Can anyone give me even one instance where a politician admitted having made a mistake? Not the sort of tear-jerking personal revelation that is now commonly a part of the schtick. I mean an instance where a politician says, “I voted in favor of Program X, but it is now clear to me that Program X is a useless waste of taxpayer money. I apologize to the taxpayers for having supported it and will endeavor to have the law repealed.”

Announcements of error sometimes occur in science, but hardly ever in politics. That’s because, I submit, politics is all about appearance whereas science entails a search for truth.