An apology from Herman Cain on Muslim comments

AN APOLOGY FROM HERMAN CAIN: Finally. Herman Cain, who has come under fire for his controversial position on Islam and frequent demagoguing of Muslims, has released a statement – which I'm going to consider, for the purposes of maintaining faith in the political system, an apology. He said: "While I stand by my opposition to the interference of shariah law into the American legal system, I remain humble and contrite for any statements I have made that might have caused offense to Muslim Americans and their friends. I am truly sorry for any comments that may have betrayed my commitment to the U.S. Constitution and the freedom of religion guaranteed by it. Muslims, like all Americans, have the right to practice their faith freely and peacefully." Weigel has the full statement, and writes: "Robert Putnam's surveys of American religious opinion show that African-Americans actually have the most affinity toward Muslims. It's a function, he thinks, of the relatively high amount of contact between the two groups (which overlap, of course)."

Still, such statistics can't detract heavily from the kind of remarks made by Cain in the past, who has even said that he wouldn't consider appointing Muslim to his cabinet as president, among other remarks. Anyway, this is a good step forward. We can only hope, therefore, that more are likely to follow.