No, I'm not kidding. The Argus editorial today is outstanding. They've caught on to the non-apology apology bit too. Headline: "Johnson's apology isn't good enough." Excerpt:
The remark drew immediate criticism from Republicans and silence from Johnson - until Tuesday. Then, he apologized "if any Republicans were offended."Johnson defended himself, saying the remark was directed at a small group of people who questioned his patriotism while his son was fighting with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.
But that's really not good enough.
The tone of Herseth's campaign against Republican Larry Diedrich already had deteriorated, with ads from both camps getting nastier almost by the day.
Johnson's inappropriate name-calling just added to the frenzy - months before the general election in November. As bad as the campaign is now, we'll have to go through it again.
As a U.S. senator - not a political novice - Johnson should know better.
Such flip comments, no matter who makes them, serve only to further divide our state and our nation. We can ill afford that.
Johnson at least made an attempt at an apology.
And if there's a silver lining to this, it's that others harboring the idea that vicious rhetoric might benefit their candidates will think twice about it.
Yes, as the John Miller historical piece below notes, I think Johnson is smart enough to know the symbolic significance if using the Taliban comment. Anyway, great job Argus!
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