Robin Lakoff: Unapologetically Liberal

An author's political stance can often be obvious or can easily be extrapolated from a writing (Lakoff is crystal clear about his political orientation in "Don't Think of An Elephant") but what I find sort of comforting is R. Lakoff's need to explain herself. She has some very reasonable doubts concerning objective truth, and she is in good company. Why attempt to write objectively if you are ultimately being dishonest in doing so? Lakoff's openly liberal stance could potentially repel any number of conservatives, but none the less I find it respectable that she freely admits her subjectivity. Being honest seems like such a difficult thing to do in the media. It seems like a rarity.

I was considering Lakoff's observations about political apologies, and it seems to be the case that no matter what is done, no matter how terribly mistaken a politician might be, the savvy political being must remain "on top," and should pull some sort of rhetorical trickery. A synthetic apology of sorts. Never lose face. There are exceptions to this (another rarity), but apparently the political system that is in place discourages genuine admission of error. Is this a vestige from the days of the infallible absolute monarchs or evidence of the public's need to believe those in power are not making mistakes? Either way, it is disheartening, and somewhat baffling that those who are the making the most dire of decisions cannot afford the admission of their wrongs, and therefore must always keeping moving forward with their mistakes for the sake of consistency.