutters List hosted at http://cat5.org/
