] Mr. Chairman, I know you join me today in saying to the
] world, judge us by our actions, watch how Americans,
] watch how a democracy deals with the wrongdoing and with
] scandal and the pain of acknowledging and correcting our
] own mistakes and our own weaknesses.

This statement resonates with me. Though there are things that Rumsfeld says and does that I *don't* like, I respect that he went on international media today (the statement was also broadcast live on Arabic channels), and publicly apologized and took responsibility.

The actions that took place at the prison still disgust me. But, the more I learn about what went on, the more I'm encouraged that the system was self-correcting. Yes, some of our people went psychotic and were abusing prisoners. But the abuse *was* reported by another soldier, and the supervisors it was reported to took swift action. The incidents were investigated, documented, and charges were filed -- all this *before* anything had gone public. It was being handled, even without a public outcry, and for that, I'm reassured.

So I liked what Rumsfeld said. Yes, there was a screwup, and it was a big one. But we can measure ourselves not just by how we do things right, but how we deal with things when something goes wrong. The best way to handle it, in my opinion, is to acknowledge that we fucked up, apologize to (and as appropriate compensate) those who were wronged, and then analyze our systems and procedures to see how we can improve things in the future to prevent such screw-ups re-occurring.

I don't expect perfection of my elected officials -- I do expect intelligence, compassion, a desire to do the right thing, and an ability to look at a system that doesn't work, and implement changes to improve it. So far, I'm seeing exactly that kind of behavior on this issue. So no, I don't think Rumsfeld should resign.

Transcript: Rumsfeld's Opening Statement