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The Apology People
No sensible person ever made an apology. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is a web site that many people in the Bush administration should refer to. It is called Writing Express and it comprises samples of letters that one can use in day-to-day intercourse. The ones I think are most helpful fall under the heading "apology letters." In introducing the "apology" concept the site says: "Wish you hadn't said or done something? A carefully worded apology letter can help smooth things over". That sounds like exactly what Paul Wolfowitz could use.
When Mr. Wolfowitz got to the World Bank, he was involved with someone that is described in the various news accounts as either his "girl friend", a "female friend" a "bank employee with whom he has been romantically linked" or a "companion". One of the first things he did was arrange for this woman of many titles to be transferred from the World Bank to the State Department at an increase in salary of more than $61,000 and an agreement that upon her return to the bank from the State Department she would receive a rating of "outstanding' in her performance reviews, presumably irrespective of the actual quality of her work.
When this was discovered and criticized, Mr. Wolfowitz apologized without the benefit of the software available from Write Express. He said: "I wish I had trusted my original instincts and kept myself out of the negotiations. I made a mistake, for which I am sorry." Then he said he needed some "understanding" of the "painful personal dilemma" he faced when he left the Pentagon to become the World Bank's president. One of the rules of the personal apology according to the website is "Accept responsibility for what you did." When asking us for our understanding he is violating the rule of accepting responsibility. None of us wants to feel his pain, especially not people at the World Bank who earn a lot less than the Woman of Many Titles.
Another person who could benefit from the site is D. Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's former top aide. When he testified to Congress in March about the firing of the 8 U.S. attorneys he testified that "none of the U.S. attorneys was asked to resign in favor of a particular individual who had already been identified to take the vacant spot." An e-mail that surfaced in early April was sent by Mr. Sampson to White House Counsel, Harriet Miers more than a year before he testified. In it he named each of the U.S. attorney whose firing was under consideration and beneath each of the names was written the name of a proposed successor.
From the Justice Department response to that disclosure it is obvious that the department does not have a copy of the "apology" software. Its spokesman said: "We have consistently stated that, with the exception of Griffin, individuals were not pre-selected for any of the eight U.S. attorney positions prior to asking the U.S. attorneys to resign. . . . The list, drafted 10 months before the December resignations, reflects Kyle Sampson's initial thoughts, not pre-selected candidates by the administration."
Mr. Sampson's lawyer does no better than the Justice Department. He said: "Kyle's testimony regarding the consideration of replacement was entirely accurate. In December 2006 when the seven U.S. attorneys were asked to step down, no specific candidate had been selected to replace any of them, and Kyle had none in mind."
The apology rule that would apply to this situation would be sending the Senate committee before whom he testified a letter of apology. Since this falls under the heading of a "personal apology letter" the website says the letter should be handwritten rather than typed and it should be on personal stationery. The apology should appear in the first one or two sentences. He should freely acknowledge that the mistake was all his fault and not try to blame any of the committee members for the errors in his testimony. He should tell the committee that he values its friendship and does not want to lose it. That will be appropriate since by establishing that he and the committee members are friends, its members may be less inclined to charge him with perjury. The final suggestion on the website is that he hand-sign the apology letter with a black pen.
(Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's omission from this discussion is deliberate. He is such a consummate liar that no software has yet been developed that would restore his credibility).
Given the kinds of problems that George Bush and his administration continue to encounter it would probably make sense to buy the software and multiple copies. There are two available discs. One contains 3001 personal and business letters for $34.99 and the other contains 4001 for $39.99. Since Mr. Bush has less than 2 years left to serve, the $34.99 version should suffice.
