The staff intensivist in the first example asserts his ultimate responsibility for patient care.
He kept the American envoy an hour beyond the appointed 60-minute meeting, while repeating his justifications for the massacre and asserting his lack of responsibility.
That's what I like most about Gore: he confidently asserts his assumption of superpower responsibility.
Initially under the title "Potomac Watch," and later under his own name, it steered clear of Washington's power brokers to focus on street violence, drug abuse, criminal justice, poverty, parenting, education and civil rights, often quoting ordinary people he interviewed and asserting his belief in individual responsibility in dealing with social issues.
Others would assert that Bill Clinton underestimated his responsibility when he lowered the standard of behavior in the Oval Office.
He described the Ankara Process and the recent Turkey-sponsored Afghanistan Neighbors Summit as Turkish efforts to assert regional responsibility for South Asia's inter-linked problems.
The doctrine takes on a different perspective in the current corporate environment, where finger-pointing and attempts to assert individual responsibility continue to be the order of the day.
Israel prevailed, liberating Judea and Samaria, but Jordan continued to assert some responsibility over the Palestinians living there, despite the area being under Israeli control.
Though the campaign has yet to receive any concessions from the main companies it's targeting, there have been signs of a larger movement to raise wages and assert corporate responsibility for employee payment.
But left unclear Friday was a motive: Bouhlel did not leave behind a declaration of intent, and the Islamic State has not asserted responsibility for his actions, although supporters of the militant group celebrated the attack on social media.
It is a broader reluctance to engage, to assert responsibility, to commit.
