More and more we find that outrageous statements, which have made it into the public eye, once challenged, are followed by lame excuses such as "I misspoke" "was quoted out of context" "did not mean to say ..." "had no intention to have this meaning ..." "was misinterpreted" "totally misunderstood ..."
Take the following, which was published on Friday, July 9, 2010 by Al Jazeera English (emphasis mine):
'Brawler' General to Lead Centcom
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said. "You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."
On Thursday, Gates dismissed concerns about the comments, saying appropriate action had been taken at the time - Mattis was reprimanded and told to choose his words more carefully - and the four-star general had learnt his lesson.
Robert Gates, the defence secretary, praised Mattis as "one of the military's most innovative and iconoclastic thinkers" as he announced his recommendation for the post on Thursday."
So, he was told to "choose his words more carefully" rather than to change his "thinking" which I am sure he will not do. Looking at that with Common Sense what does an apology or a 'misspeak' statement really say? 'Oops, I let the cat out of the bag, I should have been more careful. And here is the clean version (which of course is a lie).' In most cases there is no follow-up on the original statement and an analysis of what that statement says about the person who said it. Do you really think that the General will change his attifude, which he developed over his illustrious career?
Look for more examples as you troll through the media. What I find is truly disgusting - especially if it comes from those we have elected or from those they appointed to high offices. People we are supposed to trust and believe in. How? Why?
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