By virtually anyone’s definition, Ariel Castro is a monster. The only person who would dispute that is the man himself, showing not only how demented he is but also offering yet another example of how our society enables those who blame others for their own mistakes.

Castro is the Cleveland man who kidnapped then raped and tortured three women for more than a decade before being caught earlier this year. The man is clearly delusional and refused to take responsibility for his actions. He blamed pornography. He blamed his late ex-wife. He blamed the FBI for not catching him sooner.

He is clearly mentally ill and has no grasp of reality. He argued with the judge over whether or not rape was a violent crime and contended that he and the women had many happy memories together.

Although Castro is clearly an extreme example, he is just the latest example of people in our society blaming everyone but themselves for their transgressions.

Former Congressman and mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner has failed to come clean with everything he has done and take responsibility for his actions. Major League Baseball player Ryan Braun is another, although no one is quite sure who he is blaming yet for cheating.

The list goes on and on but we will never be able to eliminate or legislate against individuals who display the most extreme deviant behavior. Still, we can certainly do more as a society to start holding each other accountable.

The blame game only hurts our people, our communities and our nation.