Uh-oh! You've just insulted someone's ethnicity/religion/sexual orientation and/or hinted the President might be in physical danger if he visits your state. Now what? A simple "Whoops!" won't cut it anymore, not when modern masters have elevated the post-gaffe backpedal into a sophisticated rhetorical art. Confused? Intimidated? Just follow these rules:
1. Suggest the problem lies not in what you said but in how others reacted to it. Warning: This tactic can sometimes compound the original faux pas (see below).
"If I offended anyone, I'm sorry." --U.S. Senator Al D'Amato's first apology for mocking Simpson judge Lance Ito with a pseudo-Japanese accent
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