If anything, the “apology” was worse
We live in a world of extreme language. Everything is “insane” or “outrageous” or “unbelievable.” The smallest box of detergent on the grocery shelf, small enough to fit in your pocket, is labeled “Giant Size!” We’ve become inured to it.
So when I describe GOP lawmaker, Tom O’Mara’s latest performance as an “unhinged, shrieking, obscenity-laden rant,” I’m not merely using words for their “made you look” shock value. It was exactly as described.
Background: What Could Go Wrong?
A bit of background: Tom O’Mara, one of those “family values Republicans” we hear so much about, is a loud voice in favor of allowing a Texas firm, Crestwood Midstream Partners, to store huge amounts of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), in tapped-out, unlined salt mines near Reading, New York, near Seneca Lake. The caverns were used to house the same substance 30 years ago. As you might imagine, if implemented, the storage of LPG in those caverns would be an environmental disaster waiting to happen. The Finger Lakes region, which includes Reading, is home to thriving wine and tourism industries; if those caverns were to collapse, which they well could, the resulting LPG spill would be catastrophic for the area’s jobs, its drinking water (much of which comes from Seneca Lake), and its diverse and lovely biosphere.
Naturally, Crestwood’s defense of the gas storage facility amounts to “Ain’t nothing gonna happen, y’all just shet up about it.” The firm doesn’t talk about its history of spills and water quality violations, and it certainly doesn’t want you to know that the “scientific reviews” it has performed are, in the words of the environmental organization Gas Free Seneca, “grossly inadequate.” Crestwood won’t let the public see an independent scientific study of the project’s safety that is reportedly highly critical of the proposal. (Crestwood does note that the project would offset the calamitous impact of any LPG spill by creating twelve, count ’em twelve, jobs.)
In short, O’Mara is weighing whether he stands for protecting the environment and jobs in his region, or for a project that could well destroy that environment and those jobs. O’Mara is a Republican. Which side do you think he’s going to take?
“I’ve Had Enough of You and Your Kind”
On the evening of December 13, an area resident approached O’Mara and his wife while the two were sitting in their car, and began a discussion with O’Mara about his support for the Crestwood facility. I’ll grant you, buttonholing someone while they’re in their car is a bit unusual, and had O’Mara politely declined to speak with the fellow under those circumstances, no one would have blinked an eye. It’s also worth noting that O’Mara wasn’t aware that he was being surreptitiously recorded.
The conversation went on for about four and a half minutes before O’Mara lost his composure. Until then, the exchange between the anonymous citizen, who is clearly not a fan of Crestwood’s likely devastation of the Finger Lakes region, and O’Mara was polite if a bit stiff. At one point, the citizen asks in reference to earlier storage cavern collapses,
“So all the terrible vault collapses and all that, that’s a good thing?”
O’Mara replies that since nothing happened in the Reading salt mines thirty years before, nothing will ever happen in the future, no sirree, nuh-uh.
About four minutes into the conversation, O’Mara’s wife leaned in to defend her man, telling the citizen:
“We love this area ? he grew up here, his whole life, and protects this area. He would never, ever, ever support anything that would contaminate this area in any way, shape or form.”
The citizen replies,
“Mm, that’s interesting. That’s interesting.”
Obviously he isn’t buying it.?At that point, O’Mara had had enough. He went from stiffly polite to completely unhinged, and launched into a foul-mouthed tirade that clearly took the citizen questioner aback. You can judge for yourself in the video, but fair warning: it is very much not safe for work or for your Aunt Esmerelda polishing her silver. O’Mara loses his composure at the 4:15 mark.
Don’t want to watch the video? Here’s a partial quote of what he said. Again, so not safe for work.
“What do you mean, ‘That’s interesting?’ What the f*ck do you mean, ‘That’s interesting?'”
Yes, because “that’s interesting” apparently means something entirely different to O’Mara. At this point, he clambers out of the car and goes completely ballistic.
“For crying out loud, what the f*ck do you mean ‘That’s interesting’? I did nothing but other than sitting here answering your f*cking questions and you tell me that’s f*cking interesting? You’re a f*cking douchebag, get the f*ck out of my face, right now. Now! Move. Move. Move, asswipe, now. I’ve had enough of you and your kind. Get the f*ck out of here. I’ve had enough!”
“You and your kind?” Perhaps O’Mara would care to explain exactly what “kind” of person he’s referring to. No? Didn’t think so. Anyway, the quote doesn’t do justice to the entirely disjointed, roaring, barely contained violence of O’Mara’s ranting.
The citizen attempted to calm the senator down, repeatedly saying “I’m out, I’m out of here” and apparently backing away from O’Mara, who by now is all but frothing at the mouth. You listen to it yourselves and tell me if you think O’Hara should have been carted away by strong men in white suits. I’m thinking yes.
I’ve had training in defusing crisis situations, and O’Mara hits all the marks — overreaction to a mild or nonexistent provocation, belligerent and physically threatening physical actions, complete lack of emotional and verbal control, and repeated use of obscenity. I have every reason to believe that had the citizen not backed away from O’Mara, the senator would have attempted to beat him bloody.
