In trying to lay the blame for the border crisis on the White House’s doorstep, House Speaker John Boehner exploded at a press conference on Thursday, saying of the president:

“He’s been president for five and a half years! When is he going to take responsibility for something?”

The suggestion in the question — that the president doesn’t take responsibility for anything — is so outrageously untrue that it demands strong rebuttal.

President Obama hasn’t taken all the blame Republicans have ascribed to him, nor should he have. But he has often been quick to take responsibility.

In 2009, after the administration came under fire for A.I.G. executives’ receiving bonuses after the bailout, Obama said on the lawn of the White House:

“Ultimately I’m responsible. I’m the president of the United States. We’ve got a big mess that we’re having to clean up. Nobody here drafted those contracts. Nobody here was responsible for supervising A.I.G. and allowing themselves to put the economy at risk by some of the outrageous behavior that they were engaged in. We are responsible, though. The buck stops with me.”