Bosch Fawstin, the winner of the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas last year, put it succinctly: “I had nothing to do with the atrocity in Orlando. You had nothing to do with it. America had nothing to do with it. Only a devout Muslim did.”
Spencer Cox did not murder 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last Saturday night. Nor some climate of hatred among “balding, youngish, middle-age straight, white, male, Republican, politicians” that he appears to be blaming for the massacre murder 49 people in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last Saturday night. By his own account, Cox himself didn’t even engage wittingly in any bullying of gays: “There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay.”
The 49 people who were murdered in Orlando were not killed by one of Spencer Cox’s classmates or anyone else like them, that is, by anyone who is now balding, youngish, middle-age straight, white, male, and Republican. They weren’t killed by the failure of anyone to treat them with kindness, dignity and respect when they were in high school. They weren’t killed by anyone who was not in that nightclub that night. They were killed by an Islamic jihadi acting avowedly in the name of Islam and in accord with its teachings.
Who is responsible for the deaths of those 49 people? Omar Mateen. The man who pulled the trigger. This apology from Spencer Cox is just an asinine endeavor to shift the blame away from where it truly lies. Cox is engaging in maudlin moral posturing to claim for some spurious virtue. The only result is that more people will remain ignorant and complacent about the real threat that the wants to murder more gays — and many, many others, including Spencer Cox.
“Utah lawmaker offers moving apology to LGBT community,” by Susan Miller, USA Today, June 16, 2016 (thanks to Steve):
Repercussions from the Sunday massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub have been many in the past few days. But one of the most unusual came when a politician apologized for his past homophobia.
Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, struggled to keep his composure at a vigil Monday evening in Salt Lake City for victims of the rampage, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. The emotional and riveting speech has rippled across social media and is being applauded by some in the LGBT community.
Cox started on a light, self-deprecating note, saying “I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-age straight, white, male, Republican, politician… with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels. I am probably not who you expected to hear from today.”…
“I grew up in a small town and went to a small rural high school,” he told those assembled at the vigil. “There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize. Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you.”
He went on: “I’m here because, yesterday morning, 49 Americans were brutally murdered. And it made me sad. And it made me angry. And it made me confused. I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does.”…
“And I am speaking now to the straight community. How did you feel when you heard that 49 people had been gunned down by a self-proclaimed terrorist? That’s the easy question. Here is the hard one: Did that feeling change when you found out the shooting was at a gay bar at 2 a.m. in the morning? If that feeling changed, then we are doing something wrong.”
Queerty, an online magazine and newspaper covering the gay-oriented lifestyle, hailed the speech with this headline: “GOP lawmaker gets it right on Orlando attack; this Is the Republican Party we need.”…

Jerry says
What we really need is not better gun control
but, rather, better Koran control.
Guns do not motivate Muslims or the Korans to
kill and never fire themselves on their own initiative.
The Korans, however, motivate Muslims to kill,
using guns when available, IED’s, knives, axes
cricket bats, incendiary fuel filled bottles, cars,
trucks, planes and airliners and more.
We urgently need Koran Control, Mosque
Control and Muslim Control.
Jerry says
Should I change my name? or will you?
Jerry says
I meant that in a light-hearted way. I don’t mind being mistaken for you, you’re probably smarter than me anyway, most are. 🙂
t. says
Spencer Cox’s confusion and delirious state are not but some of the many rotten fruits that the western education system has mass produced for the last 40 years.
Many other examples of that mental state of confusion, delirium and willful denial of reality are out there filling all levels of government, academic institutions, media outlets and of course starting at the top with the current liar in chief and his soul mates in western Europe.
David says
We should debate whether or not certain weapons should be owned by the general public and if so how licensed and how background checked.
But “no one blamed the gun when the dentist shot the lion.”
It wasn’t “the gun”.
This was a devout Muslim who did the shooting. If not, someone please explain that he was not motivated by the Koran or not.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt.
The Vilest of Creatures says
The reason for his guilt is that when he heard that a Muslim had shot all those people he thought they said Mormon instead of Muslim
Jerry says
Cox is engaging in maudlin moral posturing to claim for some spurious virtue. –Spencer
That’s what I was going to say. 😉
I don’t think Cox’s diluting the issue of islamic jihad with his personal regrets helps at all. And frankly it seems rather selfish for him to personalize this for his own aggrandizement. Suddenly it’s no longer about about islam’s bigotry and the terror it’s causing, it’s about his own misjudgment of others and the guilt he bears because of it. I’m sorry, but it strikes me as a self-serving misdirection. I’m sure you’re a nice guy, Cox. But I don’t want to hear your sultry past regrets, there’s more important things to worry about. Like islam’s hatred of non-muslims and the terror it’s causing. That’s what Orlando is about, that’s the larger issue for me. Not your self-imposed crisis intervention for resolving your past.
