Dr. David McKalip Apologizes Directly to President Obama via PR Firm, for Racist E-mail Showing him as a Witch Doctor with a Loin Cloth

Remember the above racist email sent by the right wing critics of President Obama's health care plan? Well, according to Talking Points Memo, David McKalip, a Florida neurosurgeon and healthcare reform opponent who sent a racist email showing the same racist picture portraying President Obama as a witch doctor with a loin cloth and a bone through his nose, has apologized directly to the president.

Through a Public Relations representative, Mr. McKalip put out the following statement:

DR. DAVID MCKALIP SENDS APOLOGY DIRECTLY TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

McKalip apologizes for sending insensitive image via e-mail

St. Petersburg, FL (July 23, 2009) - David McKalip, M.D., brain and spine neurosurgeon of St. Petersburg has never been shy in expressing where he stands regarding President Barack Obama's health-care reform. Despite McKalip's position on health system reform, he sends a sincere apology for a forwarded image of President Obama in an e-mail depicting the president in Papua New Guinean tribal garb with a logo beneath it saying, "Obama Care."

"I genuinely regret the decision I made in passing this e-mail message along. Directly to President Obama, I sincerely apologize for offending him. This was, in no way whatsoever, my intention. The image has nothing to do with my feelings or thoughts on any race or culture. I recognize that this image is offensive and hope that the nation refocuses on assuring all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health care with no party interfering in the patient-physician relationship.

My intention is to focus directly on the issue at hand, which is putting financial and decision-making power into the hands of patients and taking it from government and insurance companies," said McKalip. The image forwarded was from a long chain of e-mails and not created by McKalip. Source: Talking Points Memo

According to TPM, McKalip wasn't always so contrite in his response to the flap. I think someone with a lot of might and influence leaned heavily on him. This apology is hollow and does not ring true to me. He's only seemingly contrite because he got caught.