We live, however, in what author Derrick Jensen calls "the culture of make-believe" wherein all that matters are appearances. Surface and style are all-important; depth and substance are dead. From families who equate hushing up problems ("keeping up appearances" while anxiously wondering "what will the neighbors think?") with solving them, to phoney Disney towns designed to recall an America that never was, to billion dollar PR campaigns calculated to convince John Q. Public that shit equals Shinola, we are up to our eyeballs in meaningless platitudes, bogus information, and fraudulent apologies.

Trent Lott avowed his pride at having voted for Strom Thurmond and his segregationist Dixiecrat confederates in 1948. He also asserted that, "if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Asking for an apology from Lott buys into the whole culture of make-believe and is inconsequential. For what would Lott be apologizing? Would he apologize for being a racist, who supported segregation in 1948 and who would openly support it now if he could? Or would he merely apologize for the embarassing misstep of making such a "politically incorrect" statement? I think the latter is the case, for when surface is king, all you need apologize for are problems with your image.

Instead of asking for Lott's apology, people who are still concerned with issues of substance should be asking for his resignation.