Tweet
Okay. It sure looks like the Fort Worth, Texas Mayor Mike Moncrief made an apology for the Rainbow Lounge incident in this video (and reported in this article), but apparently looks apparently can be deceiving. The Mayor said the following in response to a specific question in a city council meeting regarding the Rainbow Lounge incident:
“I am sorry for what happened in Fort Worth.”
Sounds pretty clear, eh? Watch a video clip from the council meeting to see what you believe Mayor Moncrief is apologizing for.
Well, the Star-Telegram‘s PoliTex blog is reporting though, in their piece Did Moncrief apologize for the Rainbow Lounge raid?, that…
Many assumed the mayor was apologizing for the raid but, according to city spokesman Bill Begley, that’s not true.“The mayor and council are always sorry if anyone is hurt ever in our city,” Begley said Wednesday. “The mayor has asked for a thorough investigation of what happened in the Rainbow Lounge to the point that he’s asked for the U.S. attorney to get involved …They want to make sure that all voices are heard … but the apology is that anyone is ever hurt in any incident.”
Well, with that clarification, whether an actual apology was issued is so much more…well, unclear.
Engh, it’s politics. Apparently no politician ever really apologizes, even when it appears clear that he or she is actually apologizing.
~~~~~
Further Reading:
* Dallas Voice (Instant Tea Blog): Did mayor apologize for Rainbow Lounge or ‘that anyone is ever hurt in any incident’?
~~~~~
Related:
* Fort Worth Police Chief: yeah, that fag at the Rainbow Lounge deserved the beat-down
* Nancy Goldstein on Stonewall’s unfinished legacy
* Dallas Voice, JaySays, DymSum LGBTQnews Report Ft. Worth Police Raid on Gay Bar
* News video: Ft. Worth Police gay-bashing at the Rainbow Lounge
3 Comments
It sounded more to me like……the “I’m sorry if I’ve offended” defense.
I’m sorrythis incident has been noticed by the public, and now I need to appear to be proactive on this. (This is probably the whole gist of it.)
WellRegardless of whether this was a “real” apology, we need to make it clear that our real interest going forward is in getting the city, county, state, and/or TABC to take steps to prevent this kind of crap from ever happening again.