Apologies

[Sandra Scoppettone]

I'm sick of everyone who says something racist or sexist or behaves badly apologizing for it afterwards and then supposes that makes it all right. When did this start?

We've had Mel Gibson, Russell Crow, Hugh Grant twice, Don Imus and now Alec Baldwin. I know I'm leaving lots of people out. The thing is, I don't care about their apologies.

What I would care about is if writers who've written very bad books would apologize. But they wouldn't dream of it. And if they did it wouldn't make the books any better. Still, we'd know that they knew their books were bad. But the worst thing is that they don't know. You have to believe in what you're doing and the lousy ones do as much as the good ones. They do the best they can. And that's sad. Because they're the ones who get the attention, sell the most books, end up on the bestseller lists.

Being a good writer doesn't bring you wealth or fame. Not true of all. There are good writers who end up on bestseller lists now and then. But too few. And it's the reading public that makes this happen. It's the reading public who put rotten writers on the bestseller lists which gives them wealth and fame.

So I think the readers of those books should apologize. That's an apology I could respect.

[Susan]

What I'm sick of ... politicians who sink into slime, like David Vitter (my lovely Senator) and Eliot Spitzer, and don't have the @#$%% whatever to face the music (the TV cameras) alone and force their wives to join them. Lame, lame, lame.

[Camilla Trinchieri]

The readers of the bad books don't know any better so how can they apologize. They want an easy read, full of improbable happenings. I think TV has something to do with that. Good writing requires some brain work on the part of the reader. They can't be passive. At least, that's my opinion. Ciao Camilla