Apology
Yesterday, in a post entitled “The Great Depression is Here,” I let my anger and my temper get the better of me, and I said the following:
Let’s be clear, without this massive bailout, the economic system of the United States would collapse into a depression worse than the Great Depression. The system would “meltdown.” The Dollar would be worth nothing. Senator Christopher Dodd said that is what lawmakers were told last night.
My God.
You fucking Republicans are all to blame. Your advocacy of deregulation for the last 30 years is responsible. The greed that underlies your policies and that invades your supporters was your motivation. You put yourselves and your wallets first, and our country last. You should all be round up and shot. Seriously.
This massive bailout will require massive tax increases on everyone. And I am talking about returning to 70% tax rates on the rich, like before Reagan. The thirty years of fun are over.
I stand by every word in this post except one sentence, and you can guess which one. I was wrong to say Republicans should be round up and shot. It is the same kind of extremist, and as Delaware Libertarian correctly says, “exterminationist” rhetoric I abhor from the radical right. So I do apologize for saying that.
I was wrong.
I’m glad you apologized. I think Republicans need to be put out in the political wilderness for a while until they are serious about solving America’s problems, but we’re all Americans.
Oh, I believe that too. Hell, I would love to hear an apology from them too, and admission that they were wrong, for once.
Mike Matthews says one of the main reasons he is voting for Obama and Democrats this fall is because Republicans of all stripes need to be punished for the failed presidency of George W. Bush.
Not all Republicans are created equal.
Nice apology. It couldn’t have been easy to write.
It is easy when you know you are wrong. Apologies are only hard when you still think you were right. I wasn’t.
Passion sends people strange places.
Reason provides a map to get them home.
I’m glad to see you used the map; we can argue about everything else.
Thanks for that.
[FYI–jason always accuses me of wanting equivalencies. Here’s my take on assigning blame in the current situation: 66.6% GOP for outright greed masquerading as conservatism; 16.whatever % to Dems who didn’t fight it violently (and most didn’t); and the remainder to structural/historical realities of American economics that even made it possible.]
Steve,
I agree that Democrats did not stand strongly enough against the Republicans, so they do share some blame. I think some of them probably agreed with the Republicans although the Republican philosophy was for deregulation and the same is not true for Democrats.
Steve….I do agree that Democrats did not fight it strong enough or at all. Indeed, President Clinton deserves most of the blame for that. The Commodity Modernization Act passed in the Republican Senate in 2000 by a vote of 52 to 43, with all but 1 or 2 Democrats voting against it. But Clinton signed it. That bill created most of the current crisis.
But overall, I assign 80% blame to Republicans and their ideology and policies, 10% to Democrats for not fighting it strongly enough, and 10% to Clinton for signing it.
Good on you for the apology. Saying things like that forces you to yield the moral high ground, no matter how valid or not the message you may be espousing is.
Its hard to apologize! Good job. I am one of those stubborn people who take awhile to apologize.
Well done, DD, well done.
Just words, just words!!!
You’ll get yours in November.
LOL. Well, Redproud, you are proof that some Republicans have no class, no grace, and no conscience. I offer my sincere apology, and you respond by saying “you’ll get yours…” What is that supposed to mean anyway?
He plans to round us up and shoot us.
Glad to see this DD.
Red – The man apologized. You should give him credit for doing so.
““you’ll get yours…” What is that supposed to mean anyway?”
First Tuesday? Election? Anything ringing a bell?
Far greater punishment than I could ever imagine….the rejection of your ideas by a majority of the country. I’m really serious when I say that this one could push liberals over the edge. But since they have no balls, no one should be worried.
Just sit back and enjoy the show. I’ll bring the lawn chairs, Mike W. You bring the popcorn.
He may have “apologized” but he didn’t mean it. Don’t be fooled.
God, you are delusional. You actually think you are going to win this election, and not only the Presidency, but also Congress.
When you lose in November, you must promise me something.
You will come here, and you will admit that you were wrong and that we were right. You will apologize for subjecting us to your stupidity and ignorance. And then you will leave.
Thanks.
Nope. I’ll stick around to make your reign unpleasant. Your life will suck either way.
So you are saying you can never admit when you are wrong. Typical for a Republican.
Dodd & Obama on the take behind the banking crisis…..
Who can’t admit they’re wrong? Typical for a liberal.
Dear Delawaredem,
I have been posting less because of having to interview bodyguards. Not but ten days ago, you hated all of us; and with some introspection realized uh oh…you cast your net too wide. I do appreciate being personally taken off your hate list, but it sure leaves many others wondering. Now you start again with venomous ideation of sequestering and shooting. And again you apologize. Delawaredem…are you a mean drunk? I can tolerate a drunk, but please be a happy one. After drinking your Kool-Aid you really should be in a better mood….aren’t all those Demcrats happier post Obama sonnets? Others are readily accepting your second apology….I will too….but I will not get into this battered wife mode of “but he really was sorry”.
