We Need Some More Apologies

Hmm. It seems the media is falling all over itself to inflate the issue of John Kerry's misunderstood joke this week and are thus playing right into the hands of those who have been looking for something, ANYTHING to give the Republicans good ink a mere week before a good chunk of them were likely to lose their jobs.

Anyone who wants to continue to delude themselves about the left-wing bias of the general media needs look no further than this "scandal." We've already forgotten about Mark Foley...remember him? The guy who was propositioning teenagers on the web, a pattern of behavior which was apparently being covered up by Republican leaders? No fresh outrage for THAT? But by God, John Kerry said something that, if you look at it a certain way, might be seen as implying that people in the military are less smart than the rest of us! Break out the torches!

Now, Kerry's remark was spectacularly ill-advised and horrifically worded. If I said something like that, I'd be terribly embarrassed and apologetic. Not only because of the people who I might have offended in the military, but because I was so weak in my comedic delivery to make that mistake. I mean, if you're gonna make fun of Bush's intelligence, go ahead and do so. There is ample evidence and actual incidents to quote ("Mission Accomplished," anyone?). I guess what I'm saying here is, Mr. Kerry, next time leave the comedy to the professionals, especially when we're barely a week from such an important mid-term.

But if our Republican bretheren are gonna get their cheeks so puffy and flustered over that little comment that they demand an apology (which was given), then I feel that we should start demanding an apology for the following comments which were made by Republican candidates, commentators and advertising over the past year, all of which I find infinitely more offensive than Kerry's remark, and none of which have garnered anywhere near the airplay that Kerry's has:


Conrad Burns, senator from Montana, discussing his theory of terrorists who live among us and “drive taxicabs in the day and kill at night.”

Katherine Harris, running for the senate in Florida, calling the separation of church and state “a lie.”

Donald Rumsfeld, comparing Democrats and Iraq war critics to the appeasers who enabled Hitler.

Vernon Robinson, Republican candidate for congressional seat for the 13th district in North Carolina, running a radio ad where it was said of his opponent, "If Miller had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals."

Radio host Michael Savage, on the escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah: “…the American left is cheering today. They'll probably break open the jug wine and cheer that Jews are dying, and that they're living and cowering in bomb shelters. One day, the 'Deutschland über alles' may be played in Jerusalem, and the American left can tear off their masks once and for all and show themselves to be what they really are -- which is the Nazis of our time."

The usual ridiculous-homophobia-as-political-viewpoint: Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum comparing gay sex to “man on dog relations,” Ohio gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell proclaiming that gay marriage “defies barnyard logic,” and the charming Minnesota senator Michele Bachmann proclaiming that gay marriage is “a ticking time bomb” because “little children would be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal.”

Jean Schmidt, U.S. Representative from Ohio, not only claiming that the concept of storing nuclear waste shipments from around the world in her own district was an idea that “we need to look at” because it could create “hundreds if not thousands of jobs,” but also implying in a speech before the House that Jack Murtha, a decorated Marine veteran, was a “coward” for advocating withdrawal from Iraq.

The usual lies, slander and utter cr*p that come out of political ads, the most outrageous of which, coming from a political action group supported by a Mr. J. Patrick Rooney, implies that abortion is a Democratic plot to kill minority babies. Quoting from the ad: "If you make a little mistake with one of your hos, you'll want to dispose of that problem tout de suite, no questions asked."


So, let's have a little balance in our outrage, shall we? Republicans are outraged because one Democrat made a comment which might be read as calling those serving military dumb? Okay, apology expected and given.

I, as a liberal thinker, believe in the "lie" of the separation of church and state, am apparently readily comparable to the appeasers who enabled Hitler, have been called "one of the Nazis of our time," believe in granting the right of marriage to people whose sexual choices have been compared to "man on dog relations," and with my vote enable a political organization which supposedly is involved in a plot to kill minority children.

Is expecting an apology in return for these TRUE outrages too much to ask?