An Empty Apology

The New York Times ^ | 7/18/05 | Bob Herbert

[Fred911]

One of President Bush's surrogates went before the N.A.A.C.P. last week and apologized for the Republican Party's reprehensible, decades-long Southern strategy. The surrogate, Ken Mehlman, is chairman of the Republican National Committee. Perhaps he meant well. But his words were worse than meaningless. They were insulting. The G.O.P.'s Southern strategy, racist at its core, still lives.

[Coop]

I don't know why the GOP insists on apologizing to the NAACP and other black organizations. It's an admission of doing something wrong (which I think is misplaced at best), and it's thrown back in the Pubbies' faces every time.

[cricket]

Apologising for 'history' is a rediculous concept in my book; and a huge mistake for any Repub who atttempts to redress past injustices from a 'present' context.

If the Repubs are apologising; why aren't the Demrats. . .they are the ones who owned the South. . .

These mea culpa's only open the doors for those who thrive on alienation. . .

[Hoodat]

Republicans founded the NAACP.

[theFIRMbss]

>But his words were worse than meaningless

It was a stupid
apology! The damn Left
will just piss on it,

and consevatives
are insulted, because we
work on principles,

and NOT racism --
we NEVER were racists, that
is Nazi nonsense

and it's Democrats
with endless "diversity"
bleetings that love it!

The Republicans
were stupid to make this speech
and it will NOT help.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Why did W send anybody ?

[sandydipper]

Typical of both party politicos is the fact that they pat your head with one hand and rummage in your pockets with the other.

[Tacis]

The lead in looked interesting. The idea could have some merit and then I looked at the author. There is nothing on earth that Republicans could do (except surrender) that would make this guy happy. He is a spokesman for the anti-American, neocommunist, ultra-left wingers of the world. His words have absolutely no substance and are of interest only to the extent that they report today's liberal extremist party line.

Of course, the dems wanted additional blacks to vote additional times. They were the Haitians, Jamaicans and Cubans.

[MEGoody]

Actually, I was rather ticked off that this apology was issued in the first place. The history of the Dems is far more harmful to minorities than the Repubs were even tempted to be.

Now that the apology has been issued, it's still not enough for the left. But nothing is ever enough for them but being in complete power.

[sergeantdave]

Bob Herbert? I thought that old communist troll collapsed and died from hysterical vapors while watching the Berlin Wall come down.

Hey, Bob! Stalin is dead. Go comb the kooties out of Castro's beard.

[carumba]

Glossed over is the racist history of the Democratic Party.

This is the most incredible propaganda stroke of all time. It's got to be the foot work. Float like a butterfly.

[Cicero]

I said at the time that Mehlman was stupid to take that line. What was he doing apologizing to the NAACP? The Democrats are the ones who enslaved blacks and oppressed them for a hundred years after the Civil War with Jim Crow laws. Then in the Martin Luther King days, they told their Big Lie with the help of the MSM, and persuaded most blacks that Evil Republicans led by Richard Nixon were somehow responsible for oppressing them. By apologizing, Mehlman played right into the hands of folks like Herbert.

Robert Byrd was the fellow who wore the sheets, not Richard Nixon.

No, Mehlman should have stood up and said that if the NAACP wants to help blacks, then it should deal with both parties and stop being a fully owned subsidiary of the DNC, which gives very little in return apart from bribes.

[jer2911tx]

in the last week or so, howard dean made a comment about how the democrats were going to start paying attention to the black vote and not wait until the final 2 months before the election to reach out to them.


so, why haven't black leaders pointed out more often how dems take them for granted and wait until the last two months before an election to pay any attention to them. and how do dems reach out to the black community? by giving money to al sharpton and jesse jackson in exchange for them telling the black voters who they should vote for.
seems like the black voting block could take some lessons from the hispanic voting block and realize how much power they could weild if they didn't vote 90% dem. libs work harder for the hispanic vote because they don't have the hispanic leadership bought and paid for.

[jer2911tx]

in the last week or so, howard dean made a comment about how the democrats were going to start paying attention to the black vote and not wait until the final 2 months before the election to reach out to them.


so, why haven't black leaders pointed out more often how dems take them for granted and wait until the last two months before an election to pay any attention to them. and how do dems reach out to the black community? by giving money to al sharpton and jesse jackson in exchange for them telling the black voters who they should vote for.
seems like the black voting block could take some lessons from the hispanic voting block and realize how much power they could weild if they didn't vote 90% dem. libs work harder for the hispanic vote because they don't have the hispanic leadership bought and paid for.

[rightwinggoth]

Nice haikus.