Don’t you wish politicians and others forced to apologize for saying something stupid didn’t use the words, “if I offended anyone” as a preamble?The most recent of these conditional apologies comes from state Rep. DebraLee Hovey, the no longer obscure legislator from the towns of Monroe, and unfortunately, Newtown.Ms. Hovey, the proud possessor of an NRA endorsement, was out of town, in Florida, when former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords of Arizona audaciously visited Newtown’s grieving families without its representative’s knowledge or permission. For those of you who may have missed it, here is Debra Lee’s elegant tribute to the still recovering Ms. Giffords, severely wounded by a gunman who killed six in Arizona two years ago. It began with the demand, “Gaby Gifford, stay out of my towns.”She expanded her greeting by claiming Giffords, who is as credibly against gun violence as anyone could be, was making a political visit and as proof, reminded her Facebook readers that, “The Lt. Gov. was there, Blumenthall was there and ALL political types KNOW it is courteous to let sitting Reps know when another political is in their District. So....There was pure political motives.”If I put in all the required (sics), the rhythm of the rant would be destroyed but I’m sure you may have noticed a few, beginning with the names of Giffords and Blumenthal.The Hovey harangue may have appealed to Second Amendment hard-liners but it appalled the rest of America, so she quickly removed it from Facebook and issued an apology in which she admitted to being “insensitive” and if that insensitivity “offended anyone, I truly apologize.” “If I offended anyone” joins a long line of weasel apologies that I first noticed during the Nixon Administration when press secretary Ron Ziegler was kept quite busy spinning lies from the president’s team. It’s rather fitting then, in the Nixon Centennial year, that we explore these contributions to the English tongue.I know it was Ziegler who was first to characterize a lie as “inoperative” in order to make it cease to exist and he was surely among the first Nixonites to explain something was true “at this point in time,” thereby indicating it may not be so an hour from now.It’s not clear when the first pol replaced “I lied” with “I misspoke” but that little evasion has been around for a long time and these guys never get tired of misspeaking.The New York Times credits President Reagan with pioneering what is now a golden oldie in the obfuscation field when he substituted “I was wrong” with “mistakes were made.” Those mistakes included selling arms to Iran in order to finance rebels in Nicaragua. John Sununu, who’s getting on but was still active enough to have gotten his foot in his mouth during the Romney campaign, used the “mistakes were made” apology when he was caught using the government’s dime for trips home during the first Bush’s administration.It’s not only Republicans, of course. President Clinton said mistakes were made when he invited the nation’s senior banking regulator to a meeting with prominent bankers and his chief fund raiser. He even pointed a finger, sort of, at who made the mistakes, saying, “Mistakes were made here by people who either did it deliberately or inadvertently.” He reports, you decide. There are many more of these ways out of accepting responsibility without really doing so. We know the chastened party “never intended to hurt anyone” or sometimes, he was simply “having a bad day” and a real favorite today, “my comments were taken out of context.”Then, there’s one Rep. Hovey might have used, “I made a poor choice of words,” as her words were poorly chosen, misspelled and put together without regard for the rules of grammar. The result caused one to wonder if she was out in the Florida sun too long with those little drinks with the umbrellas. And, in fairness, let’s not forget that sometimes “if I offended anyone” can be appropriate. When the singer Janet Jackson suffered the loss of part of her costume during a Super Bowl performance, a press agent said he was “sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance.”Clearly, there were those in the football audience who may have been offended and those who may not and the latter neither required nor expected an apology. And, of course, by inventing the term “wardrobe malfunction,’” he enriched the language, something Rep. Hovey couldn’t manage. Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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