I am sorry

Let me first start with the background:

I believe I am truly blessed to have been born in the United States of America. I often tell people that I won the lottery. To be part of the longest-standing continuous democracy on the face of the earth for 250 years is something truly unique. I always focus on reminding my family how really blessed we are.

As a result of this blessing, I feel a responsibility to take time to self reflect on my unique situation as an American. My great grandparents and grandparents on both sides of my family were immigrants from Europe and started with very little. Nonetheless, they taught me a set of strong values. I was told to make sure I did my best to uphold these values and respectfully challenge others that don’t uphold them. I was constantly taught, “Harry, treat every human being the way you’d like to be treated. Do not call people derogatory names. Respect every human being, regardless of race, gender, and nationality. Set an example for others of how people should be treated.”

As I spent time this weekend on my self reflection, I realized that I’ve read many statements and actions by our senior government officials that violate these values, and I realize someone needs to apologize to the recipients of these statements. Since I’m so blessed to be an American, I decided I’m one of the people who should be apologizing.

Here are just a few of the things that I am sorry to see as an American, and I would ask the recipients and their families to accept my sincere apology:

1. I would like to apologize to the family of Robert Mueller, a decorated recipient of the bronze star in Vietnam, and the former head of the FBI. Mr. Mueller died the other day, and instead of recognizing him for all his achievements, President Trump stated: “Good, I am glad he’s dead.” I literally could not believe this comment from the president of the United States.😳
2. I would like to apologize to the Prime Minister of Japan and to all of my friends in Japan. When asked why President Trump did not let American allies know he was going to attack Iran, he told the Prime Minister in a press conference, “Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” Seriously?!?! I am embarrassed as an American. (Is this the way to treat allies?)😱
3. I would like to apologize to all of my friends and colleagues in Latin America. Clearly, we have significant issues regarding immigration. However, to categorize the people coming from Latin America as terrible people is not how to treat fellow human beings and allies: “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists….”
4. I would like to apologize to President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine. I am still embarrassed (for an incident that I think is two years old) when our president and vice president accused Zelenskyy of starting the war with Russia and not being thankful to the United States. Every time I watch that video, I feel the need to truly apologize as an American.
5. I am well aware that in war terrible things can happen. Nonetheless, I want to sincerely apologize to the Iranian parents who lost more than 100 of their children as a result of a missile attack on their school. As the father of five children and two grandchildren, I can only imagine how difficult this loss is for the parents and families involved.
6. I want to apologize to the members of the Supreme Court who performed their duties, but nonetheless, were called by our President “UnAmerican” and “should be ashamed of themselves.” Seriously?!?!
7. I really try to focus on having a balanced perspective and always referring to Saint Francis’s comment, “I seek to understand before I am understood.” In Minnesota there was a group of fraudsters who allegedly stole potentially billions of dollars of state funds. They happened to be of Somalian origin. As per our laws, they should be tried and punished for their offenses. However, I do not understand (at the risk of violating my rule of ‘seeking to understand’) why our president would make extremely derogatory comments about the entire country of Somalia and its citizens both in Somalia and in the United States who had nothing to do with this incident.

I could give many more examples, but I will stop here. It is shocking to see these things happening in the United States of America. I continue to pray that we return to the principles that made this a great country. 🙏🙏🙏