The Non Apology Apology

"A non-apology apology is a statement in the form of an apology that is nothing of the sort, a common gambit in politics and public relations. It most commonly entails the speaker saying that he or she is sorry not for a behavior, statement or misdeed, but rather is sorry only because a person who has been aggrieved is requesting the apology, expressing a grievance, or is threatening some form of retribution or retaliation.

An example of a non-apology apology would be to say "I'm sorry if you were offended by my remarks" to someone who has been offended by a statement. This apology does not admit that there was anything wrong with the remarks made, and, additionally, it subtly insinuates that the person taking offense was excessively thin-skinned or irrational in taking offense at the remarks in the first place."


Now look: here is what David Letterman said after getting his ass whomoed by Palin:

"I would like to apologize especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future".


Now of course, this is not the apology he first offered. His first was a snarky, sarcastic 'I'm sorry if your offended, I didn't mean it' kind of apology that got Gov Palin to ask Matt Lauer if he was nuts. The, she went for the jugular and as soon as sponsors died off, he came up with a sincere sounding 'apology', which Palin graciously accepted. Of course, I postulated this was the wrong thing to do, and I feel I was right. However, I can look at the situation and see that it appeared Letterman was sincere in his 2nd apology.

This doesn't excuse those idiots that are still protesting @ firedavidletterman.com.
Good Lord, it's 'over'.

The guy admitted he screwed up and will try to do better.

There are enough jerks out there that will only proffer the Non Apology Apology, when there seems to be a legit Mea Cupla, it behooves the rest of us to accept it.

So Mote It Be