I don’t think this is a peculiarly American phenomenon. Nick Clegg, Britain’s Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister, has been widely ridiculed for an apology last month in which he said he was sorry for having said he would vote against any increase in university tuition fees only to fail in that pledge. His apology, set to music, has gone viral, with the refrain of “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry” (some 2 million YouTube views). Clegg is viewed as weak, hapless, pliant, ridiculous — but not particularly untrustworthy (or no more than anyone else).

As for Romney, the best summation of his flip-flopping was provided by Ted Kennedy in a 1994 debate in Massachusetts: “I am pro-choice,” Kennedy said, before adding of Romney, “My opponent is multiple-choice.”

The subject then was abortion and Romney declared, “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.” In response to Kennedy’s jibe, he shot back, “You will not see me wavering on that or being multiple-choice.”

The subsequent wavering has, of course, been more of a volte-face. Romney is now pro-life. His Web site says he believes “the right next step is for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade” — the 1973 Supreme Court decision affirming a woman’s right to abortion.

Got it, Mitt — at least I think so, maybe.

As for his recent foreign-policy speech, it was a case of the audacity of contradiction. He said in a primary debate that, “It’s the Palestinians who don’t want a two-state solution. They want to eliminate the state of Israel.” He said at a private fund-raiser that he saw the Palestinians “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel” and had concluded that “there’s just no way” and that Israel-Palestine would “remain an unsolved problem.”

Then he suddenly declares: “I will recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel. On this vital issue, the president has failed.”