Presidential Apology

Here it is, it has finally arrived! The thing that so many politicians, pundits, and people on the right have been pleading for for months. No, not a viable presidential candidate, an apology from the President.

"I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me. We've got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and that we're going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this." - Barrack Obama 11/7/13

Doesn't that just smooth everything over, giving you the feeling like you are trying to order an ice cream treat with your favorite mix in. After you receive the treat and try it, you realize it was made with Heath bar instead of your favorite Nestle Crunch bar. The employee insists there is nothing they can do for you, you ask for a manager, you explain to the manager of this restaurant that you ordered the Nestle Crunch ice cream treat but they made it incorrectly, you discuss the clear difference between the two treats and that you can see the container of the correct mix over on the counter and that if you would just try again everything could be peachy keen. To which the manager retorts with the line "I'm sorry you feel that way..."

It's not an apology. Not in the sense of a person being truly sympathetic and wanting to make amends. When the answer is so blatantly clear, but just seems an impossible fantasy to the one person with the power to enact it. The President's verbiage is selected because he thinks that it's what people want to hear, when in reality all they want is ice cream. a solution.

He's "sorry" Americans "find themselves in a tough position"? Excuse me Mr. President, who is driving this proverbial bus that went through the drive through at 'Salads and Stuff' when they thought they were going to McDonalds? Though to complete that analogy the bus would have to loose about 5 wheels and burst into flames before arriving at either location to more accurately describe the situation with HeathCare.gov. Folks aren't "finding" themselves anywhere except where you led them. And "the situation" they're in isn't "based on assurances they got from me." It's based on the law that you prefaced your entire legacy on.

The other aspect of this that scares me senseless is the continued downplay of who this all effects. He seems to be buffered by the fact that while 10+ million Americans are being effected by this, the vast majority of Americans have this sense that this just doesn't apply to them. The person in line behind you at the aforementioned restaurant is thinking "Sure, I can plainly see that you obviously ordered one thing and got another, but that won't apply to me because I'm ordering off the dinner menu, not the dessert menu.".

(Just so we are all clear, the dessert menu being the individual marketplace, and the dinner menu being the employer based markets. Got it? Good.)

It's the same stinking restaurant people! Your best bet is that between the time that I stomp away from the counter and you take that long stride up to try and fill your order, that somehow the staff feel the pressure of not wanting to screw up two orders in a row. Of course this requires the acknowledgement from the staff, and the manager, that the screw up was on their end to begin with.

Scroll up and watch the President's apology again. Who made the mistake? Are they going to make it right for you? Is it unacceptable behavior? Is he sorry he screwed up, or, is he sorry that you are mad about it?

I do believe there is a part of him that is sorry, he's sorry that people are loosing the argument to defend this bill. Premiums are not going down, people are not being grandfathered because they were content with their current coverage, and the website is still not functioning 5 weeks after it's launch. He's sorry that his supporters will have no answer for people currently covered being left behind after January 1st because the alternative plan that the ACA was supposed to present them won't be available. I think he is sorry that many people will start looking at him in a new light, that the luster of the celebrity in chief could be tarnished, and that his shortcomings as a leader may finally be realized. And that the blame will not be able to be placed on anyone other then himself. For this, he may truly be sorry.