Just apologize to the woman.
When you do or say something stupid, there is only one good way out, and that’s to say you’re sorry.
I know this because I write and say a lot of stupid things. Over 20 years I’ve written many things in this column I’ve regretted, things that were ill-conceived or wrong or tasteless. I have done the same in my personal life.
The only thing that ever worked to make it better was to say I was sorry, and to say so sincerely.
Some right-wingers said some baseless and purely mean things about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently. The hissing, hating guilty included former Bush II United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, recently fired Florida Congressman Allen West, radio trained parrot Sean Hannity and nationally syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer.
Many of the accusations were aired on Fox News. No surprise there.
What these folks insisted a few weeks ago was that Clinton was feigning illness in order to not appear before Congress to testify about the Benghazi embassy disaster. Her accusers said Clinton had the “Benghazi flu” or “Benghazi allergy.” They said her stories about having a bad case of the flu and then falling and hitting her head as a result were a smokescreen to keep her out of the negative spotlight and thereby keep her chances for the presidency alive for 2016.
They said all this despite the fact that Clinton has not exactly been one to prance away from controversy during her many years in public life, and despite the fact that she often goes into debates with a “bring-it-on” grin. They said all this despite the fact that the woman is 65 years old and has been flying around the planet for the last four years trying to do good things for her country in particular and the world in general.
People might not like Hillary Clinton — I’m not a huge fan — but only hateful hacks would say she runs from a fight or hasn’t worked herself to the brink of exhaustion in representing this country, and therefore might be susceptible to illness.
Last week we found out from her doctors that not only had Clinton suffered from the flu and the subsequent concussion but that she had developed a blood clot near her brain as a result. All the speculation about her lying and hiding was proven to be so much bull hockey.
This development last week gave those who made the accusations a wide-open window to apologize. So far, I’ve not heard nor seen a single one, and I’ve been looking and listening.
I wouldn’t expect Hannity, West or Bolton to apologize, as they live to lash out at those on the opposite side. Bolton, in fact, was given the opportunity on a recent broadcast to take back what he said but instead doubled down.
Krauthammer, who seems a better and deeper man than all the aforementioned, also was given a chance on television to say he was sorry for what he said about Clinton. Sadly, even he didn’t.
We need to be better than this. We need to be better than accusing people of wrongdoing and then declining to apologize when proven incorrect. We need to be better than mocking people’s ill health, as some on the left also did recently to President George Herbert Walker Bush via the internet.
Let me help get America back on the right track. I’m sure I will write or say something stupid or tasteless in the near future. I certainly have set that pattern.
For that let me apologize in advance … sincerely.
Bret Kofford teaches writing at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus. His opinions don’t necessarily reflect those of SDSU or its employees. Kofford can be reached at Kofford@roadrunner.com
To comment on this story click here to be directed to Facebook.
