re: #2 jogiff

“Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who in 2007 became the chamber’s first-ever Muslim member, says several Republican House members quietly approached him to apologize for the Abedin episode.”

To me that sounds like the most heartening part of this story. Public apologies from politicians are always suspect. When the wrong-doer apologizes personally and privately then there’s no political benefit and they probably sincerely feel bad.

Yes and no. It can also mean that they’re afraid to come out publicly to denounce it, lest they offend some of the “base.” Reminds me when a “compassionate conservative” / Dubya-style friend of mine attracted racist comments by his usual greek chorus on a facebook post. Rather than calling them out in the comments, he purposely chose to private message them, lest he show a crack in party unity.