"I'm sorry"

From WSJ article "Prince Shows Shame, Rubin Defiance: Former Citigroup Officials Say They, and Regulators, Didn't See Risks; 'I'm Sorry' Three Times", reporting on the "three-hour grilling by a congressional panel scrutinizing the financial crisis":

Mr. Prince departed from his prepared testimony by saying "I'm sorry" three times that the crisis had such a "devastating" impact on the economy, millions of Americans "lost their homes," and "our management team, starting with me," didn't foresee the "unprecedented market collapse."

It's sad, the whole thing, and Mr. Prince recognizes it. This is a good passage. The next one is not as feel-good, but similarly revealing:

Still, Bill Thomas, a Republican former congressman from California who is vice chairman of the panel, which must produce a report on its findings by Dec. 15, compared the former CEO to "a lemming" because of his reluctance to rein in risk-taking as late as mid-2007.

The comment came after Mr. Prince tried to explain his infamous declaration in mid-2007 that "as long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance. We're still dancing." Mr. Prince was referring to the dangers of leveraged lending for private-equity buyouts, but Mr. Thomas responded: "You weren't going to be the lemming that stopped and said: 'I don't want to keep walking."'

It's a look into the (difficult?) sentiment of the times. Are financial institutions better today then they were in mid-2007?

P.S. I learned how to make blockquotes again!