Robertson Apologizes

After test-driving the ridiculous line that he was "misinterpreted by the AP," televangelist Pat Robertson apologized Wednesday for his comments calling for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (see my earlier post here). Said Robertson, "Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

Earlier today, Robertson had said of the incident "I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time." Actually he said ""If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." You can watch the video of Robertson's comments here.

I'm glad he's apologized. But he's still an embarrassment and a crackpot who doesn't deserve all the free publicity we've all given him for the past two days.