No Apology Here!

It seems that Jesse Helms, the homophobe who refuses to die, has written his life story. I am beside myself with anticipation.
The œuvre was given brief notice in The Washinton Post (9 June 2005, thanks to the AP), in a piece titled "Helms Apologetic on AIDS in Memoir".
Woo hoo! I thought. Helms actually apologizing for something to do with his 16th-century attitude about homos. What next? Has anyone heard the weather report from Hell?
Here, it seems, is the part that suggested the "apologetic" part of the title.

Helms also was an outspoken opponent of laws to protect homosexuals from discrimination and of funding for AIDS research, but he writes in the book that his views evolved during his final years in the Senate. He cited friendships he developed with North Carolina evangelist Franklin Graham and rock singer Bono, both of whom got him involved in the fight against the AIDS epidemic in Africa.

"Until then," Helms writes, "it had been my feeling that AIDS was a disease largely spread by reckless and voluntary sexual and drug-abusing behavior, and that it would probably be confined to those in high risk populations. I was wrong."

Yeah, this is an apology just like Rumsfeld "took responsibility" for Abu Graib.
This is no apology; this is a recognition of fact. Sure, it might sound like he feels contrite about his backwards attitudes and the devastating effects his bigotry had in not stopping the spread of AIDS. But, all he is saying is that he was wrong in thinking that AIDS would kill only the homos; he now recognizes that it has indeed spread beyond that boundary.
He does not, however, apologize for anything. This doesn't even come close to the "apology" favored among the Bush administration: "I'm sorry you found out that I did something I shouldn't have done."
When Helms finally passes to his unearthly reward, it will be interesting to see how the reactionary crowd laud his "accomplishments" without themselves appearing to be white-supremacist homophobes. If they even bother. I certainly don't expect much apologizing to be going on.
———-
[Update made a few minutes later.] I clean forgot that I wanted to make mention of driftglass' take on this "apology" (and the Republican strategy of thinking they can make things go away by not looking at them) if for no other reason than to mention the title:

Incontinent Republican Douchebag mysteriously not dead yet.

Posted on June 10, 2005 at 16.20 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Raised Eyebrows Dept., Splenetics

One Response

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Saturday, 11 June 2005 at 20.07
    Permalink

    The man's life and career are testimonials to
    the multiplier effect ignorance and religious
    writ taken literally can have on one another.

    If he reveals himself capable of letting even
    a small ray of light penetrate the darkness of
    his intellect, maybe it's better to celebrate
    that than to waste a lot of time condemning him.

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