Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), in his most detailed response yet to his self-generated controversy, sat down with the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Was it finally time for the senator to concede that he had crossed a line of decency and accept responsibility for his lapse in judgment? Of course not.
Sen. John Cornyn admitted Wednesday that he blundered in a speech on the Senate floor suggesting a connection between courthouse violence and political decisions by judges.
“The lesson I learned is that Washington is a very tough political environment and if people can take what you say out of context and use it against you, they will,” the first-term Republican said in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.
Yep, it’s still our fault. This guy takes to the Senate floor to rationalize violence against judges, even conservatives tacitly acknowledge that he pushed the line too far, and instead of taking responsibility, Cornyn is blaming his critics. Again.
I miss the good ol’ days when a politician would say something breathtakingly stupid, it’d generate lots of criticism, the pol would say he’s sorry, and we’d move on. It’s the same progression in the Bush years, except we’ve dropped the whole “apology” part and embraced blaming everyone else for our missteps.
“Responsibility era,” indeed.