On the one hand, good for him, but on the other hand, think of the privilege involved in going up to people in public and apologizing. You get the public forgiveness and the warm glow of righteousness, but the people you apologize to are still stuck with Trump and his supporters.
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Many Mormons have an unusual sympathy for Muslims and other minority religious groups that they donât extend to persecuted ethnic groups. Not least because Joseph Smith called himself âthe American Muhammedâ and made direct parallels between his ârevelationsâ and those of Muhammed.
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Good for him. Yes, a lot of qualifications apply, but still: good for him.
My problem is that he wanted to apologize for Trump, as if one bullying clown was the only problem⌠He - and other decent conservatives - should have been thinking a lot more deeply about the millions-strong Trump constituency they spent their political careers building. Expressing regret for that would have been a lot more impressive.
Iâm not sorry for this guy one little bit. NOT ONE. If he were alive he could take his apology and roll it into a tight funnel. Itâs too bad that there is not a hell for him to roast in.
Too late ethicsâŚ
I guess principled Republicans really are a dying breed. (Too soon?)
Iâm Muslim, I think anyone who votes Republican is an absolute shitwad, and I feel terrible for this guy. Pancreatic cancer, too, of all things, urgh. I hope those Muslims were nice to him.
Itâs too bad he didnât have a little more time to then apologize to every other demographic that the Republican party has been fucking over for 30 years.
You can judge a party most keenly not by their members, but on those they have driven away. Trump is the nominee, while this man was primaried out of his seat.
ClassyâŚ
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Repetition and redundancy are a way of life in the new millennium.
This brought a tear to my eye. I love seeing people exhibiting true empathy for their fellow man.
At least the taxpayers are off the hook for this creepâs pension.
I feel bad about all the dismissive comments here. Sure, Bennet was on the wrong team and he voted the wrong way. I share the moral outrage at those things. But we should not dehumanize him. I do believe that in this he was following his conscience. I doubt he was trying to buy his peace with his god, but rather following his sincere (and correct!) conviction. For that he has my admiration.
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Thatâs interesting. You learn something new here everyday. I never knew that.
These sorts of death-bed regrets just donât play well with me. They strike me as too much like Pascalâs Wager: the nature of morality and ethical behavior hasnât changed because Bennett was dying. We will all make Deathâs acquaintance and we all know the day is coming. Live your life in a way that you donât have to beg forgiveness of an entire identifiable group of people.
Bennettâs religion teaches these basic ideas, but he failed to get the message. If he was following his conscience and conviction, he didnât get the message from his religion. Where did he get the message.
There is an old song that Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams did. The chorus goes:
Too much, too little, too late
To lie again with you.
Too much, too little, too late
To try again with you.
Too much, too little, too late
Letâs end it being friends.
Itâs over.
The problem with this, is that while itâs over for Bennett (and Atwater and all the rest of that crowd), it isnât over for the rest of us. We are left to clean up the messes theyâve created in their greed.
So I suppose Iâm glad that Bennett was beginning to see the true face of the demon he helped create, but I have to ask how much better would it have been if he had the epiphany while he was a Senator and could at least begin to clean up the mess he helped to make. His epiphany was in fact too much, too little and too late.
Thatâs one of the reasons, by the way, that Mormons really hate Trump (his flagrant vulgarity and open flouting of conventional morality are others). Last week I was working with a Mormon from Utah (and, as it happens, a Muslim), and he said none of the people he knew back home were backing Trump - they were all planning to skip the presidential vote.
Bob Bennet, like all hypocrites like him; is only sorry because heâs dying and may not get into heaven. He helped create the atmosphere of hatred and fear of Muslims that exists in this country and the Tea Party that unceremoniously swept him from office for the campaign of Mike Lee, which promised to abolish the 14 amendment. Yes, the amendment which allows the population of the state to vote for its Senators. Lee is a true member of the Tea Party brain trust.