Non-Apology Watch: Sarah Blyth is sorry if Melissa De Genova was offended

Another day, another personality conflict between Vancouver's civic politicians.

You see, Non-Partisan Association park commissioner Melissa De Genova is not pleased with Vision Vancouver park board chair Sarah Blyth. Why? Because of some godforsaken personal fucking drama that should be put aside in the interest of serving the public.

In this ongoing case of She Said, She Said, De Genova is seeking the removal of Blyth as board chair along with a censure, after Blyth called De Genova a "liar" on Twitter on March 13.

This morning, Blyth tweeted the following message.

— sarah blyth (@sarahblyth) April 18, 2013

Of course, the eagle-eyed among us know that this is not an apology—it's actually a passive-aggressive non-apology.

What "I'm sorry if I offended you" really means is "You got upset and I don't understand why but your feelings are your feelings and I take no responsibility for my actions."

This is bizarre to me since Blyth obviously knows what a real apology is. In fact, she tweeted one out on April 17.

Sometimes debate gets a little heated on twitter and people say things they regret. Ive done it, Im sorry and I will not do it again.

— sarah blyth (@sarahblyth) April 18, 2013

See how is not qualified with the if modifier? It accepts blame and offers unmitigated regret for actions. It clearly acknowledges personal responsibility. So I'm unsure why Blyth couldn't repeat that in subsequent tweets.

But this sort of immature back-biting drama seems to be a favourite of park board members. Anyone remember Sandwichgate 2012?

Honestly, I've seen playgrounds more civilized than this.

I beg our local politicians to a) learn something—anything—about social-media etiquette and b) leave the name-calling at home.