I take full responsibility?

Recently we have been hearing a lot of politicians, when they admit their errors, or something happens, you'll most certainly hear them utter the phrase "I take full responsibility". Well, what the heck does that really mean?

President Obama recently spoke these words when he was speaking of the US drone attack that inadvertently killed two hostages. President Obama said that he takes "full responsibility" for a U.S. government counter terrorism operation that killed two innocent hostages held by al Qaeda. There were also similar statements made by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she told CNN she takes “full responsibility” for the security failures at the U.S. consulate in Libya where a terrorist attack by radical Islamists killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi.

To me this utterance also means that you have to suffer the consequences of these actions. When you take responsibility for something, if you do not make amends, then it just becomes idle chatter and meaningless, and that my friends is what's wrong with those words today, they mean nothing. By stating these words, the issue is still there, the problem is still present, and neither will be corrected, nor will the policies, or results of the action, change.

The Washington Post has published five things that President Obama has taken responsibility for. They include:

1. November 3, 2010 – Democrats lose control of the House in midterm elections. "I take responsibility for that."

2. October 16, 2012 – Attack on U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. "I'm the president. And I'm always responsible."

3. May 27, 2010 – BP oil spill. "In case you were wondering, in any of your reporting, who's responsible? I take responsibility."

4. October 30, 2013 – HealthCare.gov crashes. "I take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP."

5. July 14, 2009 – Economy in freefall. "I love the folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, 'Well, this is Obama's economy.' That's fine. Give it to me. ... I want the responsibility."

And now a sixth one on taking responsibility for the killing of the hostages during a drone strike. As you can see the words without actions of consequences are quite meaningless. I have no solutions, nor do I suggest any. I'm just pointing out here, that when the words are idly uttered, they mean nothing.