Apologize all you want…

/ Jeff Cann

Apologize all you want, you’re still a Dirt-Bag.*

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stepped into a big stinking pile of Donald Trump the other day. Like so many American politicians repeatedly do, Albanese showed his true colors when he became annoyed with political opponents who interrupted him. “Do you have Tourette’s or something? You know, you just sit there, babble, babble, babble.” He immediately followed up with “I withdraw and apologize.”

As an adult who lives with Tourette Syndrome, I don’t accept this apology. Albanese used my condition as an insult, a way to demean his enemies. I’m not sure if he was going for laughs, but he got them—equally appalling considering the venue was Australia’s parliament. Tourette Syndrome is still viewed as a joke, a punchline.

I don’t interrupt people with uncontrollable vocalizations. Instead, I crush my eyelids together. When I’m alone, I grunt so pervasively I need to catch my breath. I scratch my skin until I bleed. I lick my lips, wipe them dry with my hand and then lick them again. And again. I make strange torquing movements with my torso. My level of self-disgust ranges between moderate and moderately high, depending on the severity of my symptoms and how they impact my life. I don’t need jackasses like Anthony Albanese tearing me down. I do it enough on my own.

Let’s talk about Albanese’s apology. When his initial attempt wasn’t enough to stem the tide of complaints, he doubled, and then tripled down: “Today, I made comments that were unkind and hurtful. I knew it was wrong as soon as I made the comment. I apologized, and I withdrew as soon as I said it, but it shouldn’t have happened, and I would also like to apologize to all Australians who suffer from this disability. I’m sorry I said it. It was wrong. It was insensitive. And I apologize.”

This scenario seems to happen weekly in the United States. A politician, as lowly as a school board candidate or as lofty as a US senator, will say something egregious—racist, homophobic, misogynist, ableist, etc. They might call a person of color the n-word, or a gay man the f-word. They might compare people of certain races to various wild animals, or make derogatory comments about women. Sometimes they are caught on a hot mic, or like Albanese, in the heat of an argument.

In one well publicized case, an American president denigrated the entire continent of Africa as ‘shithole countries.’ That same president also mimicked a physically handicapped reporter. That same president… well, never mind, too many examples to list, plus he never apologizes. And that’s what I’m writing about, the inevitable apology.

I call bullshit on these apologies. People who don’t regularly use these slurs in their private life don’t accidentally use them in public. These misstatements are born of habit. They are born of the true belief that black people are n-words. That gay people are f-words. People don’t inadvertently denigrate women, when they do it, they are showing us their true selves. When they apologize afterwards, what they are really saying is “I’m sorry I got caught.”

Anthony and friends, stop apologizing. Own your hate, just like Trump does. We already know who you are.

~ ~ ~

The morning after Albanese made his Tourette slur, I messaged my Melbourne-based blogger friend DD. “Your Prime Minister used Tourette Syndrome as an insult today. WTF?”

DD replied, “Albo is a dill.”

This is my favorite part of having Australian friends. Both countries speak English, but Australian slang is much more fun.

* Dirt-Bag isn’t necessarily the D-Bag I had in mind when I started writing.

22 thoughts on “Apologize all you want…”

  1. Drongo is another option but it doesn’t trump Dill.
    But your main point is that these slurs reveal something normally hidden in public and I reckon Bloody Drongo implies that.
    And Zsor-zsor agrees!
    (I read your piece to her while she ate lunch).
    Regards
    DD

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  3. Even though I lean more towards Albo’s party – the bloke opposite is a divisive, racist mongrel hoping for a Trump victory to sweep his party into government at the next election – I cringed when I read his comments about Tourettes. This is not who we are or should be.

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    • Georgia, thank you for this thoughtful response to my lightweight writing. My writing brain is broken right now and I’m not certain how to patch it up. can’t seem to focus on writing these days. I was going to ask for suggestions, but I just answered my own question. Time to start a daily journal. That has always jumpstarted me in the past.

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