Christopher Brauchli brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu For political commentary see my web page http://humanraceandothersports.com
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9 Comments so far
Show AllIpenek, agreed... but let us remember something, as one pundit put it when Bush "won" the 2000 election, "There will now no longer be any countervailing force to prevent the interests of big business from influencing all public policy." GREED has been a dark facet of the human experience probably since homo sapiens stood upright; but wise governing systems curb the greed by instituting laws that ideally defend the greater good. Today's EPA is a straw organization, as most persons instituted into cabinet positions by Bush represent the industries these positions are supposed to counterbalance. It's all being gutted from the inside. Few remember Steven Pizzo's book, INSIDE JOB: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans. Or Mother Jones doing a cover story, "Bush Family Values." I think these types of events were litmus tests to see what the unapologetic thieves could get away with. Apart from maybe the phase of carpetbaggers after the Civil War, or phases prior... I can't recall a time as dark as this, as in homage to mammon disguised as the baby Jesus, where the LOVE of money corrupted so much. The value of money... when worth is lost...
Siouxrose:
Good points. I think it's a natural filtration process. Honorable people simply don't want to mix with a cabal like this. Those with slightly higher morals, like (with great hesitation,) Colin Powell fall by the wayside sooner or later. What we're left with is a band of sociopathic liars who are probably mentally incapable of seeing their actions in any other light than self and in-group interest.
Gotta love Brauchli's wit... his way of understating things in subtle satire is a marvelous literary gift. I'm sort'a hopin these abusers of law, power, justice and our Constitution will get free passes to Quantanamo. Maybe they can institute apology letter software there...
Gotta agree with Siouxrose: if they get away with it despite all ettempts to render justice then CB ( hope he doesn't mind ) gave us a refreshing laugh on top of honesty.
I hope there is a nice selection of letters of resignation in the package.
Yes, it is nice to read something humorous about so many things which have accurred during Bush's that are not in the least funny. An apology is one thing I have never heard ANYBODY in this administration offer. Instead we get blame shifted to others or a faulty memory defense.
I have never in my life encountered people of such purportedly high intellect have such bad memories. With Reagan, it was a little easier to understand because Reagan's grip on day to day affairs and reality was tenuous. For me torture is never something which can be justified but I have to admit that I would enjoy seeing some wakeboarding of these people who are very real threats to our nation and way of life. I think then we might get some answers out of them even before any torture would be needed. I say that because to me, all of these "leader" are cowards.
I do however to consolation in the fact that slowly but surely, these evil people are falling by the wayside one at a time. Heck of a job, all you collective Brownies!
I have only known a couple, maybe only one, pathological liar in my life, but I still know the arc of their obsession and the reaction it garners. At first they are fabulously successful because the general public, and the honorable people they must deal with on a daily basis, assume symmetry in human discourse; duplicity is not suspected until it is demonstrated. This gives the liar the ability to create an aura of perfection and infallibility, or any other impression they desire, and that is the nexus of their addiction. The disillusionment of those around them is slow but inevitable, and once it gets going, it culminates in a fury that can shock even the person who has it.
Why is the axe falling on this administration now? Two presidential terms is a long stint. Perhaps the people in question have never had to deal with such a long interval of casting smoke and illusion. The pathological liar often doesn't remain in one place for long and does not form intimate bonds with those on whom he prays. It could be that this gang is victim of its own success; Bush et al has stumbled into a gig that has lasted just a bit too long.
Seems that liars do a whole lot better when they invent religious ideology (or distort it) to justify their Machiavellian ends. Quite amazing when you think how deftly the Liars-in-chief drew into their orb so many like themselves. Maybe there's some kind of homing in smell device, that lets them KNOW each one is as crooked as the next, and since they recognize this aspect of one another, they use each other until like dominos, one after another all (eventually) fall down. Think: Kenny Boy Lay, Abramoff, Delay, Ney, Cunningham and now our much-esteemed Gonzales and Wolfowitz, and recently Rumsfeld... and ON and ON.
Shakespeare called it, "Fair is foul and foul is fair," and he watched THIS game several centuries ago. Who hit the replay button?
How fitting that "Poppy Bush's" most hated veggie is broccoli. Now Poppy bed a good boy and take your medicine!