Herman Cain offers a non-apology apology for electrified border fence ‘joke’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The classic non-apology apology is to say "I apologize if anyone was offended by what I said." Not that "I apologize for what I said," but rather that "anyone was offended by what I said."

Herman Cain was in Phoenix on Monday to seek the support of crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio, so naturally he was asked about the recent kerfuffle over his proposal-slash-"joke" about building an electrified fence on the border to electrocute anyone who tries to sneak across the border.

Cain offered the classic non-apology apology, then doubled-down on his border fence plan (he probably was just showing off for crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio). Herman Cain On Electrified Fence On Border: I Was Joking, But It’s A Serious Plan (VIDEO):

First it was a joke. Then people thought it wasn’t a joke. Then Herman Cain said it was a joke. And on Monday, Cain said his proposal for a 20-foot electrified border fence might not be a joke after all.

Cain was in Arizona on Monday night to meet with controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is under federal investigation by the Justice Department for potential civil rights abuses.

So of course Cain was asked about his joke/proposal for a border fence that has signs which say “it can kill you” in English and Spanish. James King reports for the Phoenix New Times:

“Let me first say it was a joke, and some people don’t think that it was a good joke, and it’s probably not a joke that you’re supposed to make if you’re a presidential candidate,” Cain continued. “I apologize if it offended anyone. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.”

Only, it might not be a joke, he later said, before finally saying he just doesn’t want to offend anyone.

“I don’t like to offend anyone…however, I don’t apologize for using a combination of a fence. And it might be electrified — I’m not walking away from that,” Cain backtracked. “I just don’t want to offend anybody. It was a joke to the extent in the context of the views of that speech, but in terms of what we need to do, I fully intend to do so because I’m more sensitive to our citizens being hurt.” 

Here’s the video:

Josh Marshall added in an earlier post Schrödinger’s Fence | Talking Points Memo:

And now it turns out that back in August — when he was still in Newt/Santorum/Gary Johnson territory — he suggested building a moat filled with alligators. And presumably that was a joke. But how do you know other than by the increasingly hard to spot criterion of objective ridiculousness?