Apologies all around

I just saw a news blurb that Tiger Woods had his worst round of golf....in a long time. It made me remember his odd news conference where he apologized for his past poor behavior. Thomas Sowell put it in better words than I can:

He calls the tendency for public apologies "mushy thinking," and I think he has a very valid point. I agree that it comes with the loss of personal responsibility. What Tiger did was the fault of his fame, his money, his popularity, the conditions surrounding him, blah blah. If that were true, then wouldn't everyone who watches golf or spent money on anything that added to his wallet be responsible? Golf lovers everywhere were the cause of his demise? Hardly.

I contend that it was Tiger's own arrogance and narcissism that led to his troubles. I certainly didn't suffer anything and did not need to be apologized to.

The problem is bigger than Tiger Woods or the governor of South Carolina or whoever. The idea that society or our surroundings cause our misbehavior, or is responsible for our crimes, tries to diminish the notions of self-control and responsibility. Again, I defer to the words of Thomas Sowell:

Until next time, I'm sorry that my political attitude is one of choices and consequences, and it might not fit with your ideas about the evils of a "society." Wait, no I'm not sorry at all.

The Mallard Fillmore comic had another take on the same idea: