THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS

I have a new phrase I'm adding to my lexicon: "kinsella apology": sort of like a "Socratic Method" or a "Midas Touch".

This is when someone is apparently apologizing to you, but within said (apparent) contrition there are two elements:

a) no real admission of wrongdoing;
b) a vigorous defense of what you are "apologizing" for.

For the original "kinsella apology", I'll let Adam Daifallah's post on the matter explain. Here's my example. Like many readers of the National Post, I was disgusted that Vision TV let violent crackpot Israr Ahmad on their network. So I wrote to them and told them their network would no longer be welcome on my TV set.

So I have copied their "kinsella apology" and highlighted the most fun parts - especially when the second line is that I've been misinformed by the National Post, something I didn't even reference in my original e-mail.

-----------------------------------------------------

Subject: Dil Dil Pakistan (Israr Ahmad)
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:46:41 -0400
From: "VisionTV Audience"

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the issues raised in the
recent issues of the National Post. The Post articles were misleading in
suggesting that offensive comments were broadcast on VisionTV. At no time
were derogatory remarks about people of the Jewish community, or any
other group, broadcast on our network.

As Canada's multi-faith network, VisionTV celebrates the freedom of
religious expression and spiritual diversity that is uniquely Canadian. It
is part of our mandate to make airtime available to a broad range of
faith communities and ministries. However, we also understand that
fundamental freedoms must be balanced against each individual's right not to
be subjected to fraudulent claims and misrepresentations with respect
to matters of faith. We therefore review each program on VisionTV prior
to broadcast to ensure that the content complies with our Code of
Ethics, Standards and Practices. It is not always easy to achieve an
appropriate balance between these competing priorities. Decisions on what
content to broadcast are not taken lightly but are part of our ongoing
effort to provide both a wide range of faith perspectives and the highest
quality programming possible.

Israr Ahmad did appear on the program Dil Dil Pakistan, as reported in
the Post. But his comments in that program were limited to readings
from the Quran and interpretations of scripture from that holy text. The
offensive comments quoted in the Post were apparently made by Mr. Ahmad
in other writings. Again, those comments were not broadcast on
VisionTV.

Having reviewed this matter with the producer of the program, and
having learned of Mr. Ahmad's comments outside of the Dil Dil Pakistan
program, the producer voluntarily agreed not to have Mr. Ahmad appear again
on Dil Dil Pakistan. We will also be broadcasting an on-air apology for
any offence caused Mr. Ahmad's previous appearance on the show.
VisionTV and Dil Dil Pakistan have a long history of promoting positive
dialogue and the peaceful teachings of the Quran. We will strive to ensure
in future that we maintain the highest standards of broadcasting to
achieve those goals.

As a broadcaster, VisionTV takes its responsibilities for content on
our network very seriously. In response to your feedback and comments
from other viewers, we have undertaken to review our Code of Ethics with
stakeholders including the Canadian Jewish Congress, B'nai Brith, and
leaders of other Canadian faith institutions. It is often through viewer
feedback that we are able to improve our broadcast standards, and we
appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any additional
information.

Best regards,


VisionTV
Audience Relations

What is with this new PR trend? You basically spend the first part of your correspondence telling people you've done nothing wrong and that its really someone/something else that caused all the hubbub. WTF? By the time I got to the second paragraph, I didn't care what remedy they were proposing, because they really aren't sorry for what they did - they're sorry they got caught.

Someone at Vision TV (and David Miller's Office - I have my ribbon campaign e-mail response as well) better wake up and realize that this kind of kinsella apology just makes things worse.

The guy is a hatemonger. You let him on your network.

Who gives a rat's ass about what he was talking about when we was on-air?

And I'm very excited the producer "volunteered" not to put him back on the show. That was mighty nice of him.

As an aside, my favorite part of this whole saga is that the producer's explanation was that his kid is getting married and he usually does thorough background checks, but was "very distracted".

Labels: apology, dumbass, Israr Ahmad, Vision TV, Warren Kinsella