Scott Brown never apologizes because he feels he has never done anything wrong.
I what has become a recurring theme of his campaign, whether it is in reference to his calling Obama an illegitimate child, his association with the TeaBaggers, or his devotees calling for the sexual assault and death of his opponent, Scott Brown will not acknowledge, much less apologize, for what he or his supporters have said or done.
Brown, in 2007, spoke at a high school on Cape Cod, because, he said, a teacher had written him and called him "miserable, vicious and vacuous" among other things, for his stance on gay marriage. He also said that he had been called by parents who told him the teacher was "pushing his personal agenda" on the students and "they were unable to speak freely in class for fear of reprisal from the teacher". So Brown did what any good social conservative would do - arranged to push his own personal agenda upon them instead.
The evening before the assembly he as he later wrote, he "received calls from a parent and a student alerting me to the facebook.com group dedicated to the teacher in question that had, among other things, a modified photo of me depicted as the devil and vulgarities aimed toward me and members of my family",
So, rather than the original plan of meeting with the students to discuss his position on gay marriage and the legislative process, he "asked to speak to the students because he felt he had been "abused" by student detractors from King's Philip High School who made fun of him on their student run internet chatroom, "facebook." He then, as a local paper put it "held captive to his outrage many KP students who were innocent of the name-calling and foul language, and did so in a manner unbecoming to his roles as caring parent and respected lawmaker. <snip> While we empathize with Brown's wish to redress the postings, his decision to use an appearance on legislative issues to scold everyone came across as inappropriate, unjust and seemingly out of character. Replying in kind diminished, for the moment, his stature as a grownup who should have known better."
"At the assembly in King Phillip's High School auditorium, State Senator Brown called each student out, one by one, using curse words that every mother would be horrified to hear and would've covered their children's ears if they were there. Above the protests of all the teachers who were aghast at the state Senator's anti-social behavior and foul language, Brown refused to stop his child-like tirade calling each student out one by one in great pleasure."
This is a GROWN MAN haranguing 14 or 15 year-old students because they said mean things about him on Facebook. He also claimed that it was appropriate because the school used 'Catcher in the Rye' and taught sex education. Really.
Do people in MA really think this man has the temperament to be a US Senator? Any man that feels he needs to obscenely chastise children and call them out, by name, in a public school is certainly unfit to sit in the US Senate.
Brown, of course, felt he did nothing wrong, and later said, "That part of the presentation was two minutes out of almost an hour. The administrators were caught off guard; the kids were embarrassed by the actions of themselves and some of their classmates. I was asked to move on and not refer to the names of the kids anymore. I complied.
and
"I was merely reading the things that they had written about me," Brown said in an interview. "What's the issue, exactly? I don't quite know what the big deal is, exactly." (Ahem...Scott? If it is inappropriate to post them on a Facebook page, could it be possible that it would also be inappropriate for an assembly of children in the school library?)
and
"A couple of people objected to the language, and I said, 'I object, too," Brown said. "It's offensive, in that I now have to justify why I repeated what kids said about me, as if I'm doing something inappropriate. " (Can any person, particularly one running for the US Senate really be this obtuse?)
Much as when he didn't understand why saying it was "not normal" for two women to have a baby and dismissing the concerns of one of the parents as her "alleged family responsibilities", I suppose.
But, of course, an apology did later materialize:
Many students came up to me after and said that they were embarrassed by the actions of their peers and it did not reflect their feelings about me or this topic. <snip> Later that day I began to get calls from the media. Apparently the same kids that I had referred to that day had immediately sent e-mails to many of the local media outlets. In their e-mails they stated that I had used profanity, called out and embarrassed students, making them cry.
Yes, I did use profanity, because I read what the kids had written about me and my family that they placed on the site. I did also name the kids that did it, because they put their own names and pictures on the site. As young adults, students should also be held to a standard of accountability for their writings and actions directed toward others and their families.
I left the school with a heavy heart because on one hand I realized that there is hate being taught in some classrooms; some of which was directed at me and my family. On the other hand, I was encouraged by the students that truly wanted to be heard and make their comments known on this and many of the other issues we discussed.
I have received an apology from the students involved and I deeply appreciate it.
You didn't really think Brown was going to apologize, did you? ;-)
Please Massachusetts, don't vote for Scott Brown. For his own good. With all of the harsh language flying around in those halls, he might get the vapors.
In Scott Brown's own, immortal words:
"I felt really good about it. And now I find out I’m being portrayed as a vile-speaking hate-monger. It’s pretty saddening. I feel very badly that I’m being victimized here." (Poor baby - not being tolerated for being intolerant is just SO UNFAIR! Free speech isn't free if you have to pay a price for what you say. Just ask the sophomores at King Philip High School.)
But he could get some good campaign slogans out of this:
Vote Scott Brown - He'll Yell at Your Kids So You Don't Have To
or:
Vote Scott Brown - He'll Join the Senate As Soon As He Logs Off Facebook!
or:
Stop Victimizing Hate Mongers! - Vote Scott Brown
or maybe:
Vote Scott Brown - All for Hate in the Classroom* (*As Long as its Not Directed at Him or His Family)
or possibly:
Vote Palin/Brown '12 - Then You'll Have TWO Facebook Friends!
But my favorite is its shortened form:
Vote Scott Brown - He's a Tool!