Apologies not accepted

December 6, 2004 6:26 PM

Apologies not accepted. In response to Sorry Everybody.com.
posted by fleener (69 comments total)

They really need donations to cover the cost of hosting two pictures, guys. Get on it.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:29 PM on December 6, 2004

We'll take care of Blair and Blunkett if you take care of Bush and Condi.

Not good enough! Why is you taking care of your idiots contingent on us taking care of ours?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:29 PM on December 6, 2004

I was looking at the political scene just the other day and I said to myself, "Self, what the world needs now is more petulance. And internet geeks holding up oh-so-witty signs. That'll solve the worlds problems."

And whaddaya know. Things are just ducky.
posted by jonmc at 6:31 PM on December 6, 2004

This is a bad trend.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 6:38 PM on December 6, 2004

posted by dhoyt at 6:41 PM on December 6, 2004

pesky foreigners...
posted by puke & cry at 6:41 PM on December 6, 2004

I think it's kinda funny -- and in a fatuous sort of way, he has a point.
posted by undule at 6:44 PM on December 6, 2004

They really need donations to cover the cost of hosting two pictures, guys. Get on it.

Exactly.

"Sorry isn't good enough. Give me a dollar."
(with a nod towards P.J. O'Rourke)

Mr. McEvoy needs to get a life. And maybe a job, too.
posted by Ayn Marx at 6:52 PM on December 6, 2004

What an asshole. Does this fellow think that we voted and then simply forgot what was going on in the world? Does he think that we (those who voted against the President) weren't terribly disheartened by the results? Is he suggesting that we shun democratic principles and rebel?

I am being too tough on him. I can tell from the photograph that he has suffered terribly from the policies of the Bush administration. Poor guy. Excuse me while I click on the PayPal link...
posted by Tullius at 7:05 PM on December 6, 2004

I like this better, anyway. Solidarity!
posted by Tullius at 7:07 PM on December 6, 2004

You should be on the streets protesting, not on the internet apologising.

"Knock, knock"
"Whos there?"
"Irony"
"Irony who?"
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 7:12 PM on December 6, 2004

so what did we Americans do on this site, besides vote, to try to sway the election?
posted by Embryo at 7:16 PM on December 6, 2004

errr.. and also, what did we Americans [i]on[/i] this site do, anywhere, besides vote, to try to sway the election?
posted by Embryo at 7:20 PM on December 6, 2004

democracy isn't just a once-every-four-years obligation, kids.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:32 PM on December 6, 2004

A frumpy man finds me, personally, at fault for the state of politics in america because I failed to protest in the streets? I would be laughing if it weren't kinda offensive.
posted by adzuki at 7:35 PM on December 6, 2004

That guy looks like a barrel of fun.
posted by keswick at 7:39 PM on December 6, 2004

this site won't load for me. needless to say, I am heartbroken. why didn't you bastards paypal him money sooner? WHY??!?!
posted by introcosm at 7:42 PM on December 6, 2004

Now that we've covered every permutation...

We're sorry
We're not sorry
We accept that you're sorry
We accept that you're not sorry
We don't accept that you're sorry
We don't accept that you're not sorry

...can we just breathe for a second and remember that it was a pretty meaningless thing in the first place? Who can take the most pictures! Who gives a shit!?

Fuck me with a hanging chad.

And, incidentally, this site, paper-thin and poorly-put-together and not-at-all-postworthy as it is, is right. Voting isn't enough. But fuck you Mr. Fat, grumpy-ass whoever you are, because voting isn't all we're doing.

I'm sorry.
I gave money.
I volunteered.
I wrote.
I protested.
Oh, and I held up a piece of paper in front of a camera.

