Why no one should apologize for the Stephen Harper photoshop.

Yes, you read that right -- no one should bother apologizing for the recent Stephen Harper photoshop fiasco, for the simple reason that it would be wasted breath and would change nothing. Let me explain.

First, let's all understand that the photo of Stephen Harper superimposed on Lee Harvey Oswald was wrong. It was stupid, it was childish and it was in unbelievably poor taste. No one can possibly deny any of that. And yet ... and yet ... anyone demanding an apology for it should be told to go suck eggs.

There's only one reason you ever apologize to anyone. That's because you realize you did something grossly unacceptable, and you want to make things right. You want to smooth things over, you want to patch things up, you want to make it all good again, however you want to phrase it. But it's clear what the point is here -- that your basic dialogue should go something like this:

"You did something really fucking stupid and I'm pissed!"
"You're right, it was unacceptable and I apologize for it."
"All right, then, we're good."

Aha -- you see the very last part of what happened above? The acceptance of the apology, that's what happened. Because without that acceptance, an apology is just wasted oxygen.

So let's see how this scenario plays out over at Steve Janke's, where Steve reproduces a portion of Jeff Jedras' prose during which Jedras makes it abundantly clear that what happened is not even remotely acceptable:

* The photo was unacceptable, way beyond good taste, and should never have gone online.
* Clearly, the screening process failed and corrective action should (and has, I understand) been taken.
* It's important to remember this was user-generated content in a contest, and wasn't created y the party.
* The photo was taken down and an apology was made, that's the appropriate response.

Now, to normal and sane people, the above would seem to nicely summarize the appropriate response to what happened:

• It was wrong.


• It was not an official act of the Liberal Party.


• Action has been taken.


• We're sorry.

Frankly, it's hard to imagine how much more complete this could be. And yet, here's Janke's jaw-dropping response:

There is no admission of the root cause of the problem.

Well, fuck you, Steve. The Canadian Idiotsphere has been baying with absolute bloodlust for an apology for this, Jeff Jedras provides precisely that, and your response is to tell him to piss off.

That's why no one should be apologizing for this. Because it would make no difference whatsoever. The Idiotsphere has their distraction and no apology imaginable is going to make the slightest difference, with Steve Janke being a better example of that than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams.

If the Idiotsphere has no interest in acknowledging or accepting a heartfelt apology, they should stop demanding one. And, frankly, sane people should stop offering one. It's a waste of time. Steve Janke has made that abundantly clear.