Get Out Your Checkbooks - House Issues Apology for Slavery

There's no time to act on oil drilling or any of America's pressing problems because the House of Representative is too busy groveling to dead people:

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.

"Today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The resolution, passed by voice vote, was the work of Tennessee Democrat Steve Cohen, the only white lawmaker to represent a majority black district. Cohen faces a formidable black challenger in a primary face-off next week.

Congress has issued apologies before — to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws.

Next comes reparations, without a doubt. More thoughts on this issue in a previous post here.

And what sayeth the Obamessiah?

"I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it's Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds."

Reparations are coming, folks. Get out your checkbooks.

And while Congress is in the mood to apologize, where's my apology for $4 a gallon gasoline since Congress won't allow us to drill for oil on our own land? Where's my apology for Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, Chuckie Schumer, Maxine Waters, Barney Frank, and many dozens of other fools who have been elected to Congress? Where's my apology for a Democratic Party that's so vacuous that they'd nominate Barack Obama to be president?

If we're going to start issuing meaningless apologies, I'm sure there are lots of aggrieved groups out there who deserve one just as much.

UPDATE: Scrappleface adds his unique touch to the story:

House Sorry for Slavery, Jim Crow, Affirmative Action
By Scott Ott on slavery

(2008-07-30) — The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday formally apologized for the U.S. government role in slavery and the Jim Crow laws which legalized segregation for a century after the emancipation of slaves in 1865.

In addition to the apology for “the misdeeds committed against African-Americans” who were held in bondage and lived under segregation, the House also voted to end Affirmative Action policies which “treat black people as if they’re not as capable, intelligent or resourceful as those of other races.”

The legislation ends government discrimination in granting contracts to black-owned firms, as well as “the scourge of demeaning bias” in college admissions and hiring.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus hailed the elimination of “this last vestige of institutionalized prejudice,” and announced the dissolution of the Caucus “now that Congress has fulfilled the Founders’ promise of equality of opportunity under law.”

If it had happened that way I might have actually supported it.