Who are all these people who think that announcing “I’m not racist” is the same as apologizing for saying something racist? And do they actually think that works? It’s like the idiotic retroactive version of “I’m not racist, but [incredibly racist statement].”

Your posts about your elephant friend are, together, one of the best things I’ve read in a long time. I love elephants, and I feel so sad for the ones cooped up in zoos or circuses, but I am also very, very jealous that you were able to make friends with this elephant and to help her so much. She must have seen the…

I’m completely baffled by some of the comments on the linked article — multiple commenters say that a PR firm must have written that apology, because it’s “too well-written” to have been written by a teenager. I fear for the future of America if there are that many people in it who think that this incoherent,…

I bought that DVD set too, for my daughter. The old episodes are still magical. I highly recommend it to everyone. When you watch it, you realize how much you actually remember from the episodes you watched as a child – how crazy it is that memories of these songs and skits are still somewhere inside your brain,…

Not that it's relevant, but Mary Louise Parker is one of these celebrities who are so nice when you meet them in real life that you love them forever after.

You (all of you in this penguin thread) are delightful.

Your analogy in the first paragraph is exactly right. And although that documentary sounds really worthwhile, it also sounds so depressing. I keep wanting to think the country is getting better, and that the world is improving (and in some ways it is), but sometimes things like this come and smack you right in the…

Me too. I actually just Googled him because I was happy that he was taking such a strong position (without any of that milquetoast "we are saddened by these events" PR-talk), and because he seemed so genuinely pissed off by the video. He has an extremely impressive resume.

I remember, many years ago, watching some talk show that featured teenaged white supremacists trying to defend their beliefs. They kept insisting that they didn't hate black people — just that they were really proud of being white, and that they wanted to "protect" the white race. I remember thinking that you'd have…

This is one of the best things I've ever read, and I see this video in a whole new light now.

Face it, he might be somewhat of an alright guy to grab a beer with but he's clueless when it comes to being President..

This is brilliant.

This is maybe not really directly relevant here at all, but the other day my daughter was singing along to Bohemian Rhapsody. After the line "Mama ... Just killed a man," she paused and said thoughtfully, "She really shouldn't have done that." And I realized that, all this time, she has heard that part of the song…

This — this is brilliant. I can't even say how much I like this comment without sounding really weird and creepy. But it's like Shakespeare — better and more meaningful with each reading.

I wish I could give this comment, and your comment that started this thread, a hundred stars. The sad thing is that there was just no purpose to her (Miss darling's) comment — it was just an excuse for her to announce to a bunch of strangers on the internet that she's the exception, to pat herself on the back for…

I was going to say exactly the same thing. This part:

The way the video is shot, it seems like that's her reaction after he initially ran into her. I.e., he ran into her (perhaps inadvertently) while charging toward whoever made him mad, and she pushed back. I'm guessing he didn't even notice her until she pushed back, which is why he's claiming that she was the…

I just read a transcript of the clip you're talking about, and it's just as bad as you said. This is a bad, bad man. And he's also , clearly, just a very stupid man. The way the end of the transcript reads, it's almost like he's saying, "Well, the more educated thing to do is to wait for the fetus to be born before…

Wow. Your brother is awesome.

Same here on all points (including being 4'11"). And this guy was a total asshole.