You offer some incredible insight, perspective, and retrospect to many of your posts. To get off track with your diatrobes speaks to your credibility, and handily undermines such. Additionally, you possess a talent, no a gift; to be able to articulate clearly the positioning of your viewpoint–what a waste to degenerate your reasoning to a heinous criminal slash, instead of the surgical precision and disciplined incision you are capable. It would only stand to elevate the audience that chooses you.
Now I may be out of line saying all of this….and I’ll be the first to say I don’t know all those blog courtesies about visiting and such…but I do know this…you and all of DL run a phenomenol, informational, inclusive, provocative site–with the added dose of spot-on humor that leaves me chuckling for days. I can’t visit a site that replaces all that with a halting, hateful epitaph–it’s like a mean drunk…it’s like bad times….
In closing….just want to say rsmitty is a wonderful “interventionist”….he really is a friend I bet….and if DL doesn’t outcast me or whatever you do, I look enthusiastically forward to all this “interesting take” DL has on the world around us. Oh and for the record…I was never a Reagan fan….from the time the hostages were held until Carter left office….but that’s another story…..OK…Group Hug…Geek…calendar something!!!!
Joanne,
I am not a mean drunk. I rarely drink, and when I do, it is not to get drunk. It is just to socialize among friends. Indeed, I am very careful about drinking, since I do have a history of alcoholism in my family. So, I do not appreciate your analogy. I also don’t appreciate the battered wife analogy. I think you cheapen both issues by comparing them to my idiotic statement and my apology.
That said, I do appreciate your compliments on my writing when I am not making idiotic death threats.
Look, I am sure we all can agree that when you care passionately about something, in this case, our country and politics, it is very easy to lose your temper at those you feel are responsible for wrongdoing. And I am sure you have said something at some point in your life that you regret and have apologized for. You cannot possibly be human if you haven’t. We all do it.
The true measure of a person though is if you realize you have done something wrong, and admit it and make amends.
Thanks for your post
“So, I do not appreciate your analogy. I also don’t appreciate the battered wife analogy. I think you cheapen both issues by comparing them to my idiotic statement and my apology.”
And now in your “moment of clarity”, you stumble over your ego and still….don’t….get….it.
Yes, life goes on for the angry drunk or the wifebeater, as well as for those around him. But there’s always a wary eye after the incident.
Here’s looking at you…..kid.
Redproud and Joanne,
There is a difference between saying something and doing something. Let’s not pretend equivalence. I think we’ve all made remarks we’ve regretted in anger. I think DD’s apology is sufficient and we should all move on.
Move on I shall, but no one can tell me not to view him differently henceforth. He was already low on the totem pole….now he’s even lower.
Get over it and stop being so Proud.
The Bible only says forgive…..it don’t say forget.
Thanks for letting me post. We move forward….all together now!!!!!
Red
I seriously doubt you view him any differently.
If you blog and give a shit, regardless of your ideology you go over the top once in awhile.
I was actually surprised that he apologized and called himself out. It’s usually much easier when you do that just to let the piece sink to the bottom of the front page and then out of view….
I have markedly different ideas than DD and have called him my share of names (and verse vica–or something); this happens to be the pool everybody decided to swim in.
Besides, since I do not believe DD would actually load a weapon to shoot GOPers, I think this one taught him an important point: that not everybody driven by anger to use exterminationist language once in awhile either condones the thought in reality or is consciously in league with those who do.
Simply put: time to let this one DDie.
Sorry I picked up on this late. DD, thanks for making that step dude. I still don’t like what was said or the pattern in history you have shown in this topic, BUT…humility (being sincere) noted and apology accepted.
I am an admitted jackass of a stickler when it comes to those kind of statements and stereotypes. When DV used to buy me coffee (when we used to work at the same place), I once or twice mentioned how your all-inclusive rantings were getting unhinged. DV…yes, DV talked me down. My crutch is gone, as is the coffee (maybe this is all caffeine withdrawal), so the responses cometh.
Seriously, DD, my retorts are indeed all around those horrible comments, but you came back and recognized it and took the time to retract and stated why. That’s cool, DD.
Can you take the red-laser dot off of my buttocks now?
DelawareDem, I accept your apology, but I do agree with Joanne and most of what she said to you. You need to realize that when someone with a temper spouts off more than once or twice with their opinions, it does do something to the person that otherwise might highly regard your insight and ability to write the way you do. I had a husband who had a temper, “had” being the descriptive work. There are many kinds of abuse. What my daughter and I went through was mostly mental abuse which sometimes can be worse as the scars are on the inside which sometimes never heals. Words when spoken in anger are hard to take back, apologies are accepted and hopefully the same words don’t continue to be said. When the temper takes hold again and again the words become what are remembered instead of the apologies. I just hope that you would not write when you are that angry, calm down and think before you start to type. I have learned to stop and think before doing many things. As you said, we are all human and will continue to make mistakes. It is when we don’t learn by our mistakes and make the same ones again and again, that make the apology harder to accept. Tempers when not controlled do cause harm and end relationships. I continue to read your blogs as I have learned a lot and it has caused me to think and research to learn more. But when I read the hate no matter who writes it, and the cuss words that are not needed to express opinions, it lowers my respect for a person. I think you are too good of a person with too much knowledge to share to allow yourself to say things you regret. As you say, we are all human and will make mistakes, but I hope we all can learn by them and not make the same ones repeatedly. And the Bible does say you need to forgive your brother until 70 times seven. Matthew 18:22. I hope you also read my response to your Sept 19th blog. Again thanks for the apology.
