Apology or Apologia

     I am weary of the apology.   It seems every governing unit and a great many individuals are delivering apologies to whomever they may have insulted, dishonored, wronged, or killed.  The idea is that doing so makes the victims feel better somehow, or offers the key to whatever is meant by closure.  But wait, before you accept, is what is offered an apology or an apologia?  The first is an expression of true regret for one's actions or behavior; the latter, the apologia, is a defense of one's actions or behavior.  (That definition is, by the way, also one of the meanings of the word apology, though usually an apology is thought of as an expression of sorrow for one's actons.)
     In current times, an  apology is an integral part of what happens in court, and woe to the defendant who does not look sorry, or to the convicted who does not offer up an apology, ideally amidst a plethora of tears.  I've never quite understood how such a performance could bring any measure of satisfaction or closure to those grievously wronged.  But then, that may be because  I can't personally recall ever having received an apology in my entire lifetime.   A number of apologias, though.