The trouble with public apologies is that they never ring true. I never believe the people who are apologizing. (I was taught never to use absolutes..."Never"..."Always"...but sometimes "if the glove fits"...pun intended)
Apologies for domestic abuse or insider trading or lying under oath or any number of other asocial transgressions seem to be the order of the day.
Apologists always (another unavoidable absolute) seem to be self-serving, more concerned with their public image as it pertains to their income stream, than with the concept of making amends and atoning for their myriad sins.
The popular impression of this act of public "contrition" is mired in the notion that the one apologizing is not so much doing so because he/she is sorry but rather sorry that he/she was caught with his/her pants down, sometimes literally.
From Charles Colson to Martha Stewart to Anthony Weiner and now Lance Armstrong, we are treated to the spectacle of the once great being paraded before the microphones and cameras to dutifully show remorse and to beg forgiveness of their once adoring public.
To that I say, "Bull!"
If you had a shred of decency and a morsel of ethical awareness you, A) wouldn't have done what you did in the first place and, B) wouldn't find it necessary to bore us with your crocodile tears and false mea culpas.
And furthermore you would donate all of your ill gotten gains to charity and, for that matter, one that dealt with your very problem. A fund for abused women or an anger management program would be a fine place for you to put your millions.
Go back to Square One. Go back to the moment in time when you were just beginning your career. Start at the moment when your bank account didn't reside in the Cayman Islands.
Give all of your awards and proclamations and trophies away. Melt them all down and give the metal to a sculptor to create a statue extolling the virtues of honor, compassion and modesty.
Give your Rolex to a worthy cause as an item to be sold at a fund raising auction. Donate your Ferrari to pay for a year of treatment for a young victim of cancer. Give your yacht to an inner city children's organization to be used as a floating summer camp.
Go ahead, (punk...) say "I'm sorry" and put your money where your big fat mouth is!
Return to your roots and the honorable motivations that propelled you to the level of achievement that you so recklessly squandered at the altar of your own hubris and greed.
If you can't show us that you mean what you say in actions, than your words are just hollow teleprompterizations.
Then again, a life of ignominy won't be so uninteresting. You'll be in some pretty notable company even if it'll be hot...as Hell!
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