Refuting Conservative Dogma: My Reply to 'Why Do Liberals Never Admit When They're Wrong?'

On Quora, a member who identifies as a middle-school student and "an outspoken conservative and Christian girl" asks:

Why do liberals never admit when they're wrong?

I replied:

Funny. I seem to remember at least several instances of liberals admitting they made mistakes and even apologize for them.

When Al Franken was a Senator from Minnesota, he was accused of improper behavior by model and entertainer Leeann Tweeden (now a conservative talk radio host) who worked in the entertainment industry when Franken was still a comedian and humor writer. The behavior did not occur when Franken was in the Senate; it allegedly happened when he and his accuser were on a USO tour in 2006. (Tweeden accused Franken of two things: improper kissing while rehearsing for a skit, and mimicking the improper touching of her breasts while posing for a photograph.)

Photo Credit: NBC News

In the interest of fairness, let’s look at why Tweeden’s claim of impropriety on the part of Franken rings hollow, even though he resigned in 2018 from the U.S. Senate.

That’s the same woman who accused Franken of improper behavior, playfully slapping Robin Williams's rear end and pretending to kiss him passionately at a USO tour in 2004. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

When Tweeden made the accusations in her blog and in an interview with her radio station, Franken said, “I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann ... As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."

This unfolded in 2017, in the midst of the #MeToo movement’s rise to prominence.

Did Franken apologize? Yes. Not only in the above statement, but also in a later and longer apology, which the accuser publicly accepted.

But it didn’t end there. In addition to his public apology, Franken resigned from his Senate seat.

A lesser-known instance of a liberal acknowledging that he or she was wrong can be found in Ken Burns’ magnificent 2017 documentary The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick:

As I write in my review of The Weight of Memory (1973-Onward):

Maybe this sounds like a cliché to those of you who have been reading this 10-part series of reviews about Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's The Vietnam War, but watching "The Weight of Memory" and the other episodes of this epic 18-hour documentary reaffirms my belief that history may not repeat itself, but echoes of the past do recur, like an earworm that won't go away.

I also share Ken Burns' belief that recent American history, including the acrimonious split in the American body politic between liberals and conservatives is one of the war's most devastating legacies. Just as Vietnam era conservative construction workers sneered disdainfully at young high school or college-age kids who had joined the antiwar movement out of either moral conviction or simple self-interest, many Americans who presently support the current President of the United States look down on Americans who oppose him.

In both cases, the conservatives dismiss the protests as being "disloyal" and "unpatriotic." Extremists who believe Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogans take their cues from Nixon's playbook and claim the protesters and the "mainstream media" are supported by a Communistic Democratic Party and the 21st Century right wing's favorite target of vitriol, George Soros.

In part, the hatred aimed at liberals, especially those that did not support the war in Vietnam, stems from some of the harsh words that the protesters said in mass demonstrations and to returning war veterans at the time. For conservatives, especially those in rural and working-class America who could not get their sons exempted from the draft or actually believed the U.S. was in the right, it must have been hard to hear returning GI's being greeted with epithets like "war criminal" or "baby killer" at the airport or while waiting for a taxi cab or a bus ride home.

And yet, The Vietnam War's conclusion also gives me a sense of hope that with age comes understanding and wisdom. In the segment about the creation of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC, veterans who fought in the war and members of the antiwar movement that tried to end it by any means necessary talk about "the wall" and how it affects them when they visit it.

"I've been to the wall more than once," says Nancy Biberman. "When I look back at the war and think of the horrible things we said to vets who were returning, calling them 'baby killers' and worse, I feel very sad about that. I can only say that we were kids too, just like they were. It grieves me, it grieves me today. It pains me to think of the things that I said and that we said. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

So yes, absolutely. Liberals do admit when they are wrong or make mistakes.

'The Vietnam War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick' Episode Review: 'The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward)'