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Rendell’s apology for Napolitano comment is a flop!
By Lauren | December 4, 2008
Pity poor Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, the latest casualty of the “shouldn’t have said it near an open mike” wars. At a meeting of the National Governors Conference in Philadelphia earlier this week, Rendell was unwittingly picked up by a table microphone when he opined that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano - President-Elect Obama’s pick to head up the Homeland Security Department - was well-qualified for such a demanding job because she has no family and, therefore, “no life.” Ouch.
The pundits have been all over Rendell, whose comments reflect the unfortunate but widespread assumption that professional women with families, unlike their male colleagues, may be unable or unwilling to devote hundreds of hours a week to their jobs. It was a dumb thing to say, but Rendell’s certainly not the only person who’s ever stumbled into that kind of thoughtless sexism. What bothered me more was what Rendell said when he “apologized” for the remark. AOL News quotes Rendell as follows: “What I meant is that Janet is a person who works 24/7, just like me.”
Oh, come now!
Governor Rendell, you meant exactly what you said in the first place, and pretending otherwise makes your apology a complete flop. Instead of trying to warp your words into something more politically correct, why not just admit that you made a thoughtless assumption about professional women and promise to do better in the future? An apology has to be sincere to be effective, which means that you have to be honest when apologizing. ‘Fess up, Governor. We’ll respect you more for it.
Topics: Apologies, Personal Ethics, ethics |
December 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Exactly right, Lauren.
Apologies should be upfont and forthright at all times, and the Governor should just admit that he had made a mistake.
December 14th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
[...] presents Rendell’s apology for Napolitano comment is a flop! posted at The Business Ethics Blog, saying, “How NOT to apologize for a gaffe–by [...]