You're right about the uselessness of 'apologies' when the offense is repeated again, flagrantly.

Or even covertly.

I back Rep. Conyers in his work against repug election theft, and his work on behalf of his non-NOI constituents, and his Congressional Black Caucus work.

I think that pols like John C. and Jesse Jackson are within the range of the money and force arms of the NOI. For a very long time, the schism between Chicago and NY crime had Detroit on NY's side, the same as in Pgh., where I live. But Detroit is perilously close to Chi., and Farrakhan's money and connections are big. If you look at where the NOI comes from, how it was formed, where it gets its money and influence, you're looking at far-right bircher money and far-right intel.

If presented with any organized effort to lobby Rep. Conyers to never associate with the anti-Gay, anti-Semitic, anti-Woman, pro-Black Nationalist Farrakhan, I will be on board 100%. You're right about Conyer's attendance of the 2 '14 speech, but I won't throw the baby out with the bathwater regarding Rep. Conyers on this. In fact, I believe that the far-right who hates LGBTs also hates Conyers, and purposely forced him into this position to further schisms between groups of people they hate.

I see a bit of a parallel between Conyer's association with Farrakhan, and Moscone and Milk's association with Jim Jones. I believe the far right would have attempted to kill Harvey Milk, anyway, but the proximate cause of the Milk and Moscone assassinations was the murder of Rep. Ryan when he was investigating Jonestown. It is very much alluded to in Fierstein's documentary, Shilt's book, and Bay Area LGBT activists efforts at the time.

Jones already had a crazy and murderous record from his "People's Temple's" time in Ukiah, CA. He moved to S.F., with his big money and large personnel resources, and was a political force to be reckoned with when the Moscone Milk group took SF mayor and Supervisors. Aides to Milk were troubled by the behavior of the Jones personnel, and Milk cautioned them that the group was crazy and dangerous. Moscone put Jones in charge of the Housing Authority, but I believe he was forced to do so, not because the Jones people passed out flyers for the coalition, but because Jones had big money right wing backers who had to be contended with, by the Mayor and City Supervisors.

There is no doubt that Milk and Moscone were opposed to the insane moves by Jones, in Jonestown and S.F. The far-righties behind Jones felt that Moscone and Milk were going to blow the whistle, when Jonestown came crashing down, which explains their being murdered much better than twinkies can. There have been ridiculous efforts to tar Moscone and Milk with 'association with Jones', but the fact that they were assassinated puts the lie to this far-right effort to engender a schism between groups that the far-right hates.

Antecdotally, in my city, there was an isolated, high-crime housing project called Westgate Village. Back in '90 -'91, the 'Security' for this project was provided by the NOI. They decided that they didn't like an illegal card game being run in one of the units, and some of the Fruit of Islam attacked the place in force. They got their asses handed to them in unarmed combat, by the residents, and other members came back to fire-bomb the unit. Unfortunately, they didn't know the area, were out-of-towners like the rest of the Fruit of Islam security force, so they hit the wrong unit, and burned a single-mother and her family out of their home (no deaths). I just mention it because it was a high profile display of Housing Authority corruption, municipal fraud, increased influence of Chicago organized crime in Pittsburgh, and sweetheart contracts given to the Nation of Islam. The firebombing wasn't part of the policy of the Dems who run our area, it was purely a Farrakhan initiative, though the NOI got the contract for security through Dems. And Pittsburgh's own Black Moslem leaders were already on the record years before, in calling Farrakhan 'the biggest fool on the face of the Earth'. The Black residents of Westgate Village, and the non-aligned Black Moslems in Pittsburgh, didn't like Farrakhan, and don't back him on anything, including his anti-LGBT 'theories'. He speaks for the far-right, not Blacks, Moslems, or Democrats.

Farrakhan is from the right, of the right. People within his org's armreach have to deal with him. Conyers is wrong, but not bad.