The official Democratic campaign slogan for 2020.
Joe Biden is the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to say he’s sorry. But his apology for invading the space of several women by being too physically affectionate has generated lousy reviews from liberal apology critics.
Biden’s apology was this: “I’m sorry I didn’t understand more. I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything that I have ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman.”
The New York Times called it a “mixed” apology. CNN’s Chris Cillizza wrote that Biden’s remarks “just made things worse.” Nancy Pelosi, who recently suggested that Biden stick to shaking hands, said his apology is “not an apology.” And Lucy Flores, who is Biden’s most vocal accuser, and please note a former Bernie Sanders supporter, tweeted “It’s clear that @Joe Biden hasn’t reflected on how his inappropriate and unsolicited touching made women feel uncomfortable. To make light as something as serious as consent degrades the conversation women everywhere are courageously trying to have.”
Right, that was Biden’s other unforgivable crime. He made some jokes. As he took the stage to make his apology, Biden hugged Lonnie R. Stephenson, the president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and then quipped, “I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie.” The audience applauded and chuckled, but liberal apology critics were not amused. The only jokes they enjoy are those at Trump’s expense.
Later, upon noticing children in the audience and welcoming them to the stage, Biden put his arm around a young boy. “By the way, he gave me permission to touch him,” he said to more chuckles. But to liberal apology critics, the wisecrack served as further irrefutable proof that Biden was not taking seriously the extremely grave charges against him.
And so, it has come to this: Joe Biden, the one Democrat who can almost assuredly beat Donald Trump in a national election, is being destroyed for being a warm and genuine person. Biden now feels compelled to issue light-hearted disclaimers before touching anyone in public. We’re told that he is not in-synch with the sensibilities and sensitives of modern liberalism. And actually, he’s not. As an old, white, heterosexual, Christian man who touches women in public and has a sense of humor, Biden is everything that the new left doesn’t want in a presidential candidate. So, of course, he’s being vociferously defended by the gang at Fox And Friends.
Liberals are empowering the fringes of the #MeToo movement while beating themselves up in the process. A recent headline in The Nation proclaimed, “Some Democrats Haven’t Learned The Lesson of #Me Too.” The article was written by a friend of Lucy Flores, who we’re supposed to think of as some kind of hero now for coming forward after five years to tell us that she felt “embarrassed,” “shocked,” and “confused” after Biden planted “a big slow kiss” on the back of her head.
Flores says that she does not mean to suggest that she felt “sexually assaulted or sexually harassed” by Biden. She felt “invaded” and I take her at her word. Some women receive Biden as good ol’ Uncle Joe and some receive him as a dirty old coot sneaking in hugs and nose-rubs. Assuming the worst is true, should Biden now be regarded as a hopelessly out-of-touch male pig from a bygone era?
The Democrats are running against a toxic misogynist who has boasted about his unwelcomed pussy-grabbing and who habitually insults and debases women. A cursory recap:
Trump on Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that?”
On Stormy Daniels: “Horseface.”
On Jessica Chastain: “Not hot.”
On Arianna Huffington: “Unattractive inside and out.”
On Omarosa Manigault-Newman: “A dog.”
On Mike Brzezinski: “She was bleeding badly from a face-life.”
On Megyn Kelly: “Bimbo.”
On Hillary Clinton: “If she can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?”
On his then 16-year old daughter: “If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
Trump has apologized for not one of the comments above. Meanwhile, liberals treated Beto O’Rourke as if he were Jack The Ripper after he made a good-natured joke on the campaign trail that his wife, Amy, was back home raising their three kids “sometimes with my help.” Before you could say “spineless liberal,” Beto had delivered an utterly nauseating apology, shamefully admitting that his joke was “ham-handed.” By the way, as a vegetarian, I demand that Beto promise to refrain from making reference to luncheon meat in his future rhetoric. Has he ever even visited a factory farm?
Elizabeth Warren has apologized for claiming that she was a Native American. Kirsten Gillibrand has apologized for her previous positions on guns and immigration. Bernie Sanders has apologized for the mistreatment of women during his 2016 campaign. Tusi Gabbard has apologized for previously supporting gay conversion therapy. The only people who apologize more than Democratic presidential candidates are comedians.
So now, I want to take this opportunity to apologize myself, not just for anything I have written in this essay that has offended anyone, but for my general insensitivity, ignorance, flatulence, forgetfulness, rudeness, crudeness, not covering my mouth when coughing, shoplifting, deceitfulness, anger, lack of discipline, stupidity, lack of gratitude, prejudice, coming on to women too strong, not coming on to women strong enough, my previous eating of chicken, jumping the turnstile, making fun of avocado toast, and crossing the street against the light. I’m very sorry.
None of this bodes well for the defeat of Trump, a mutant president with a perverse life force, who is as unapologetic as he is sociopathic.