Under pressure, Yuma mayor apolgizes

by David Safier

I posted about Yuma Mayor Al Krieger's comment that should be jaw dropping but is the kind of thing we're hearing so often from Republicans in high places, it's almost losing its shock value. Which says more about the retrograde state of the Republican Party than the outrageousness of his comment.

On Memorial Day, speaking at the Desert Lawn Cemetery, gave his opinion on gays in the military:

I cannot believe that a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people could do what those men have done in the past.

Friday, Krieger apologized, not for his views but for the fact that he should be more tolerant, even of people he finds extremely "disagreeable":

As mayor I must respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they are with my personal beliefs or my personal moral standards.

I apologize for my comments at the Memorial Day service at Desert Lawn cemetery on Memorial Day.

Lifestyle choices, Mayor? Kind of like deciding to have a latte at Starbucks every morning? I guess I shouldn't have expected anything better than that from you.

The only good thing about the apology is that Krieger felt the heat and knew he had to do something to put out the fire. The moral? Make people like Krieger feel the heat by exposing them for what they are.