Give me a fucking break, ye outraged lard-asses of greater Europe who own digital cameras.
posted by scarabic at 7:42 PM on December 6, 2004

Well, fandango_matt, for starters, we freed Karyn!
posted by LimePi at 7:43 PM on December 6, 2004

Hee hee. You sit-on-your-ass hotheads are a hoot.
posted by fleener at 7:44 PM on December 6, 2004

I don't understand the point of all of these sites. It's a bunch of webcam pictures and there's no boobs. What a waste of energy trying to go through all of those galleries and not even see one nipple.
posted by Arch Stanton at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2004

I cried the first time I clicked through sorryeverybody.com.

I winced when I opened apologiesnotaccepted.com.

I thought to myself, "Damn, Brazillian guys are hot!" as I clicked through apologiesaccepted.com.

I don't know what this means, but it seems typically American to me somehow.
posted by frecklefaerie at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2004

You sit-on-your-ass hotheads are a hoot.

You talk-out-your ass airheads are not so much.
posted by dhoyt at 7:45 PM on December 6, 2004

What did you do?

I'm not going to list my efforts here, because it would embarass both of us. But feel free to email me if you're curious or need some suggestions. Refer to Space Coyote.
posted by Embryo at 7:49 PM on December 6, 2004

Note that AMISORRYORNOT.COM is still available.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 7:51 PM on December 6, 2004

I am impressed with the might and power of your insults dhoyt. You are a literary mastermind. I am in awe of your greatness. Let me get a hanky.
posted by fleener at 7:51 PM on December 6, 2004

sucks...
posted by clubmedia at 8:13 PM on December 6, 2004

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful discussion. It's been enlightening.
posted by fleener at 8:20 PM on December 6, 2004

Hey, I'm pissed off about the election and I voted in it, can I set up a pissy little wank site and ask for money because I'm upset too? I mean, a couple of million dollars would go a long way towards making me feel better about the stupid election.

That and an embollism ray.
posted by fenriq at 8:23 PM on December 6, 2004

We're so sorry, Uncle Albert.
(Hands across the water!)
posted by wendell at 8:24 PM on December 6, 2004

jeez, it's just some dude who put up a site saying americans should be more active in their politics. Further, it's an obvious piss-take on the kinda lame we're sorry site. Big whoop.

So what's with all the acrimony?
posted by undule at 8:31 PM on December 6, 2004

It's sad, so sad
It's a sad, sad situation
And it's getting more and more absurd
It's sad, so sad
Why can't we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word
posted by spock at 8:34 PM on December 6, 2004

scarabic : Fuck me with a hanging chad.

Weren't you paying attention? They did :)
posted by kaemaril at 8:39 PM on December 6, 2004

Metafilter: So what's with all the acrimony?
posted by LimePi at 8:42 PM on December 6, 2004

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful discussion. It's been enlightening.

Right, right. Because 'thoughtful discussion' is undoubtedly what you were aiming for with this sorry post, and with your others. The others that weren't deleted, anyway.
posted by dhoyt at 8:43 PM on December 6, 2004

actually, dhoyt, thanks for posting fleener's history, I thought this was a pretty poor showing for a front page, it was obviously baited and leading and stupid.

But alot of his other posts are ones that I actually remember and like. I wouldn't mind the key to the backroom where all the deleted posts are though.
posted by fenriq at 8:57 PM on December 6, 2004

CrappyGimmmickSiteFilter.
posted by mek at 9:10 PM on December 6, 2004

Well, I voted for Kerry, donated, and all the usual pre-election rabble-rousing in my circle of influence in the real world and the net. The candidate I voted for lost. It's bad news, IMO, but tough nuts. That's democracy.

I'm not sure what this gentleman with the weak-ass site and the prominent paypal link would have me do. Protest the fact that the majority of voters disagreed with me? Set myself on fire? Attempt an assassination?

It's democracy. Part of the social contract is a willingness to accept the fact that My Guy won't always win, and live with it until the next election rather than taking up arms and turning the country into Lebanon.
posted by verb at 9:22 PM on December 6, 2004

People are still talking about this?

