June 26, 2002
Harry Truman received a gift while president that remained on his desk much of his administration. It was, ironically, made at the Federal Reformatory in El Reno, Oklahoma. It was a painted glass sign set in a walnut stand that read, “The Buck Stops Here.” Truman understood that, at some point, somebody has to take responsibility.
In the last few years we have turned into a society of buck passers. Pop psychologists have convinced us that nothing is every truly our fault. There's always another person or another set of circumstances beyond our control on which we can place the blame for our actions. Young men who rob are merely products of their environment, victims themselves instead of perpetrators. Drug addicts are victimized by drug dealers. Drug dealers are victims of an unjust country that locked them away from prosperity, leaving them no alternative but to turn to a life of crime.
During the 2000 campaign, George W. Bush admitted that he had once had a problem with alcohol. He confessed that he used to drink to excess and decided when he turned forty that he would change his life. And he did, never looking back. That ran counter to the typical Hollywood mindset. Martin Sheen, who himself plays a president on TV, opined at the time that Bush could not possibly have broken the chains of alcohol dependence because he never sought professional help.
That statement is typical of today's mentality. Granted, there are plenty of people who can't shake their alcohol problem without seeking assistance but to claim that one cannot do it alone is a continuum of the sad philosophy that is gripping our nation. President Bush took ownership of his problem and dealt with it.
While Bush faced his demons head on, many in this country go through life in denial. Pop culture preaches that it's not your fault. You're not really responsible for your own actions. In fact, you are the victim. That notion was played out comically in the old Flip Wilson routine of Geraldine. Remember? ‘The devil made me do it,' Geraldine liked to say.
That notion was played out shamelessly recently in the media in the wake of Representative Keith Westmoreland's tragic suicide. Immediately, some people began to look for someone to blame. Some blamed the media for ‘hounding the man to death.' Others went a step further and blamed, specifically, talk radio. I was stunned. We had reported the story on our show. I fully admit to chastising him, even calling for his resignation. No one could know what steps he would take just a day later.
Still, we can't become squeamish when it comes to rebuking reprehensible behavior on the outside chance that the person being rebuked might take his own life. It's the fear of such public criticism that keeps many an elected official on the right path.
Ultimately, there is no eluding the blame. No matter how many fingers were wagged in whichever direction there was only one person responsible and that was
Keith Westmoreland.