Jerry says
(I hope he cries when he reads this. lol)
Ammianus says
Just so. This kind of whining, teary eyed moral posturing is intended as virtue signaling. It is bad enough when friends and acquaintances engage in it, but when public figures on the right like Cox, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do it I fear the result will be the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton and her leftist cohort.
Jerry says
That’s right. Today they’re bleeding hearts for islam, tomorrow headless corpses for allah. That’s how weak appeasers end up with islam.
Veronica N says
Cox is a total jerk and I’m ashamed to admit that he is our Lt Governor. Apologizing for what a radical Muslim did!!! I’m glad he is running for re-election because I WILL NOT BE VOTING FOR THIS MORON!! He is NO better then the other idiot Governor, Herbert and I have NO plans of voting for that idiot either. We have enough maudlin moral posturing Mormons in the Utah communities without having to put up with the same jerks in our political offices!
WCM says
What a pitiful excuse for a man. Yet another example of the level to which Western Civilization has declined. With sheep such as this for a “leader,” it is not possible to defeat Islam. This “man” should just sign up for a Bacha bāzī course so he could serve his Masters accordingly.
Jerry says
What a pitiful excuse for a man.
My thoughts exactly. What a tactless thing for him to do. But ya know there’s no limit to the number of people willing to excuse islam and the muslims that murder for its doctrine. I don’t care if they do this excusing out of ignorance or design, they’re all dangerous to me.
Jay Boo says
Expect Obama to do one of his (Islam is peace) apology to Muslim tours in Orlando.
Obama may wish to bring along Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox as a scapegoat.
John A. Marre says
So that’s it. His guilt is so overpowering that he takes on the guilt of the Orlando massacre. Because he bullied kids in school he is burdened with the guilt that rightly belongs only on the shoulders of the now-dead Muslim murderer.
gravenimage says
He probably isn’t even atoning for something like bullying kids in school–but just for being a straight white man of “privilege”.
mortimer says
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox is apologizing for Islam? Is he the dope of the year?
The Koran, the hadiths, the Sira, Shari law manuals, canonical commentaries, fatwas of Al Azhar University, Islamic history all confirm that execution of homosexuals is NORMATIVE ISLAM, rather than an aberration.
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox hasn’t read any of the source texts of Islam, but seems to be presenting himself, preposterously, as an authority on what Islam teaches.
Jerry says
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox is apologizing for Islam? Is he the dope of the year?
My thought exactly. With his own past bigotry he’s trying to absorb the responsibility for this heinous act by a jihadist. Why not just nail yourself on a cross and forgive everyone? Cox, have you ever beat your wife or raped a kid? there’s a lot of muslims that might benefit from your past regrets.
gravenimage says
No, he’s not apologizing for Islam–he’s apologizing for being a “middle-age straight, white, male, Republican”–as if that automatically makes him by default responsible for this horrifying act of mass murder.
What madness.
This is what happens when you take the modern Western trope that we are “all responsible” when something bad happens seriously.
For instance, a recent headline in the Courier-Journal read, “Who’s in Charge?: We are all responsible for gun violence in America”.
What twaddle–when ‘everyone’ is responsible for bad things, then no one is.
And this is not uncommon–you find sentiments like this all the time.
Jay Boo says
Ok gun owners, — your turn.
Go on say you are sorry, you know you want to.
Obama says so.
While there may be some legitimate debate over guns and gun laws, that is clearly not Obama’s end game. When Obama rules out Islam, it initially creates the perception that he is weak and caving in. In order to counter that true image, Obama projects blame elsewhere so he can distract from Islam and his own gross incompetence.
When Obama comes out swinging “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more” against guns as the villain, the MSM coos with loving affection at his distraction and forgets all about Islam.
Plutarchus says
OF THE 57 MOSLEM COUNTRIES WHICH IS THE ONLY ONE WHERE GAY SEX ISN’T CRIMINALIZED AND FULLY PROTECTED BY LAW?
For the answer click http://www.apollospeaks.com/?p=17768
WCM says
I was certain you were going to say, “the U.S.A.” But, I forgot about die Türkei.
