Sorry?. . .

(from http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/sep/12/romney-says-us-embassy-statement-was-apology-was-i/)

". . . What three apology experts say

To explore whether the statement represented an apology, we sent it to the four experts we interviewed for our previous fact-check on Romney's claim about Obama's apology tour. Here are the comments of the three who responded:

•John Murphy, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who studies presidential rhetoric and political language, said Romney was wrong to label it an apology.

"First, the statement does not use the word ‘apology’ or ‘apologize’ and does not use any synonym for that word. There is no statement here that says, ‘We are sorry.’

"Second, the grammar of the statement condemns the actions of a third party. An apology, to be pedantic, is when the first party says to the second party, ‘I have offended you and I am sorry.’ This statement condemns a third party -- misguided individuals -- that does not officially represent the United States. The term ‘individuals’ dissociates them from the U.S. Therefore, it's impossible to say that this is an apology from the U.S. to anyone.

"Third, the statement does not apologize for the right of free speech; it affirms it. It condemns those who abuse the right of free speech, but it claims that this is a universal right, as is religious toleration. So, the statement does not like what the misguided individuals said and did, but recognizes they have a right to do it."

"It's a condemnation," Murphy said, "not an apology."

• Lauren Bloom, an attorney and business consultant who wrote The Art of the Apology, said that Romney is "once again allowing his emotional allergy to apology to interfere with his judgment."

Bloom said that "if there's anything more central to American values than respecting each individual's right to worship as he or she pleases, I'd be hard-pressed to say what it might be. The statement that ‘respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy’ not only is true, but is as clear an expression of one of our most cherished values as I can imagine."

She said the embassy statement is "not an apology -- quite the contrary, it's a confirmation that the American people recognize the right to worship freely and will not accept religious bullying in the name of free speech. To say that someone who deliberately insults others in the name of religion has acted wrongly isn't an apology -- it's simply a recognition that those insults go too far."

• Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, a professor who studies international human rights and maintains the website Political Apologies and Reparations, a database of documents on apologies, said the statement is "not an apology."

Rather, she said, "it is a condemnation of ‘abuse’ of the universal value of free speech. A condemnation is not an apology. … The Embassy statement also reaffirms two American values: the American value of respect for religious beliefs and the American value of democracy.". . . "

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Yes. . .

. . . we can . . .

(By Martha C. White)
". . . With its “Legalize Love” campaign, Google became the latest in a growing number of companies to publicly take a position in support of gay rights.

Far from being simply feel-good initiatives, these moves are highly calculated, marketing experts say. Companies may be embracing the rainbow, but the motivating color is still green.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is a huge market with buying power of some $790 billion annually in the U.S. alone, according to Witeck Communications. And gays have influence among the straight consumers who are their friends and relatives.

For many marketers, that is too much to leave lying on the table, even if they risk some backlash from consumers opposed to expanding gay rights. Companies “have to satisfy shareholders at the end of the day,” said Bob Witeck, founder and president of Witeck Communications.

Target is selling these T-shirts to raise money for a group working to defeat a gay marriage ban in Minnesota.

Google’s campaign, announced last week, comes on the heels of Mother’s and Father's Day promotions by J.C. Penney featuring same-sex parents, a Gap ad featuring a male Broadway performer and his boyfriend, and Target selling t-shirts as a fundraiser for the Family Equality Council, a group lobbying against a same-sex marriage ban in the retailer’s home state of Minnesota.

Last November, four dozen companies ranging from Nike to Microsoft signed a statement essentially supporting gay marriage by objecting to the Defense of Marriage Act. In February, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein participated in a Human Rights Campaign web video in support of marriage equality. “There’s no doubt that American businesses will be central to the dismantling of DOMA,” Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese told Politico last month. . . ). . . "

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