(Dobbs) The Brits Keep Honor Alive. It Has Died In Washington.Donald Trump never apologizes, does he?!
I read today that Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff to Britain’s prime minister, resigned. He was accepting responsibility for his role in the appointment of the U.K.’s ambassador to the United States, a man who now has been implicated in the scandals erupting from the Epstein files. McSweeney’s statement projected a principle that has all but disappeared in Washington, DC. He said, “In public life responsibility must be owned when it matters most, not just when it is most convenient. In the circumstances, the only honorable course is to step aside.” It reminded me of the resignation of a British statesman, foreign minister Lord Peter Carrington, more than 40 years ago when I was based in Britain. He resigned not because he himself had been a scoundrel, but because his government had failed to see an attack coming from Argentina on its territory of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. In his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Lord Carrington called Argentina’s invasion on his watch “a humiliating affront to this country,” and took the honorable course: “I think it right that I resign.” Contrast that with a Facebook post late this week about Donald Trump’s racist social media post that put Michelle and Barack Obama’s heads atop the bodies of apes. It said something like, “Has the White House fired the staffer yet who we are told actually put that horrid post up on the internet, or is he still the president of the United States?” Two things we haven’t heard since then: any news that anyone has actually been fired, and any apology from the president. To the contrary, he insisted he had no need to apologize because “I didn’t make a mistake.” He never does, does he?! Thank goodness for the Brits. They keep honor alive. It has died in Washington. |