ERIC MULLER NOTES that tomorrow is the 61st anniversary of FDR’s Executive Order 9066, which led to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War Two. You can read the order here — note that it doesn’t actually make clear that’s what it’s about.

Charles Black observed that one of the bad things about this action that gets little attention is that no one actually took responsibility. Congress passed vague legislation, FDR issued a vague Executive Order, and then the military officials who actually locked people up claimed that they were just following orders. When nobody takes responsibility, it usually means that nobody wants the blame — which is a pretty fair guide in determining whether something is blameworthy it seems to me.