Just today I wrote a piece saying Anna Griffin impresses me, and used her latest column (about Sam Adams and education) as an example why. I like her style. And her clarity. (She doesn’t mumble.)

I tend to agree with Lelo. But what the hey. Everyone has an opinion.

“I’m sorry I called you a butthead. Mommy used poor language, because sometimes she’s an idiot. But please don’t repeat that behavior.”

That doesn’t seem insubstantial or disingenuous to me. Rather, it seems like a conversation both sides can learn from.

I like Amanda. I voted for her. As a taxpayer and as a woman, I want her to succeed. I should have used more precise, less gender-loaded language. But I also believe she needs to recognize that at times what you accurately term her “steady ferocity” can, at its most extreme, work against the very causes she’s trying to support. There’s a difference between being an activist and a leader, and bringing her activist’s skills into a leadership role — learning to challenge and push and prod while also building consensus — is the task ahead of her.

Personally, I think she can do it.

Also: Oregonian columnists — even those of us who mumble and lack substance — have permanent websites so our stuff doesn’t disappear after 14 days.

Thanks for reading. Love the blog.

Imagine it in the voice of a child: “I apologize for calling you a butt head. But you really can be a butt head. Anyway, sorry I called you a butt head. Just don’t be a butt head, OK?”

That’s pretty much what Griffin is saying. It’s a non-apology, completely lacking in substance and humility.