Whats with all the mea culpa?

It has been the flavor of the past year or so. The magnitude of your mis-deed does not matter, you simply have to show up and say "i made a mistake, and i'm sorry" and boom!!! everything is magically forgotten. And do you want to create a PR bonanza for yourself out of your "little" boo boo? Simply show up on a late night comedy show, and smile gamely while the host make a couple of jokes at your expense, further "cute-fying" your gaff.

So, Joe Biden shoots his mouth off about Barack Obama, and then gains more visibility through all the talk shows and newscasts than he ever would have as the 459th wannabe for the democratic presidential nomination (ok the 459 is an exagerration, but it sure feels that way). Lewis "Scooter" Libby lies about conversations with reporters regarding the outing of a covert CIA operative. And guess what his defence is ? He says he just "forgot" what he said cos he had more pressing matters at the time. Its not a big deal, its just a war right? John Edwards voted yes for the war, and strongly supported it even a year and a half later. And guess what? No worries apparently. He says he is wrong, and he thinks that is good enough to wipe his slate clean and he is back to nursing presidential ambitions. Despite her husband being regarded as one of the most brilliant political strategists of all time, Hillary Clinton has not been sassy enough to master the mea culpa game and as a result, is in real danger of kissing her presidential dreams good bye.

Simple question - what happens the day Hillary admits she was wrong? Will time somehow turn itself back and will history rewrite itself? Does John Edward's so called "brave" admission make him any wiser? What is going to prevent him from committing another "mistake" when he is president? Especially scary is his justification - at the time, he was apparently busy with his political campaign and later, when he had the time to sit and think at leisure, he figured it all out. WTF?

I cannot help but wonder - as ordinary citizens, when we botch up something in our lives, we pay the price, but, in the public arena, major mistakes are gladly forgiven, and the doers of misdeeds are endlessly rewarded through bouts of free publicity they could have never dreamed of otherwise. What is wrong with the world we live in?