And I totally agree about the cynical crack that ariich has pulled out a few times. That would be like me or you saying, "Well, some of us aren't so gullible as to believe that fake apology."
Well yeah, that's pretty much what a number of people have been doing. You yourself Kev used the "Are you honestly saying..." line on me.
@TOX: Again, I'm wondering whether you read the mp.com posts in question, or if you're just going by a couple of single sentence quotes in here. MP recognised that he made a mistake in jumping to conclusions, which is why he apologised. The "I don't know what I did wrong" was in reference to other aspects. I feel like we're arguing over two completely different things here.
The point is, we can disagree with whether the apology was a good one or not, but I don't think most people who, like me, disagree with the notion that it was a *real* apology1 are being cynical.
I don't get it. I'm not disagreeing that it wasn't a very good apology; as I have said at least twice, he obviously isn't very good at apologies and doesn't feel comfortable with them, which fits in with the fact that I can't remember him ever apologising for his actions in the past. But you are insisting that it's not a real apology, which I think is wrong, and very unfair on him.
It's just not fair to act like Mike's response wasn't questionable at the very least. If anything, construing Mike's post as a "real apology" requires just as much "optimism" as construing it as more self-serving banter from Mike requires some "cynicism."
Mike has always been very open and genuine with his internet posting. Too much so on occasions, in my opinion. So I'm not sure why we should suddenly all start assuming that he's being deceitful. I'm basing my opinions not on optimism but on prior experience coupled with the things we know for certain.
1A real apology, at least to James, who it should have been directed to, rather than the fans-- who where angry at Mike for throwing James under like that, since he apparently still doesn't 'get what he did wrong.'
[/quote]The apology
was directed at James, and I'm sure if and when he gets the chance to do it privately, he will do so too.
[/quote]
1. Growing up as a kid, if you were expected to apologize, it
had to be sincere. If it wasn't, then it wasn't an apology, plain and simple. And you were likely to continue being forced to apologize until everyone was convinced that you were sorry. And not a pathetic, sniveling kind of sorry either. You really did have feel sorry for what you had done. You really had to want the other person's forgiveness even if you had to beg for it. Otherwise, you were making pathetic excuses as far as my parents were concerned. Maybe its not the nicest way to go about things, but when I think about, I kind of see Mike in the same light. So no, I'm not convinced Mike is really apologizing in the same sense that a child being forced to apologize by their parents may believe that they are sorry, but the parents aren't convinced. I realize not everyone grew up this way
But its a thought, and I'm sure its something to do with why some people are convinced with his apology and others were not.
2. I was never good at apologies either rich. I'm still not. Didn't excuse me from making very bad ones as a child and expecting everyone around me to believe it. My parents only viewed "I"m bad at making apologies" as a really bad excuse and was not valid. It didn't matter how good or bad you were at making them, you were expected to make an
apology. And a damn good one at that.
3. I'm pretty sure this is just a product of my childhood, but if my parents looked at that apology they'd have some words for him that I'd probably get banned for repeating here
. So I do have a very hard time accepting Mike's apology as truly sincere. I don't doubt he thinks it is sincere, not at all. I just can't help but feel he could make it more apparent that he truly feels saddened for his comment against James. Because from what I've seen from his statements, I get the a very strong impression that he doesn't feel that bad for what he said, he's sorry about the backlash he's received. That's not to say he doesn't truly feel bad, but going by his statements alone, he doesn't give that impression at all.
And for the record, the backlash against Mike that he's gotten is the same backlash I'd expect from my parents if I pulled shit like this