Cheap reparations

Wes Pruden heaps well-deserved ridicule on the Senate’s apology for not passing anti-lynching legislation, and on Wachovia Bank’s apology for having acquired banks that had acquired banks that were involved with slavery.
The Senate’s apology wasn’t good enough for John Kerry. He expressed dismay that the legislation didn’t have 100 sponsors and that it passed by a voice vote. In an unusual twist, Kerry called for an “up-or-down vote.” But this way, the Senate can apologize in a few years for the fact that the bill didn’t have 100 sponsors and only got a voice vote.
This legislation demonstrates bipartisan lack of regard for principles of causation. The Senators doing the apologizing didn’t cause anti-lynching laws not to pass, and their apology will have no effect on anything.

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