It started with Janet Reno after she burned a bunch of people alive. The phrase was meaningless but it made the press swoon over her.
Today it means 'praise me for being so cool and shut the 'f' up ... let's move on'...
Time to fall on his sword.
Oh, you want to “take responsibility”? I won’t believe you until you say you want to “take the consequences” and that actually happens.
Beyond that, it’s JUST WORDS devoid of any meaning.
For as long as this has been known about; if he were competent then
1. He would have already begun an open and full internal investigation.
2. He would have already begun directing subordinates to correct the problems.
3. He would have come to the hearings fully prepared to answer the questions and provide the committee with updates on what was being done to correct the information.
4. His answers to questions that he didn’t have information about would have been “I don’t know sir but I will return with full answers to those questions”.
This is the least most senior officers expect of their subordinates in a military setting but then he was a general officer and now a high level political appointee so needs no competencies or integrity.
Doesn’t say much about any abilities that brought him to a “leadership” position in the Army much less any ounce of integrity. He’s another political appointee whose allegiance is to himself, his career, and his democrat sponsors.
I think Shinseki’s the guy who, when he was Chief of Staff, decided all soldiers in the Army should be able to wear the black beret...y’know, cuz it’s not fair that only the elite get to look dashing.
Sheesh.
For them, saying “I’m responsible” is almost the same thing as them saying they were ... wrong. How much more could anyone possibly expect from such perfect creatures!?
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY MEANS IMMEDIATELY MAKING THINGS RIGHT, RESIGNING, OR GETTING FIRED!
It's not rocket science.
But the explanation is simple.
Stonewalling...
Lying...
Rot always starts at the head and works its way down.
And after it begins...
It's never reversible.
The next time you get a traffic ticket, tell the officer “I take responsibility.” Then throw the ticket away.
The next time you are contacted by the IRS, tell the agent “I take responsibility.” Then ignore all future IRS requests for money.
The next time you are at the airport, shout out loud “I take responsibility.” Then simply bypass the TSA screening area and head out to your plane.
Who would have guessed it could be just that easy?
He is a liberal/leftist elitist through and through...and I doubt if he will resign his current sinecure because elitists just don't do that. They consider themselves to be untouchable because they are above the rest of us stupid peons.
Leni
He said it with as much enthusiasm as, "I'd like medium starch with these shirts!"
I couldn't believe that anyone on that committee or in the audience even, didn't break out laughing their socks off!
If Obama had any leadership he would have summarily fired the VA head in Phoenix and other VA centers when their wrong doing came to light. In private industry any employee that screwed up like this would quickly lose their job. Remember Reagan and the air traffic controllers?
It’s a convenient semantic trick, meant to give the appearance of being responsible without being responsible.
It smacks of the Albert Speer defense at the Nuremberg Trials, wherein he “took responsibility” as the Minister of Armamentsfor the slave labor and attending death toll in his war factories without actually admitting that he had any role in, or knowledge of, the policy at all.
It got him a 20-year sentence; Shinseki should get no less.