It has been a busy week, so I did not follow the Senate hearings on the Benghazi fiasco featuring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Probably just as well, as watching it would have undoubtedly brought my blood to a boil once again at the systemic failures up and down the chain that led unnecessarily to the deaths of 4 Americans, including a U.S. Ambassador.
But I did read a little, and one thing that seems to be clear based on some of the reporting and commentary I've seen is that a major whitewash is underway. When the story is more about how a feisty Clinton braved a hearing in front of grandstanding politicians after suffering from serious health issues, than a detailed inquiry into the events and decisions leading up to that fateful night on September 11, 2012, you know we've gone off the rails of any meaningful discovery of the truth. After Clinton testifies before the House committee, I suspect Benghazi may well disappear from the headlines for good.
What a strange phenomenon this is, to realize that when a figure in the public eye proclaims to the camera "I take responsibility," they are in fact doing just the opposite. Somehow, we have allowed the utterance of culpability to become an absolution of accountability. It takes far less courage to say "I am responsible" than it does to do the hard and painful work that makes it true.
Accountability, insofar as it can be considered a virtue, is in danger of becoming an anachronism in the public consciousness.
As citizens, more and more we are allowing this to go on, and therefore illustrate our own culpability in this erosion of virtue. Whose responsibility is it, really? Who among us genuinely takes ownership?
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