The rule of thumb in politics is that awkward apologies should usually be made on the eve of a much bigger news cycle.
Hillary Clinton followed that rule with a Facebook post explaining why she had protected an associate accused of sexual harassment. It wasn't so much a post as an essay. It clocks in at over 1,500 words making it what the media likes to call a longread.
That's another way to make sure no one reads through the whole thing.
Anyone who did discovered that...
1. Sexual harassment, like gay marriage, is a new phenomenon that Hillary Clinton couldn't have been expected to understand all the way back in 2007. And she's since evolved on it.
"We all need to be thinking about the complexities of sexual harassment, and be willing to challenge ourselves to reassess and question our own views," Hillary writes.
In typical Clinton/Obama fashion, lefty scandals become teaching opportunities for all of us. We're all complicit in Hillary's misconduct.
2. She takes the responsibility of firing people very seriously. (That would come as news to the White House Travel Office.)
3. She's very sad about her past decision. (But she doesn't address her ongoing relationship with the associate at the center of it.)
Early on, there's this baffling statement. "So I very much understand the question I’m being asked as to why I let an employee on my 2008 campaign keep his job despite his inappropriate workplace behavior. The short answer is this: If I had it to do again, I wouldn’t."
That's not remotely an answer.
Billy, why did you throw the ball through the window? If I had it to do again, I wouldn’t.
Instead of explaining her close ties with the man in question, Hillary Clinton frames everything in terms of general principles.
But that shouldn't be much of an issue.
"In other words, everyone’s now on their second chance, both the offenders and the decision-makers. Let’s do our best to make the most of it," Hillary writes.
Sorry, I don't think there are any more chances left for her. It's over.