On Taking Responsibility
Mr Wright, (a great name!), thanks for your comment on taking responsibility.
If this was ever a part of American political culture, it no longer is. It would be wrong, however, to brand refusal to take responsibility as a peculiarly political sin. It's part-and-parcel of a larger trend, stemming from developments ultimately rooted in the experience of the 1960s, in which the greatest good was defined as self esteem and larger forces -- psychological, social, economic -- were thought to determine individuals' choices. Perhaps it's a baby-boomer trend that's now become entrenched in our culture.
There are of course memorable exceptions: By apologizing on nationwide television before the 9/11 Commission for letting down the American people, Richard Clarke -- a hitherto obscure civil servant -- became a national hero. The attention garnered by his apology was due largely to the fact that we never hear anyone apologize anymore, even for truly grievous mistakes (or worse).
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