"Mistakes Were Made" [View All]

[Solly Mack]

Crime: A violation of a local, state, or federal law

Mistake: An unintentional error or misunderstanding.

Criminal negligence: - law - recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences)




"Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."

George W. Bush on Iraq


"For those who have forgotten their high school English, this is called "passive" voice. It places the emphasis on the object of the sentence, not the subject. There is no telling who did what — only that something somehow happened.

Saying Mistakes have been made is like saying the house caught fire. It's as though the house is somehow to blame for burning up. See? And the mistakes in Bush's Iraq policy are somehow at fault for having occurred.

Common sense would dictate that someone made those mistakes, but the person who did so is missing from the sentence. Obviously, then, that person is not to blame."



"Have mistakes been made? I'm certain that they have."

Condoleezza Rice on Iraq


"It's also important for the people of Iraq to know that in a democracy, everything is not perfect, that mistakes are made."

George W. Bush on Abu Ghraib/Torture


"Mistakes made in pre-war intelligence were honest mistakes"

Donald Rumsfeld on invading Iraq



"I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility"

Alberto Gonzales on DOJ firings


"Mr Snow told journalists at the White House that Mr Wolfowitz agreed "a lot of mistakes were made" in the process, but they were not a "firing offence".



"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility"

George W Bush on lack of Katrina response - but only with the context of how he defines government's obligation to help people in the event of natural (and not so natural) disasters.


In other words: "Where mistakes (if any) have been made, I take responsibility"








It was also a favorite with Reagan administration.

It's obvious that the execution of these policies was flawed, and mistakes were made. I know the stories of the past few weeks have been distressing. I am deeply disappointed this initiative has resulted in such a controversy, and I regret it's caused such concern and consternation.

Ronald Reagan,1986 State of the Union Address, Iran-Contra scandal



As long as government gets to label their crimes as "mistakes" - they will get away with them. Mistakes can be forgiven - they're understandable. Everyone makes mistakes. Making a mistake doesn't make you criminal or even a bad person.



Crimes.Took.Place