|
|
:: Tuesday, May 10, 2005 ::
You Must Add Speed To Make Apologies Really "Sincere"
Spindocs are having a problem with "apology."
The Spinspeak II dictionary definition for apology is a vacuumtalk figleaf that shows how compassionate you are and makes everything OK but involves no personal penalty or inconvenience.
Originally, such corrupted “apologies” usually were issued long after commission of the original outrage which they were to excuse. However, that no longer has much effect because of the blows of ever more devastating responses and reactions.
Accordingly, to reinvigorate the "sincerity" of a non-apology apology, it must be issued almost immediately post-outrage, possibly even in the next sentence. Only then can you get even the simpleminded to believe that, as you said, your opponent is a child molester but you are so compassionate that you are really, really sorry that you said it in public; or still better, you are really sorry that some witnsesses thought they heard you say it.
The most current example, of course, is provided by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. He told some high school students when asked about his thoughts on President Bush’s policies: “I think this guy is a loser.” Shortly afterward, Reid, believed to be the greatest statesman to come out of Spotlight, NV, called the White House and asked presidential adviser Karl Rove to tell the President, who apparently was unavailable, that he apologized. Meantime, the Republican National Committee called Reid’s statement “a sad development but not surprising from the leader of a party devoid of optimism, ideas or solutions..." It was hard to determine from photo finish news reports whether the rejoinder or the apology came first.
Accordingly, for truly effective spin, an apology by definition now will include a timeline demonstrating how close the apology followed the outrage. For example: “Yes, in my speech I called the Vice President an unhung liar and a thieving swine; but please note that, although someone on my staff had already released the text of my speech to the press and it was unfortunately on the TV newscasts, I ad libbed an apology as soon as those words came out of my mouth.”
:: James Baar 5/10/2005 01:49:00 PM [+] ::
...  
|