I see this as a writing problem. DD, you need a new set of intensifiers to reach for when the spirit moves you. The old ones aren’t working for you.
“And the Bible does say you need to forgive your brother until 70 times seven. ”
That’s a finite amount. But after that, we aren’t instructed to forget.
Please stop comparing words on a BLOG to spousal abuse. Besides being completely ridiculous it cheapens what women trapped in that situation are dealing with on a daily basis.
DD apologized. Accept it or not, but let’s stop the lectures. Abuse is a serious issue and should be treated as such.
Dahmer and BTK started somewhere……just sayin’
Yeah, they started on a blog… Good one Red. I think both of those guys were republicans… 🙂
Dahmer a Republican? No. He liked frozen dinners, remember? That’s got liberal Democrat written all over it.
There is no Great Depression on the horizon and while some liberals will bemoan the actions taken by the Fed and the Bush administration these actions are necessary.
However, they will mean little without a bit of reform to prevent further abuses.
Mike – what if this doesn’t work? Mike Castle told me that they don’t know that this will work. If it doesn’t, are you so sure that we aren’t talking about a depression?
Well said, Pandora.
The New York Times has an article about just that, LG.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21econ.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all
“Dodd & Obama on the take behind the banking crisis…..
Who can’t admit they’re wrong? Typical for a liberal.”
Red – That’s one thing you can’t stick on just one party. Politicians almost universally refuse to admit that they’re wrong.
I’m so glad someone can say abusive things on a blog, apologize and everybody on it gets the love and giggles, thinking it won’t happen again.
Saying people should be rounded up and shot because you disagree with their political ideologies is not ok and apologizing for it doesn’t really do anything.
I’m sick to death of the way the rhetoric here has been ratcheted up to a point where Republican=bad because you guys are so desperate to win this election.
I used to enjoy reading this site. And I enjoyed commenting on this site. But now I look at it and wonder wtf is wrong with these people?
Come Nov. 5, we’ll all wake up and have a new president. If it’s Obama, I won’t like it, but I won’t be talking about shooting Democrats for their idiotic policies. And I wish I could believe that you guys won’t wake up screaming about the revolution if John McCain wins. Unfortunately, watching the last couple of weeks here, I’m just not sure about that.
BTW, I can honestly say I never talked about killing, maiming, or shooting anyone on blogs just because I disagreed with them on issues. And, as a matter of common sense, I’ve never called for rounding up all Democrats and executing them. But Lord knows I’ve seen that sentiment thrown at conservatives. No wonder there’s such a divide in this country these days.
Goodbye and good luck. Hope you get some help.
I love it when rethugs act all superior.
Only when we ARE superior.
“Saying people should be rounded up and shot because you disagree with their political ideologies is not ok.”
Hell, my blog is a GUN blog and I don’t go around advocating that all liberals should be shot.
Nemski – Sometimes there is a right and a wrong, and in those cases one side is superior. For example, when you make an argument I know to be 100% factually incorrect and I have the data to prove it then yes, in that context I am superior.
Thanks, Sharon, for pointing out the disturbing anger being shown by the left.
It’s very sad to hear them delight in the massive destruction of a hurricane because it presents a logistic challenge for the opposition’s convention.
It’s alarming to see such hateful and discriminatory ageism and a fatalistic aspiration that McCain would die in office (as if he “had that coming to him”). Seriously, why not just wear a shirt that says “old people suck!” That’s what you mean.
BTW, if anybody’s got it coming to him, and God is doling out the b-slaps, I can assure you he has the babykillers and their ilk at the top of the list. Don’t bother running and hiding.
But I have to admit, Del Libbers, I do have some not so nice thoughts about you as well: I really do suggest you consider suicide if McCain wins.
Because Lord knows you’ll need to be put out of your misery, and I know that we could do without another four years of your whine.
I say that without anger, but with sympathy for all parties. I think when you look at it rationally, you’ll agree it’s for the best. There’s just no way you can go on living with John and Sarah at the helm. Stop kidding yourselves.
Although…..I suppose you could always emigrate to Canada.
Boy….tough choice…..kill yourself or become Canadian. I don’t envy you that debate!
REDPROUD: are you for real man? WE are not going anywhere. If your family immigrated to the territory known as the United States, you should consider “going home”.
The planet will crumble under McCain and Palin representatives of death and destruction.
“The planet will crumble under McCain and Palin representatives of death and destruction.”
Waaah, waaah, waaah.
Methinks the dipshit doth protest too much!