Joy Reid’s evasions don’t amount to an apology

People deserve a second chance, but Reid has another hurdle to clear. She spent the better part of last week insisting “unequivocally” the posts were the work of hackers, a claim that still doesn’t make sense and points to her having fabricated a misleading cover story.

Reacting on Monday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham posted a link to the New York Times article on Reid’s quasi-apology and tweeted: “Any time conservatives are criticized for a comment, post or tweet, they should simply respond: ‘I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things, because they are completely alien to me.’”

And, indeed, Reid’s reputation seems to be safe with many of her colleagues, some of whom flooded her with support this weekend. “I’ve never been prouder to work with her than I am now,” Rachel Maddow tweeted in response to Reid’s explanation on Saturday.

That’s awfully charitable, not because people deserve to be forgiven for old blog posts (and they do), but because it requires you to excuse away Reid’s questionable diversion tactics and apparent dishonesty. From a journalist, a purveyor of truth and facts, those posts absolutely require a real explanation, not an evasion like this one. To Ingraham’s point, if Reid’s peers set a precedent that allows people to weather similar controversies with similar evasions, it’s unlikely they’ll be feeling as generous when those people happen to be conservative.

In my mind, if Reid had just owned up instead of blaming hackers, her apology would suffice. But by giving her a pass before Reid answers for her dubious explanation, her allies are setting a terrible precedent.