It seems that apologies, regrets, saying I’m sorry, are in fashion. For actors, comedians and glorified disc jockeys who can’t control their racism and antisemitism, as well as flip-flopping politicians. Former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards gets high marks for honesty when he admits he “made a mistake” in voting to authorize what became the Iraq war. But other Democrats are criticized for not doing the same. Even George W. Bush has at least acknowledged “mistakes were made,” borrowing a phrase from other presidents who tried to avoid taking the blame.

That leads me to wonder why most of the stars of the press, the most prominent television commentators, columnists, guest pundits have not yet done what they want others to do–admit forthrightly when they were wrong. We make corrections when we spell a name wrong, or misquote someone by mistake. Is it also not important to say, “On the war, dear reader and viewer, I was wrong….I made a mistake.”

Only one columnist that I know of, Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, has written that he was wrong and made a mistake in supporting the war. Most who were wrong are still on the air or still writing as if the mistakes were made by someone else. Time Magazine’s Joe Klein, who says he now opposes the war, recently wrote that Bush’s presidency and his war have undergone an “epic collapse.” Klein insists he never supported the war, although it was clear from his several television appearances that he did. And he effusively praised Bush’s leadership when he made his “mission accomplished” appearance.

Sure, the New York Times published a lengthy mea culpa for not paying close enough attention to the reporting of Judith Miller and Michael Gordon, which gave the administration aid, comfort and cover for going to war, while ignoring the contrary reporting of Knight-Ridder reporters and Walter Pincus of the Post. Ironically, the Post acknowledged it could have listened to other voices.

But as Gary Kamiya wrote in an excellent essay in Salon.com, after 9/11 and the administration’s declaration of the war on terror, the American media “collapsed…disastrously in its response to the biggest issue of the generation.” And nary an apology. But there are other stories, predictions on other issues on which to acknowledge mistakes.

With but a few exceptions, the refusal to admit mistakes remains all too common. Recently, for example, the Washington Post lead editorial savagely spanked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her “amateur” and “foolish” attempts at diplomacy when she conveyed to Syrian President Assad a peace offering from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The Post called it a “bungle” and Vice-president Cheney and media friends piled on when Olmert issued a clarification. It turns out, according to Rep. Tom Lantos (D.,Cal), an ardent friend of Israel who was in the delegation, that she did no such thing. She carried Olmert’s message to the letter, he said.

But as Ron Kampeas of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported, Lantos said the White House, probably Cheney, pressured Olmert to make the clarification and undercut Pelosi. Other members of the Pelosi’s delegation, including several Jewish lawmakers, a Republican, and State Department observer, confirmed that Pelosi did not veer from Olmert’s message. Did the Post say it had been wrong? No, on April 12 it carried an op-ed piece denouncing Pelosi’s visit. It was written by Liz Cheney, whose relationship to the vice-president (daughter) was not mentioned.