Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word -- Part II

Welcome back from break!

In the days since we left each other's company, several apologies have issued. Radio host Don Imus apologized to the Rutgers women's basketball team. The team accepted his apology. As a consequence for his comments, Don Imus has been fired from CBS Radio.

comment on YouTube about the apology:

LOL ...centuries??? blacks just got the right to vote in this country just 40 years ago!!! although yes we have been part of this damn ungrateful country since its founding ....PLEASE stop acting like it was ancient history ... that why the education system sucks

Mike Nifong apologized to the three Duke lacrosse players (but not in person). They have not accepted his apology. He's under investigation on charges that he suppressed exculpatory DNA evidence; that investigation may result in Mr. Nifong losing his license to practice law.

Here's a report from USA Today:

Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong issued a statement supporting the dismissal of remaining charges against the three student-athletes a day after Attorney General Roy Cooper pronounced them innocent.

"To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students who were wrongly accused," Nifong said.

One of the students, Colin Finnerty, told CBS' 60 Minutes: "It may be an apology, but it doesn't make me feel any better. … It was his actions more than anybody's that caused the harm."

In an interview with 60 Minutes to air Sunday night, Cooper went beyond his comments on Wednesday when he labeled Nifong a "rogue" prosecutor who had pursued the Duke case with a "tragic rush to accuse."

Finally, here's a letter of apology from Bill Clinton to the victims of Japanese internment camps during World War II. The US Government gave each living victim a check for $20,000. I'm not sure what happened if the victim's family was identified but the person had died already.

Oh, and moving from the federal to the state level, North Carolina's Senate did choose to apologize for slavery, and the house followed. What will the consequence be, if any? Will this apology matter? Should it have mentioned 1898 in the "whereas" section?

PART III -- Someone at the N&O also noticed the excessive amount of apologies this past week.