Come on people, this is over a month old. Learn to love it, or cross the US off your list of countries with a reasonable populace already.
posted by clevershark at 9:57 PM on December 6, 2004

Curse you, Armitage Shanks! I was brushing my teeth as I read this thread and you nearly made me fill up my keyboard with used toothpaste.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:58 PM on December 6, 2004

fleener - you reap what you sow. Post shit, get a shit discussion. It's real classy of you to complain throughout the whole thing, too. Weeny-whiny got-nothin no-post cockass upset because his post rocks and the internet just isn't big enough to reach people who give a shit.

Film at 11.
posted by scarabic at 11:02 PM on December 6, 2004

Chris ought to be apologizing to his kid for naming him "Blunkett". Poor kid - saddled with that name for a lifetime.

The real reason Chris is so angry is that his application for a Tourist Visa was turned down. His outspoken hostility to the government made him a security risk.
posted by PlanoTX at 11:03 PM on December 6, 2004

Can't we all just get along?
posted by bardic at 11:31 PM on December 6, 2004

Ralph Nader, is that you?

hahaha.
posted by Embryo at 12:05 AM on December 7, 2004

dhoyt, you might try not cutting down others, and saying something worthwhile for a change. Or would that leave you speechless?
posted by fleener at 12:15 AM on December 7, 2004

scarabic you're such a tool. Bwahahaha! Thank you for playing my game.
posted by fleener at 12:30 AM on December 7, 2004

Embryo, seriously, I'm curious, what did you do to help this past election season? I raised 250,000 dollars for Kerry, 150,000 for the DNC, 60,000 for ACT, and I knocked on doors in New Hampshire the week before the election, and did GOTV on election day. I'm currently working on putting together a liberal think tank that focuses on bringing together the best new ideas, and marketing them to the public the same way the Heritage Foundation has done for the right wing.

Share with us your great ideas.
posted by jbou at 1:26 AM on December 7, 2004

Tullius
Is he suggesting that we shun democratic principles and rebel?

You ought not to find the idea so bizarre:

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it."--Abraham Lincoln.
posted by raygirvan at 1:38 AM on December 7, 2004

Jbou, it sounds like you contributed a lot to the campaign, and I like your think tank idea, and I hope I can keep updated on its progress. I wasn't trying to make it sound like I personally know the answer to how much each person should contribute to politics in general, I was just saying.. the page is right, a lot of people who would have been happy to see Bush defeated - and who were likely to have been as upset as me about him winning instead - could have done a lot more.

That said, I canvassed for the DNC for a month here in MA and then went to Columbus to work with MoveOnPAC's Leave No Voter Behind Campaign, making phone calls and organizing phone banks, and being the techie in the office, for the two weeks before and including E-day. I definitely didn't raise as much money as you did, though. I felt a lot more useful in Columbus, actually helping mobilize local residents. Still pretty disappointed with the results.

As far as future visions, I think enough cannot be said about the ,a href="http://www.indyvoter.org">Independent Leage of Pissed Off Voters, also known as the Leage of Independant Voters for PR purposes. They have a 30-year plan to build progressive leadership strength from the grassroots up through local government and into higher office that I think is sound and exciting. I'll be working more closely with them in the future, I think.
posted by Embryo at 2:02 AM on December 7, 2004

Did you not read the site? It's not the fact that Bush got elected that is the problem. Kerry would have been only marginally less bad than Bush. It's that the whole political scene in the USA stinks.

