Is it really that hard to say, "I'm sorry, I made a mistake"?
Kevin Drum comments on Janet Reno's testimony before the 9/11 Commission, wherein she reportedly states, "I never focused on al Qaeda, because I stood there and watched the Murrah Building (in Oklahoma City) in rubble." Kevin continues,
I'm not sure what the context of that statement was, but it seems like a reasonably frank admission of an obvious truth. It's too late now, of course, but I still think Bush and Rice would have been better off saying something along these lines all along.
This is one of those times when we agree. One of my complaints about the Bush administration is that they're so political; so many things are seen through that particular prism.
And then, so many other times, in the really big things, the administration strikes me as one of the most apolitical presidencies I've ever seen. "Do what's right, because it's right, and don't worry about the political consequences." I suppose it's because President Bush takes that stance on the really big things that I tend to give him a pass when he plays games on the little ones. It would be so simple, and to my politically naïve mind, so much better, if they would just stand up, head bowed in contrition, and say, "We made a mistake, and we're sorry."
