Monday, February 26, 2007

The Urge to Apologize

From the NYT, Louis Farrakhan discusses Pres. Bush:
“If you don’t want to impeach him,” Mr. Farrakhan said, “censure him, say to the world something went wrong with our leadership and we repent after our wrongdoing.” [emphasis added]
US liberals and the left, ranging from Bill Clinton to John Kerry to the Dixie Chicks, have the urge to go abroad and apologize. By contrast, how often to Republicans do anything similar? No matter how despicable, for example, Bill Clinton may have seemed to conservatives, I don't remember any conservatives going abroad to denounce him? They didn't go to China to apologize for Clinton's bombing of the Chinese embassy. They didn't go to Russia to apologize for Clinton picking the side of Russia's enemies in the Balkans. They didn't go to Africa to apologize for the bombing of the aspirin factory.

Democrats seem to take (alleged) government irresponsibility personally as if it was something for which their foreign friends would blame them individually. By contrast, Republicans have no such expectation and seem, instead, to be surprised if the government does something right.

RELATED: The issue of appearances was brought up by Democrat fundraiser David Geffen:

Not since the Vietnam War has there been this level of disappointment in the behavior of America throughout the world
Here again, his issue is not that America was doing right or wrong, the issue that concerns Republicans, but rather that "the world" was "disappointed," as if foreign relations was a popularity contest.

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