“I think the president showed real humility”.
So said a political commentator recently on National Public Radio – refering to President Obama and his rhetoric about how “there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive” toward Europe.
Much has been made of how the president has been apologizing for the “sins” of the United States. And a few have defended this. It shows “humility”. Whereas the previous president *cough George Bush cough* never admitted mistakes and never apologized. I see. It is humble to apologize for the sins of others.
Is it?
First of all – it is a neat trick to accuse others of the “sins” for which one apologizes. And libel if they do not deserve the accusation. President Obama has been at pains to apologize for how disrespectful America has been toward Islam and the Muslim world. Slanderous rubbish. President Bush was excruciatingly if not excessively careful to communicate respect toward Islam. And Americans have shed too much blood for Muslim nations to let such calumny go unchallenged.
Second – and it is not humility if the purpose is to prop up one’s own righteousness. “I thank thee O Lord that I am not like the previous president”. Mona Charen nails this in her recent column:
And before giving Obama too much credit for humility, consider that the planted axiom of these declarations is that he is different. It was that ham-handed predecessor of his who blundered through the world, disrespecting allies, needlessly insulting enemies, and crashing through drawing rooms like the proverbial bull, or perhaps like a Texas steer.
Read the whole thing at Townhall.Com. You do not have to register.
The rhetorical strategy is transparent. Apologize for the alleged sins of others – in order to demonstrate how much better you are.
There is much one can say about this unfortunate pattern in how the president presents himself and this nation. (Charles Krauthammer on Fox News rather colorfully stated “it is hard to appreciate Europe’s ‘leading in the world’ when it has been sucking on America’s t*t for sixty years!”) But for the moment the only thing I want to emphasize this is that apologizing for the “sins” of others is not necessarily humility.
In fact it may be the exact opposite.
And one has to question the intelligence and wisdom of political commentators who fall for this.
