Accountability Moment

Most of us are accountable all our lives.

Our president has only "accountability moments."

I imagine that's been true all his life, not just within the cycles of elected office.

And I imagine that's as good a summary as any of what it must mean to grow up rich and privileged in America, or anywhere for that matter:

One's only held accountable at moments.

Must be pretty comfy, downright confidence-building in a way few of us mere mortals can even begin to grasp.

I start by imagining it were really true: the childhood fantasy that if only one could lie, hide, squirm, run, or just somehow magically get passed those awkward moments of being caught out responsible for things gone wrong, everything would be hunky-dory all right again, as if nothing bad had ever, ever happened.

But I don't get very far with that fantasy. It didn't even work for me in childhood.

The "morality" of Bush's world continues to elude me. How does this man continue to get away with calling himself a Christian?

Well, we had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 election. And the American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me, for which I'm grateful.

Washington Post Interview (January 16, 2005)