Empty words

I love the apologies these public people make when they get caught saying or doing something stupid. It's all so many empty words, and, somehow, they often try to make it seem like the rest of us are at fault for being offended.

We've got Mel Gibson, of course, apologizing for his hate-filled, anti-semetic tirade, when he was being booked for DUI.

And now we've got Massachusetts' Republican governor, Mitt Romney, who is planning a run for the GOP presidential nomination, apologizing for usiing the phrase "tar baby" when describing a troublesome highway project in the Boston area that has become a political albatross up there.

"A Romney spokesman told AP that the governor was "unaware that some people find the term objectionable and he's sorry if anyone's offended."

It's good that they feel some sort of pressure to actually appear to be sensitive, but, while they can make all the apologies they want, while Gibson can ask to meet Jewish leaders for a dialogue, Romney with the African American community, and they say all the right words in public, the hate in their hearts ain't going away.