"I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, there's no way you can prove anything!"

Aaron Chambers of the Rockford Register Star takes a look at personal responsibility as applied by the Illinois Republican Leadership:

Syverson drove the effort to recruit Keyes, says Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, who also sits on the State Central Committee. This is a story echoed by many other Republicans.

"Alan Keyes first came to my attention as a member of the State Central Committee through the cheerleading of Senator Dave Syverson," Dillard said. "Sen. Syverson was excited and lobbied the State Central Committee hard on behalf of Dr. Keyes."

He was saying that Alan Keyes is a great campaigner who energizes conservatives, especially religious conservatives, and that in Sen. Syverson's estimation Alan Keyes would be very helpful in picking up seats in the Illinois Senate.

"Your guy was the ringleader," Dillard told me. "He was the cheerleader."

But Syverson said he was simply fulfilling his job as a member of the State Central Committee.

"I was asked to be one of the people making contacts with him because I sit on the board," he said. "Was it my idea originally? No."

It seems the leaders of the IL-GOP closely following the example of their president, George "The last four years are not my fault" Bush.