It’s Your Fault I Reacted the Way I Did
I first encounted the term “nopology” when I read about Rush Limbaugh’s so-called apology for slut-shaming and slandering Sandra Fluke. It was the same kind of “apology” rendered by spousal abusers ? “Sorry I broke your face, honey, but you shouldn’t have eyeballed me. If you would just control yourself and understand how I get, I wouldn’t have to hit you.”
O’Mara didn’t say anything public until the video was posted on the Albany Times-Union’s Website. He then issued a classic nopology that hit all the high notes: passive verb tense (“regretfully, a fist came into contact with your nose”), shifting the blame to the victim, claims of being unfairly characterized and provoked, the entire laundry list.
Let’s take it apart, shall we?
“In my role serving the people of my district, I’m often approached by constituents who have legitimate questions or need assistance. I’m always happy to talk, regardless of the hour or situation. Sadly, you can’t be too sure of everyone’s intentions anymore and so it’s just common sense to stay cautious.”
No argument there, Senator, though again, had you found the situation questionable, you could have politely declined to speak with the guy at the outset. You chose to engage.
“On the evening of December 13th, my wife and I were approached while getting into our car by someone we did not know, seemingly to ask a question about a sensitive issue. It began cordially and we tried to have a courteous and polite conversation, even though we were in a dimly lit parking lot with a stranger, who never identified himself and who still hasn’t, leaning in my opened car door.”
I love the implication that O’Mara and his wife were being threatened in some way by this “stranger … in a dimly lit parking lot.” He wasn’t carjacking you, Tommy. You could have just rolled up your window and driven off.
“It soon became obvious that this individual’s intent was not to have a brief or friendly discussion and be on his way. Truthfully, it began to feel a little threatening with this person leaning into our car, at close proximity for several minutes and becoming condescending to my wife. My only concern became personal safety and to get this person out of our car and away from us.”
Threat level red! Defcon Five! Except I watched the video, and I didn’t see any indications that anyone’s personal safety was being threatened ? that is, until you came roaring out of the car at the guy. Didn’t see any condescension towards your wife, either.
“In hindsight, and especially in light of the fact that he was surreptitiously recording the exchange, I should not have attempted to respond to an unidentified stranger who was clearly looking to give me and my wife a hard time for his own purposes. He picked the wrong time and the wrong place to pull a stunt ? a dimly lit parking lot while leaning into someone’s vehicle to secretly record a conversation without ever truthfully identifying yourself. He may have thought he was just pulling off some kind of a clever trap, but he should understand that there’s no way for us to know his intentions at the time.”
Yes, yes, we know. You and your wife were in imminent danger, you feared for your lives, yadda yadda. Too bad you didn’t whip out your gat and stand your ground. Who would have objected? I mean, questioning you about your decisions and all that. We all know where this always leads. You would have had no choice but to blow the guy halfway to Dead Man’s Hill.
“It’s regrettable that the exchange ultimately turned heated and, as an elected official, I regret the words and tone that were used.”
Here’s where the passive voice comes in. The exchange didn’t just “turn heated,” Tommy. You heated it up. They were your “words and tone that were used” in a rage-filled, profanity-laden tirade, Tom, not the citizen’s. Own your words.
“I still don’t like the underhanded tactics, but I should know better.”
You wrap up your nopology in a last-ditch effort to focus the blame on the citizen (the “underhanded tactics” apparently justify your screaming retort), and a flippant half-acknowledgement that you “should know better” than to … well, what, Tom? Lose your mind? Accost a citizen? Launch a full-bore verbal assault studded with F-bombs?
Uppity Peasants
It’s pretty clear what happened here. Like so many Republicans (and not a few Democrats), O’Mara is one of those lawmakers that considers himself part of the political and social aristocracy, far above the ordinary lives of the minions that occupy the social and economic rungs below his exalted self. He condescended to speak with one of those minions (and a liberal one at that ? how noblesse oblige of you, Tom!) for a few moments, but when he finally had enough of being questioned by one of the minions, he lost his self-control and thundered his patrician displeasure at the “little guy” who dared challenge him on something he feels should be done.
Tom doesn’t give a damn about the Finger Lakes region, its pristine drinking water, its gorgeous natural beauty, or even its jobs ? those are all minions’ concerns. He just cares about doing the bidding of his corporate patrons and keeping his position amongst the chosen few. After all, he goes golfing with the guys from Crestwood, and not the chumps out there earning a living outside of O’Mara’s bubble. He can always jet to the Caribbean (on Crestwood’s dime, no doubt) if he wants scenery, and Felipe the manservant is always there to bring him some clean bottled water.
I doubt we’ll see another of these videos from O’Mara any time soon. He obviously found his last encounter with a minion exasperating and offensive to his patrician sensibilities, and any future encounters with the peasantry will no doubt be done in strictly controlled circumstances.
But, if you do find yourself in close proximity to Tom O’Mara, by all means exercise your Constitutional right to hold your elected officials accountable. Just keep a cattle prod handy in case he loses control again.
H/T Dylan Hock and If You Only News.
