No Apologies

You know what I am tired of hearing? Public Apologies. Yep, I think we are living in the age of the public apology, and that most of them are un necessary and insincere. Have you noticed that? Every day there is a celebrity, athlete, businessman, politician or public figure who issues an apology for something he or she did or someone else thinks he did. It's the quick fix for getting someone or some group to stop complaining about the perceived deed that merits the "apology".
Need some examples? Ok. How about the Paris Hilton apology for driving drunk and with an expired driving license (for the third time). "I thought I was allowed to drive," said Paris. Paris was smart to hide the bigger offense (the drunk driving) in back of the less serious one (driving without a license) with her disingenuous apology. And remember the drunken anti Semitic rage of Mel Gibson a couple of years ago. Funny thing though, after Mel sobered up and "apologized" for the bigoted remarks about Jewish worshippers, he suddenly found he loved Jews and, like Paris, was simply not responsible because he was driven by forces beyond his control (Mel said alcohol made him do it).
Am I too cynical or did the agents who work for Paris and Mel remind them that their careers and a whole lot of money depended on issuing an "apology". I am not limited to picking on just those two, because we both know there are endless lists of others who have "apologized": their way out of their naughty behaviors.
P.G. Wodenhouse once said that, "It's a good rule in life to never apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them." He had it right if that applies to public apologies. They are more often not genuine, instead, rather an attempt to make people forget the deed that upset them.
Right he is! The obvious reason for those public apologies is to take the problem from view as quickly as possible, then let the public's process of forgetting, more than forgiving, take place. You know, after the apology the transgressor gives his or her the vow to seek "counseling", the rambling dialogue about how much religion and God means to them and the family members (they always look so loving, supportive and adoring) are then paraded for the cameras for effect. And then they wait for the next celebrity to get caught in next bad behavior moment, because that will end the public's interest in their own incident. It becomes old news and is forgotten. It's a nice escape from responsibility, all initiated by their phony apology.
So next time Paris or one of the other dysfunctional types gets in trouble. Maybe we should just ignore them. Now that would be real punishment for those reprobates and no apology would even be required..