Dusty HORWITT

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Oct 5, 2003

IMAGINE that you are an elementary school teacher. As your class is lining up for recess, one of your students shoves another. What do you instruct the guilty party to say to his classmate?

a) I'm sorry.

b) I'm sorry and I won't shove you again.

c) I take full responsibility for my actions.

If you were following the example of many of our nation's leaders, "c" would be your clear choice. Why teach our children the art of the simple apology, perhaps accompanied by a sincere promise to change their ways, when they can aim so much higher? When people in public life get in trouble these days, they are taking their responsibility to the max.

For example, when it came to light in August that the Rev. Alvin O'Neal Jackson of the District of Columbia had delivered another minister's sermons as his own, he said: "I take full responsibility for what I've done." No doubt that was a relief to those in his congregation who worried he might take only partial responsibility.

Former Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. was a bit more tentative at his Sept. 11 sentencing hearing. He told the judge, "I think I would simply like to say that I take full responsibility for my actions." Glisan was undoubtedly more decisive when he helped create those illegal financing schemes at the now-infamous energy conglomerate.

Particularly serious situations require particularly redundant language. At a July 30 news conference, President Bush was asked if he took "personal responsibility" for his State of the Union statement that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy nuclear fuel in Africa -- a claim later determined to have been based on faulty intelligence. Bush not only obliged, he went further: "I take personal responsibility for everything I say, of course. Absolutely." That may sound a bit obvious. But remember, this is the White House, where aides fall over themselves to take responsibility so the president doesn't have to.

"Taking responsibility" has an enormous appeal for those in the spotlight. It sounds strong and forthright, but it means ... well, what does it mean? It doesn't mean you're sorry. It doesn't mean you're admitting to a mistake. It doesn't mean you believe you should have done something differently. It mostly means you are trying to shut off any more discussion.

But as Bush would say, make no mistake: Taking responsibility has become a full-fledged epidemic. In the past 12 months, just in the pages of The Washington Post, the phrase "I take full responsibility" has come out of the mouths of, among others, Al Gore (for his election loss), Trent Lott (for his comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday party), New York Times sports columnist Ira Berkow (for not making sure a column gave credit to another writer's work) and Boeing pilot Richard "Buzz" Nelson (for ditching the company's oldest flyable airliner into the water near Seattle after it ran out of fuel during a farewell flight).

Some people are even taking responsibility for things that they can't possibly be responsible for. After a Redskins' loss, wide receiver Laveranues Coles said: "I take full responsibility for everything that happened. Our guys made some mistakes, but if I had gotten us off to a better start, things would have worked out differently."

Perhaps Coles was infected by the words of Jerry Manuel, then manager of the Chicago White Sox: "When we don't play well, I take full responsibility." It makes me feel sorry for players on other teams who have to worry that striking out or making an error is their own doing.

But the clearest sign of a cultural shift came when the unlikely combination of the words "Mick Jagger" and "responsible" appeared in the same story. The Rolling Stones' notorious bad boy, discussing his two failed marriages, told a Swiss newspaper that "I am responsible for the consequences" of being unfaithful to his two wives. Of course, being "responsible for the consequences" might be Jagger's way of saying "having a bloody good time freed from the shackles of matrimony."

UNDOUBTEDLY, we haven't seen the end of this trend. But maybe I'm wrong. If so, I can state categorically that I will take complete as well as personal responsibility for any and all mistakes of fact or interpretation in this article. Meanwhile, if you're not sure what to say the next time you're on the hot seat, you might recall the immortal words of Harry Truman: "I take full responsibility for the buck stopping here."

Dusty Horwitt is a lawyer and writer who lives in Bethesda, Md.