Your electoral boundaries are drawn up by partisan groups. There is no apolitical group to oversee the election in each state. By voting on so many issues along with the Presidential election, the ballots are confusing. Electronic voting leaves the power in the hands of three Republican-supporting companies. Political campaigns need huge amounts of money, which leads to lobby groups having undue power. There is no cap on spending, which leads to swing states being inundated with political advertising. There is no chance for a third candidate to make a mark without spending hundreds of millions of dollars. I could go on...
posted by salmacis at 2:59 AM on December 7, 2004

I thought it was funny, then again I'm not a member of "The Greatest Democracy on Earth".
posted by fullerine at 3:20 AM on December 7, 2004

It's lame. Everybody knows that both it, and the site that inspired it are pointless exercises in political masturbation. After all, true activisim comes from griping on metafiltier.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 4:58 AM on December 7, 2004

god, I can't believe I didn't notice that I misspelled "League" -twice- on preview, not to mention the missing bracket. Apologies.
posted by Embryo at 5:11 AM on December 7, 2004

raygirvan wrote:

You ought not to find the idea so bizarre

Tullius responds:

Indeed, I have not forgotten our revolutionary heritage.

I do not think that merely coming up a bit short in what appears to be (for the most part) a legitimate election merits rebellion, though.

Isn't it a bit interesting that Lincoln would condone the revolutionary overthrow of the Federal government, but not secession from it?
posted by Tullius at 5:30 AM on December 7, 2004

Every once in awhile the absurdity of this whole site hits me right between the eyes. This is one of those times.
posted by orange swan at 5:36 AM on December 7, 2004

Here's Pee Wee, playing a insane coke head, apoligizing to Cheech and Chong.

"Boys Howie has something to say to you. Go ahead Howie."
"I'm sorryyyyyyy, I took the moneyyyyyy,
I'm soryyyyyyyyyy, I took the moneyy.
I'm sorry, I'm very very sorry."
"Okay, come along Howie, It's time to go now."
"I'm not sorry I took the money, ahahahahahaha"
posted by nyxxxx at 5:40 AM on December 7, 2004

posted by dhoyt at 6:50 AM on December 7, 2004

Not the best way to make a point, but it is a good point and it does need to be made. The American political system has become a very sad joke and apologizing for it is worth than useless. It only serves to make those who apologize feel better about themselves.
posted by stinkycheese at 7:16 AM on December 7, 2004

Thank you dhoyt - and much like the afro-kobujutsu-dude - American democracy must now pick itself up after it's embarrassing fall and continue to work towards the future.

Beautifully illustrated.

With nunchaku.
posted by longbaugh at 7:39 AM on December 7, 2004

At the risk of starting a flame war, I've heard many people say that the US should gracefully respect the election process in, say, Iraq -- even if the leaders elected are manifestly hostile to the US and arguably a threat to the region.

Those who say that the recent US election is a failure of democracy may not be the SAME ones saying we should respect whoever the Iraqi people choose... but the two groups seem to have a heavy overlap in my experience.

I'm not saying the two cases are the same -- but shouldn't the same principle apply? Democracy is democracy and sometimes the process gets what we don't want, but we respect the outcome and plan for the next round?
posted by verb at 7:53 AM on December 7, 2004

How about IwillGiveYouSomethingToBeSorryAboutIfYouDontStopWhining.com? Is that taken yet?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:03 AM on December 7, 2004

Longbaugh got it!
posted by dhoyt at 8:23 AM on December 7, 2004

Karl, you're just not funny.
posted by fleener at 9:26 AM on December 7, 2004

Fleener, there's a carbonized cooking vessel I'd like you to meet.
posted by jonmc at 9:44 AM on December 7, 2004

dude! ... you realize that image is almost 500K?
posted by danOstuporStar at 10:18 AM on December 7, 2004

Sorry jonmc, I would not like fries with that. Thanks though.
posted by fleener at 12:53 PM on December 7, 2004

dude! ... that image is so worth it, though!
posted by scarabic at 1:09 PM on December 7, 2004

I think it's kinda funny -- and in a fatuous sort of way, he has a point.

I read that as "in a flatulent sort of way, he has a point."
posted by Shane at 6:17 PM on December 7, 2004

I'm sorry that those sites suck so much!
posted by I EAT TAPES at 5:10 PM on December 13, 2004