Prickly City by Scott Stantis for September 30, 2021

The republicans won’t even pay Trump’s bills, they want the USA to fail.

The problem is the monkey wrench of recidivism.

Did the Odious Orange Orifice give a scintilla of contrition?

Stantis, maybe you can, you know, IDENTIFY some of these sincere expressions of contrition.

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Maybe the one where “I take all responsibility for ALL of it and I’m sorry so many people died and continue to die.”

Maybe the one about how Nazis are fine people.

Maybe the ones asking forgiveness for recommendations of bleach, hydroxychloroquine, and ivermectin.

Maybe the apology for sabotaging the visa procedures.

Or even

I’m sorry that I tried to get my Disciples to kill the vice president and violently overthrow the government of the United States.

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Or maybe you had some other ones in mind, Stantis?

Yeah, the ambiguous reference to sincere apology is mystifying. I think Franken, Ansari, and even Louis CK should be allowed back inside. I’m not even sure what Ansari did. Insurrectionists mostly haven’t shown contrition. People who haven’t confessed don’t get absolution…

“I hope everyone in America is using protection, because it is very possible that we are all screwed. It would be what one economist called ‘financial Armageddon.’ That’s bad news and even worse timing, because America’s already scheduled a plague Armageddon, a climate Armageddon and a democracy Armageddon.” — Stephen Colbert

Contrition does not matter. Forgivness most be given freely, without conditions, otherwise it has little meaning. To the forgiver or the forgiven. Its hard, but thats the point.

It is stupid to never let people say “I was wrong.” It’s not just saying “I can’t ally with you if you disagree with me.” It’s saying “I can’t ally with you if you EVER disagreed with me.”

Democrats do this to Democratic politicians: “You were once against same-sex marriage. You voted for the Persian Gulf. You voted for the crime bill.” All with no nuance or historical context.

And 2016-2020 were an actual existential crisis. So, yes, even if someone I could never STAND like Bill Kristol agrees with me about Donald Trump, I’ll join with him, and go back to arguing with him after the crisis is over.

And a few – like Joe Walsh – seems to have genuinely solid.

When Trump is truly contrite, and admits to and apologizes for all that he has done, then maybe I can let it go and move on. But I am not holding my breath.

The problem is with “sincerity”. So often it isn’t, “I am sorry for what I did, I know now it was wrong and this is how I will fix it,” it is now, “I am sorry you got upset about what I said/did”, which is NOT an apology, it is telling others, “Suck it up, buttercup, that is the way I am”. When Liz Cheney says she was wrong about gay marriage for instance, I did not see any explanation for how she came to understand it was wrong other than she saw her sister, so a personal revelation, it will not extend to the greater world. It would have been so much better if Cheney had said she was wrong to hate before and has come to realize that love is universal, that we should love one another even if we do not fully understand one another. Liz could have helped close the gap, instead she made up with her sister.

Erich Segal’s Love Story (1970) assured us, “love means never having to say you’re sorry.” It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.

“To Err is Human to Forgive, Devine” I think.

Where is the sincere contrition from any Gop who’s been waging war on our health, our Constitution, our neighbors? The only time they “apologize” (and that’s the mealy-mouthed “so sorry YOU chose to take offense” drivel) is when they face actual consequences, and if they can wriggle out, they go to a safe distance and resume the original crimes.

I have come to recently appreciate how much power an apology has these days if you just admit you were wrong. People these days are so used to empty apologies lacking in sincerity that the three words “I was wrong” wield more power than they ever have.

It amazes how day after day this cartoon “Both Sides” the sh*t out of our current situation.

When the leader of a country fully supports Murder, saying it’s constitutional. And the Pope supports his choice.

How often did the “Right” condemn Obama for apologizing for things the USA/West did in the past ? Seriously I lost count long ago.

“sincere”

Ah, there’s the rub.

“contrition”

Bragging about what you’ve done hardly counts as “contrition”.

I’m very much in favor of rapprochement. But forgiveness without contrition benefits only one side, and is not rapprochement.

“I’m sorry you were offended.”“I’m sorry if I said something that hurt you.”“I deeply apologize for anything I said which may have been misconstrued.”“This isn’t who I am.”“That was a long time ago; why not let bygones be bygones?”“It was a different world.”

These aren’t contrition, but so often, this is as close as a lot of people get to actually apologizing. But they’re all either conditional, or they avoid actually expressing any remorse. It is not a sin to decline to forgive these.

I’m not forgiving ANYONE until BunkerBoy is in prison for life. THEN we can talk “forgiveness.”

I can forgive. Can the GOP quit lying?

I know this strip has a political bent, but when has any American politician EVER expressed true contrition and repentance, or asked to be forgiven for causing harm to his constituents?

Stantisfermakingsierraup.