- s lave ▁relationship ▁with ▁the ▁bene vol ent ▁master ▁knowing ▁what ’ s ▁best ▁for ▁his ▁simple ▁mind ed ▁dark ies ." ▁ ▁Hans en ' s ▁comments ▁drew ▁national ▁attention . ▁Hans en ▁apolog ized ▁on ▁November ▁ 2 0 , ▁saying ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁" un fortun ate " ▁that ▁his ▁comments ▁had ▁been ▁" t aken ▁out ▁of ▁context " ▁and ▁" port rayed ▁as ▁intention ally ▁hurt ful ▁and ▁dis res pect ful ", ▁saying ▁that ▁" th ese ▁comments ▁made ▁nearly ▁ 2 0 ▁years ▁ago " ▁as ▁an ▁opinion ▁column ist ▁were ▁" me ant ▁to ▁be ▁pur pos ely ▁provoc ative ▁in ▁various ▁political , ▁cultural ▁and ▁religious ▁views ." ▁ ▁Hans en ▁wrote ▁an ▁open ▁letter ▁on ▁the ▁press ▁page ▁of ▁his ▁website , ▁saying ▁" I ▁freely ▁admit ▁my ▁choice ▁of ▁words ▁was ▁at ▁times ▁very ▁poor . ▁As ▁a ▁column ist , ▁I ▁was ▁encourag ed ▁to ▁write ▁provoc atively ▁but ▁over ▁the ▁last ▁ 2 0 ▁years ▁I ▁have ▁learned ▁that ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁line ▁between ▁being ▁provoc ative ▁and ▁being ▁off ensive . ▁There ▁were ▁times ▁when ▁I ▁crossed ▁that ▁line . ▁My ▁intention ▁was ▁not ▁to ▁off end , ▁and ▁for ▁any ▁off ense ▁I ▁have ▁caused ▁I ▁again ▁sin cer ely ▁apolog ize ." ▁He ▁also ▁respond ed ▁to ▁specific ▁things ▁he ▁had ▁said . ▁He ▁further ▁claimed ▁that ▁" this ▁has ▁been ▁a ▁carefully ▁orch estr ated ▁attack ▁to ▁remove ▁a ▁conserv ative ▁Republican ▁from ▁a ▁major