When things go well, our elected leaders know exactly who deserves the credit.
They do.
When things go badly, identifying the responsible party suddenly requires a congressional investigation.
It was the previous administration. The other party. The media. The staff. The bureaucrats. Somebody who clearly failed to appreciate their brilliance.
An impressive list of suspects from someone who campaigned on being in charge.
You wanted the office. You wanted the authority. You wanted your name on the sign and your face at the podium.
But the responsibility? Apparently, that belongs to some poor bastard three levels down who wasn’t invited to the ribbon-cutting.
I don’t expect elected leaders to control everything. They inherit problems. They face opposition. Sometimes good decisions produce disappointing results.
Explain that. Give us the facts.
But don’t insult us by claiming personal credit for every success while treating every failure as proof that someone else is incompetent.
And spare me “mistakes were made.”
By whom?
The mistakes didn’t sneak into the building overnight and start issuing instructions.
Somebody made a decision. Somebody ignored advice. Somebody approved something they should have questioned.
If that somebody was you, say it.
“I got that wrong.”
“I supported that decision, and it didn’t work.”
“Here’s what I’m doing to fix it.”
That would tell me more about your character than another speech about how tough you are.
Because yelling at reporters is easy. Blaming your predecessor is easy. Throwing your staff under the bus is easy.
Standing in front of the people who elected you and admitting you let them down takes a backbone.
And before anyone starts defending their favorite politician: apply the same standard to them.
If accountability matters only when the other party owes you an explanation, you’re helping keep this bullshit going.
Holding office means answering for your decisions—even when the answer makes you look bad.
If your ego can’t handle that, stop asking us to put you in charge.