The well-crafted apology has long been an essential tool for the PR practitioners. Americans tend to be a forgiving lot, and if you sound sincere, a multitude of sins will be forgiven, especially if you are famous. But as TheDeal.com suggests, we've been saturated with apologies, from Tiger Woods and Mark McGuire to Lloyd Blankfein and other Wall Street CEOs. They are starting to wear thin.

They just seem so calculated and obviously lawyer-ed. The New York Times opined recently: "Wall Street has a lot to apologize for, but contrition would be more convincing if it came with accountability: A resignation or a decision to forswear bonuses and certainly a pledge to stop trying to block desperately needed financial reforms." 

For more:
- here's the column

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