And then, there are the Afghans and their charming custom of “bacha bāzī” (Google “dancing boys of Afghanistan). Perhaps ol’ Omar Mateen was his dad’s or uncles’ “boy toy.” Hmmmm? Take a look at this:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/taliban-honey-trap-boys-kill-afghan-police-034032649.html?ref=gs
Plutarchus says
Interesting thought provoking theory. You’re right about Turkey. Amazingly gay sex has been legal there for 150 years-remember the rape of Lawrence of Arabia in the film? However economic and social discrimination against gays is also legal in Turkey. Gays can be legally denied jobs, housing and any goods and services based on their sexual orientation. To survive in Turkey it’s best for gays to hide their shame.
I wonder, could it be that Mateen went on his bloody jihadist rampage to atone for the sin of homosexuality fearing that being conventionally devout and attending mosque four times a week wouldn’t be enough to earn him paradise?
WCM says
Possibly so, in his twisted, indoctrinated mind. After all, Islam is a “works-based” (totalitarian) system, with “religion” as its version of “Big Brother.”
So, he had to perform a really great act to gain the attention of his allah, the capricious moon-god–one of Satan’s high-performance minions.
gravenimage says
Raping Infidels–including males–in order to humiliate them is perfectly Halal. Consensual same sex love and affection is a very different matter.
Westman says
I’m going out on a limb, and suggest that this fellow’s remarks should be seen in the light of Islamic ideological ignorance. We can be certain that the media stuck a microphone in his face hoping for something sellable or a “gotcha”. I’ve seen the media in planning meetings; two sources are more important than truth and sometimes there is an agenda.
There may be a component of virtue signaling in Cox’s remarks, but they seem genuine although completely devoid of the part Islamic doctrine played in the tragedy. I think they were honest – from his perspective and background, not ours.
In past generations, in the Intermountain West, many young people grew up without any knowledge of homosexuality; a preference that now is daily in the news, etc. It seems absurd unless you grew up in rural Mormondom.
sam says
What the f**** is wrong with people?
It is ISLAM, iSLAM yes ISLAM. What is it that people can not get about this cult?
We are no different than Europeans. We will not wake up to Islam even Muslims nuke us.
Maybe we deserve Islam in America if we can be so stupid.
dts says
Apologies from imams formerly advocating murderous hatred of the gay community based on religion would be far, far more in order here. I’m a gay guy. I survived high school in the U.S. I don’t KNOW that I would have survived it in, say, Pakistan (chances would certainly have been lower than here, to say the very least) and if I truly had to pick, I’d take my chances with “homophobic right wingers in the lands of their majority” over “homophobic pious muslims in the lands of their majority” based on the clearly visible evidence that the latter group is the less physically survivable one. I’d prefer it most of all of course if instead of making or needing a bunch of “hate laws”, we brought up ladies and gentlemen who treated others around them well, and who wouldn’t require external legislation to do so. And I’ll take that one with my billion dollars/year and ocean-front villa in Arizona on the side, haha. Hopefully we will all GET my more reasonable wishes underlying this whole lunch-break rant: that the US at least will not become another land of muslim majority and sharia law now or ever in the future and that we all remain free to disagree on those things that we disagree on. I used to want to move to Europe. You couldn’t give me that dump these days.
westman says
Dts, I have gay relatives who I love dearly. It’s taken time as an adult to understand or to even recognize that human intimacy and gender orientation have a wide natural distribution.
l’m glad to live in an area where we have, largely, accepted gays as normal productive caring people. You would be welcome in my home and safe in my community.
gravenimage says
Non-Muslim Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox apologizes to LGBTs for Orlando jihad massacre
…………………….
I can see him saying that he is standing with them in sympathy and solidarity–but why is an Infidel who had nothing to do with this act of Jihad *apologizing* for it?
The unearned guilt so many in the West feel is getting more and more pathological.
Angemon says
How much of those expectations are centred around you willingly giving your alleged “privileges”?
Carolyne says
I think Spencer Cox’s magic underwear is too tight.
Mark A says
Spencer Cox is missing that basic point completely.
A radical Muslim did this. The Koran tells Muslims to do this. This radical Muslim declared his allegiance to a radical Islamist “state” that has openly declared war on all non-Muslims, and has specifically mentioned its declaration of war on the U.S.
That radical Muslim “state” has encouraged radical Islamists to attack soft targets in western countries. The Pulse nightclub falls within that definition.
What part of all this does Spencer Cox not understand?