I'm Sorry....That I got Caught

     I'm not sure what it is that got the old brain juices flowing here lately on this topic. But, it's stayed on my mind long enough that I decided to ramble on it for a while. I have noticed a trend lately with celebrities, athletes, and politicians, to give formally written (often times by other people) apologies. Can anyone tell me when this became an acceptable form of contrition?
     *Snaps my fingers* Now I remember what got me thinking on this. A particular athlete, who treated his wife like absolute trash by cheating on her and potential exposing her to any number of communicable diseases from the dozens of women he was with. I don't want to name him specifically. The issue is far larger than that particular incident. There is a segment of people out there who consist largely of celebrities and politicians that can say whatever they want whenever they want and then brush past it as if it's no big deal.
     I started to write this post at the beginning of April. Since I've started writing. Actors, athletes, and politicians alike have embarked upon continued flagrant, crazy, disrespectful, and even bigoted behavior.As long as you have a good publicist and an accomplished writer who can draft you and smartly worded apology you'll be just fine.
     As a parent, when our kids misbehave we often demand an apology be issued to the whomever was offended. I will even go so far as to say, "That wasn't good enough, you weren't sincere. Apologize like you mean it". I know realize that's all we're doing to individuals in the public spot light. They don't REALLY have to be sincere. They just have to apologize like they mean it! Generally, we know when are kids are not genuine or repentant for offensive actions. A parent that is serious about raising aware respectful young people will try to develop a sense of empathy in their children. Let's face it, that's one of the only ways you can treat someone else with respect. You need to try and empathize with others and hopefully treat them as you would want to be treated. Why then are we settling for fake, albeit well crafted and keenly edited and often times READ apologies, for highly offensive behaviors? "Say it like you mean it" apologies are for kids too little to understand or do any better than that.
     An apology that is insincere means little more than the offender is sorry...for getting caught, and that's all.