Good evening everyone,I just came in from a beautiful candlelight dinner on the beach and decided to hop online for a bit while "J" is in the shower. I ran across this:
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/clinton-apologizes-to-black-voters/n20080312224109990017
Now, I am going to have to chime in with my father on this one by saying the following....
"It never really bothers me when white people or people of ANY other race gets ticked off for one reason or another and their true feelings for me and my people come flying out of their mouths. It DOES however, insult me greatly for them to offer up some strategic apology like I am not intelligent enough to recognize that they said exactly what they meant."
I have heard my father make this statement several times over the past 7 years or so, and each time I can clearly recall just closing my eyes and dropping and shaking my head while simultaneously thinking to myself "My Dad is REALLY over the top." Well, today, I have made a mental note to call my father and apologize to him as soon as my feet hit the ground on Saturday.
I reiterate that when I heard of Former President Clinton's remarks regarding Senator Obama's hands down victory in South Carolina, I was hurt because I, like so many other African Americans, had MUCH love for him during his 8 year presidency and wished that he could have stayed in office at least one more term.
Now, what he said may have hurt me and countless others, but it was the truth..it was what he had been feeling all along. So this sad attempt to regain status with me (and others) that was so callously thrown away is pointless. What has to be understood here? Well, a couple of things actually. Number one: Hurting a person's feelings is often worse than making them angry. Why? Simple, because if you have the ability to hurt my feelings, that likely means that I have some degree of trust/faith in you. To do something that would hurt them would then imply some violation of that trust and that is not easily repaired. Number two: If this apology was to be taken as genuine by the people it was meant for, why did it take so long for their to even be an apology? I'll tell you why. Because, had time been able to go by without them seeing how those comments were taking a toll on her ratings or for that to be the potential point at which she could start to see a drastic change in her support from the black community...THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO APOLOGY!
It has been my experience, for the most part, that when people make statements to others (especially those that we claim to care for) an apology is almost an immediate when you recognize that you have hurt someones' feelings. If it isn't immediate, it usually comes SOON after you recognize what you have done. Having said that, it is easy for me to formulate the conclusion that the apology was a strategic political move. And besides ALL of those things....WHY is SHE the one doing the apologizing for the comments her husband and ex-campaign manager made...she didn't say them, THEY did...so how do I get sincerity from apologies issued by someone who was not the one who made any of those hateful remarks. I mean really! When my children do something that is wrong and an apology is warranted, my daughter can't come to me and apologize on behalf of my son while he continues to sit off in another room doing what it is that he desires to do like nothing ever happened! NO! If he is the one who made the comment or committed the act, the apology would have to come from HIM! Another example, when he was President and came on television to apologize to the American people for the "Monica Lewinsky Incident" She wasn't sitting on the corner of that desk apologizing for him, HE came to the people and apologized.
In all honesty, I would have to say that just as much as she is running for President, so is he! He has been President twice, she never has...so once again he would be in the most powerful house in the country and very close to the dealings of the office of Commander in Chief....I believe that this is a way for him to vicariously be "in" the office of President again.
So, I say all of that, to say this:
If you make a statement back it up! Say what you mean and mean what you say! As the VERY old saying goes..."it is one thing for the world to assume you to be a fool...it is an entirely different case for you to open your mouth and prove them to be correct." Think about what you say and the ramifications surrounding it before you just hop out into the world and make ANY statement that you make in life...especially on the very visible front of a presidential campaign!
In complete truthfulness, I can certainly see these little "slips of the tongues" setting the downhill pace that could be a PRIMARY contributing reason causing Senator Clinton to lose the Democrat Party's Presidential Nomination.
What do you think?
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