Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren called the head Cherokee over in Oklahoma last week to apologize for releasing a DNA test that conclusively proved she has at least as much Native American ancestry as Kanye West. Long ago, Warren used that scintilla of Native American ancestry to jump the line for a Harvard University job.
This week, NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she was sorry for her record as a right of center Congresswoman with a 100% NRA rating and “callous” views toward immigrants; Presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard, a Congresswoman from Hawaii, apologized for saying mean things about the LBGTQ community; and Gillibrand and Gabbard were joined by Bernie Sanders who apologized to women in his campaign sexually harassed by male colleagues. Even Joe Biden did a little hand wringing over supporting Bill Clinton’s 1994 crack-cocaine crime bill. “It was a big mistake,” he said.
Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker haven’t apologized yet, and so far, Julian Castro and Pete Buttigieg haven’t climbed on the Train of Regret either. That’s five down – enough for a choir – and four to go. “Once, I was lost, but now I’m found…”
Apologies are starting points. They only mean something if you don’t do the bad thing again – lie, cheat, steal, yadda yadda – and make amends for the harm you’ve done. I accept these apologies but await their recognition of – and apology for – collaborating in the starvation deaths of 85,000 Yemeni children and the loss of limbs by 86,000 Syrian bombing victims. Warren has off-handedly objected to this holocaust, but she – and the Democratic Party – hardly see it as the Trail of Tears it is. Appearing in blackface 30 years ago was stupid and morally numb, but there are greater sins.
If I seem hard on Democrats, it’s out of hopefulness. Republican leaders are beyond hope. They make no apologies because they no longer know wrong from right. Their moral center is occupied by payday lenders, Arab and Russian oligarchs, a new arms race, and a bankruptcy expert who’ll handle the deficit “soon.”
It’s only a matter of time before they realize their falcon cannot hear them and things will fall apart.
We need all the hopefulness we can muster since it gets bleaker by the day with the current clown and his frightening fans.
If only I had led a perfect life with no mistakes, no stupid or hurtful words, no errors of judgment, no fools errands and no regrets. Oh to think of the places I would have gone and the wonderful person I would be today. If I had only been the man my mother wanted me to be, I would be able to sit here and smugly and laugh at all the fools chasing a political office. Sigh.