Thursday, March 29, 2007
If you could, just for a moment, detach yourself from the political and electoral implications of the Department of Justice firings scandal — admittedly difficult, given its titillating subplots of subpoenas, transcripts, and charges of “political theater” — try to consider the manner in which Alberto Gonzalez entered this fray. The Attorney General’s original press conference, oddly delivered standing sans podium in the manner of a fourth grade book report, included his acceptance of “full responsibility” for the firings and their ensuing consequences.
Impressive, no? Full responsibility! At last, here was a public servant willing to stop passing the buck! Amateur semanticists and advocates of clean government everywhere gave a small cheer, only to be crushed moments later with Gonzalez’s laundry list of caveats: that he had no knowledge, that he was not privy to any discussion, that this was all news to him, etc., etc. Essentially, that despite his assumption of “full responsibility,” he had nothing to do with this and no action would be taken.
nutgraf
The Gonzales bait and switch is just the latest example in the disturbing erosion of personal responsibility among both average citizens and, more disappointingly, public officials. The concept and meaning of “taking responsibility” have been rendered moot by case after case of meaningless utterances of such.
The Gonzales bait and switch is just the latest example in the disturbing erosion of personal responsibility among both average citizens and, more disappointingly, public officials. The concept and meaning of “taking responsibility” have been rendered moot by case after case of meaningless utterances of such.
Donald Rumsfeld became notorious for it. President Bush increasingly uses the phrase when discussing the war, but no substantive policy changes or admissions of error follow. It has become a staple of every post game press conference in the sports world, with coaches or star players taking responsibility for a loss. Sportswriters and fans smile and nod, grateful that their anger and disappointment can now be attached to a face, and that this reluctant acceptance of responsibility will clearly result in… what, exactly?
It’s become a meaningless phrase because we have allowed it to become so, by not demanding the action of responsibility after the claiming of responsibility. When our team’s coach or country’s Attorney General accepts responsibility, we should expect and deserve to see significant changes in the resulting policy, be it through a different starting lineup or a less blatantly political way of removing U.S. attorneys.
Trotting out the old bromide of “accepting responsibility” endangers not just the future of the term, but also our concept of responsibility itself. As the personal kind fades away, an attitude of entitlement and privilege will take its place, placing a heavy burden on the already constrained welfare state. Let us take responsibility for ourselves and our own actions, and hope that trend spreads to government and public life.
— McKay Stangler for the editorial board.
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