Well, all we have is Yvain's paraphrase of what she said. And considering how much he piled on, and how he compared her to a much stupider suggestion, I think more caution was appropriate.

I don't see what's so creative about my "spin"; I frequently hear people use the term "take responsibility" as a euphemism for "take punishment". E.g., "They should take responsibility for what they've done" = "they should receive the appropriate punishment", not "they should privately admit to themselves that they could do better".