Apology

State Del. Pat McDonough, who stirred controversy this week when he said "roving mobs of black youth" terrorize Baltimore, shrugged off criticism Friday that he is using shock tactics to raise his political profile. McDonough, a Republican who represents Baltimore and Harford counties, refused to apologize for his comments. He has called for Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, to assign the Maryland State Police to fight the "consistent and dangerous attacks" in the city. McDonough has hosted a conservative talk show on WCBM for 20 years.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department has opened an internal investigation into a police training academy instructor's decision to send an email to dozens of his police colleagues calling for President Barack Obama to be voted out of office and challenging government welfare, immigration and other political topics. In the email, Cpl. Charles "Butch" Benner wrote that a "Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!!!" He also called for the closing of the country's borders, the establishment of English as the nation's only language and the institution of mandatory drug screening for everyone receiving government welfare assistance.

Come on in, people. Pull up a stool. Welcome back. First drink is on me. Maybe the next five, for that matter. I owe ya. We also have a vat of Red Sox chicken in the back that you can dive into. I don't even care if you're working. I won't tell the Boston media. We'll start with an apology. Sorry the bar has been closed for so long. I'm afraid our dormancy has chased you to other places like Applebee's or, even worse, other blogs. We had all kinds of problems in this joint with shoddy plumbing, rodent infestations (I'd still avoid the burgers if I were you)

Fans of "The Wire" were taken aback to read that creator David Simon is sort of tired of their rah-rah, late-to-the-game enthusiasm. Simon on Thursday told the New York Times: I do have a certain amused contempt for the number of people who walk sideways into the thing and act like they were there all along. It's selling more DVDs now than when it was on the air. But I'm indifferent to who thinks Omar is really cool now, or that this is the best scene or this is the best season.

Julien Rosaly's father does not accept that Baltimore police did the best investigation they could with the information they had. He wants them to apologize for arresting his son and friend and charging him with robbing a couple at gunpoint in South Baltimore. But police and prosecutors will mostly likely not say they're sorry, despite dropping all charges against the two men on Friday after reviewing a videotape that shows Rosaly eating in a restaurant at the time of the attack.

In the words of Ronald Reagan, "there he goes again. " Lying that is. AndRobert L. Ehrlich Jr.is the fellow doing it. Rehearsing a staple of the GOP spin-machine, the former governor ("Give pols a pass for verbal miscues," March 18) proclaims "President Barack Obama's propensity for apologizing to the world for past U.S. policy decisions... " As documented on Feb. 22 of last year by Washington Post "fact-checker" Glenn Kessler, there is and never occurred any such thing as an "Obama apology tour.

The first apology by Rush Limbaugh, posted on his website over the weekend, sounded forced, qualified, almost defensive. The second, broadcast live on his Monday show, sounded sincere and heartfelt. Rush Limbaugh did something not usually associated with either himself or bombastic talk radio. He apologized for calling a woman a "slut" and a "prostitute. " The woman, 30-year-old Sandra Fluke, a law student at Georgetown University, wants the Catholic school to pay for contraceptives in its insurance policy because, she says, she and her friends cannot afford the cost otherwise.

Tell Norman Wolfe ("Quran burning: Obama isn't the one who should be apologizing," March 2) that if you step on someone's toes, you apologize. If you run over someone's cat, you apologize. If you accidentally incinerate someone's book, especially a holy book, you apologize. Then you have laid the groundwork for countering or reacting to whatever vengeance the injured party has unjustly taken. I think humility is a virtue. Respect for the other party, no matter how unjust or evil that party may be, is the preferred first step in a course of action.

Rush Limbaugh apologized. Those three words are big news because apologizing ain't Mr. Limbaugh's thing. The nation's top conservative radio talker got where he is today by making controversial and crude remarks, not apologizing for them. Soft, politically correct liberals issues apologies, not "Rushbo. " He tells it like it is, scornful critics be damned. In case you didn't hear the original remarks that forced Mr. Limbaugh to apologize — and yes, he was forced — he called Georgetown Law School student Sandra Fluke a "prostitute" and "slut" after she testified in front of a congressional panel about health care coverage for contraception.

Rush Limbaugh is the reigning shock jock of conservative political punditry - insults, outrage and outsized bluster are his stock in trade - so it takes quite an uproar for him to apologize. But that's what he has done at least twice now, if unconvincingly, after calling 30-year-old Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" and "prostitute" for testifying to a Congressional panel in favor of the Obama administration's birth control mandate. Last week's personal attack was outrageous, particularly given that Ms. Fluke's testimony was never about her desire to have "recreational sexual activities" as Mr. Limbaugh continued to describe the matter in his on-line apology.