Taking responsibility. The problem with accepting responsibility, though, is that you can
be too glib about it. A lot of responsibility taking in today's
newspaper for example,
“It was not Harry's fault,” Cheney said Wednesday on Fox News. “You
can't blame anybody else. I'm the guy who pulled the trigger and shot
my friend.”
“I am responsible for the Department of Homeland Security,” said
Michael Chertoff before Congress, explaining away the loss of life and
property. “I'm accountable and accept responsibility for the
performance of the entire department.”
David J. Edmondson, CEO of Radio Shack, after being caught faking his academic background, “I clearly
misstated my academic record and the responsibility for these
misstatements is mine alone.”
Is “I accept responsibility” the new “Your call is very important to us”? Probably. [Seth's Blog]