Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Star Atlanta Falcons player Michael Vick finally admitted he helped run a dog-fighting ring in Virginia. At a somber press conference yesterday, he apologized for his cruel crime and for lying about it earlier.
``Not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else,'' the quarterback said.
As coincidence would have it, President George W. Bush showed up on television minutes later lamenting the resignation of U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The president did what the athlete did not. He directed blame elsewhere.
``Months of unfair treatment,'' Bush said, ``has created a harmful distraction at the Justice Department.''
Not a word about how Gonzales' own conduct had created that harmful distraction.
Bush called it sad that Gonzales's ``good name was dragged through the mud for political purposes.''
And yet he expressed no sorrow that Gonzales had accused U.S. attorneys of poor performance to explain their dismissals, only to be disproved by the glowing evaluations many had received.
Vick finally acknowledged that his critics were right. But Bush keeps thumbing his nose at those who complain that Gonzales, at the behest of the White House, fired U.S. attorneys who refused to let partisan interests dictate their prosecution decisions.
After lashing out at critics, Bush hopped on a plane headed for a fundraiser for Senator Pete Domenici, of all people. The New Mexico Republican is one of the partisans who pushed the White House to fire that state's U.S. attorney, David Iglesias, for not indicting Democrats before last November's election.
Inflaming Debate
Yesterday was a sad day, indeed, but not for the reason Bush cited. It's sad when the president inflames the debate over Gonzales rather than acknowledge that his attorney general did himself in.
Gonzales's account about why and how U.S. attorneys were fired changed every time he showed up to testify. Call that incompetence or call it dishonest. It helped feed the calls for his resignation.
His denial that civil liberties had been violated during government surveillance programs turned out to be wrong. So did his insistence that no one within the administration seriously complained about the warrantless wiretaps.
No Explanation
In his own brief televised news conference yesterday, Gonzales gave no explanation for his resignation, no apology for wrecking the integrity and the morale of the Justice Department, no acknowledgment of the tiniest bit of poor judgment.
Yes, it's true that Democrats have gleefully exploited every weakness they can find in the administration.
But that doesn't explain why Gonzales became such a useful punching bag. It doesn't explain why the attorney general's sworn testimony conflicted so often with so many witnesses.
Take Gonzales's account of his visit to the bedside of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004, when Gonzales was White House counsel. On key points it conflicts with that given by Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller, then-acting U.S. Attorney James Comey, and National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell.
If you believe them instead of him, Gonzales tried to persuade a heavily sedated, barely functioning Ashcroft to approve a surveillance program declared illegal by Justice Department lawyers and by Comey, who had already discussed the matter with Ashcroft before the hospitalization.
No Wonder
Is it any wonder that Democrats and Republicans alike wondered about his ability to administer justice?
On his way out, Gonzales might have done what Vick did and admit that he hadn't been ``honest and forthright'' in his earlier statements. A little language like that would have been welcome.
I don't mean to elevate Vick to sainthood on the basis of a few words uttered at a press conference. He committed unspeakably cruel acts and lied about it to people who put their faith in him.
And it's worth keeping in mind that his sudden contrition comes as a federal judge contemplates how much time he will spend in prison. There's nothing like the prospect of jail to focus the mind.
Yet, there is a lesson there. A good, strong admission of wrongdoing, a show of humility and plea for forgiveness go a long way toward defusing public outrage.
At the beginning of his remarks, Vick apologized for not being much of a speaker. And yet, he could teach the president and the departing attorney general a thing or two about how to admit the errors of your ways.
To contact the writer of this column: Ann Woolner in Atlanta at awoolner@bloomberg.net .
