In the story, I don't think he was trying to absolve himself - I think he was just making the point that Dr. Manhattan was no better than he for simply watching it happen, and thus certainly in no position to make moral judgements.
In that sense, the scene is also a religious one - as Doc steadily becomes more God-like over the course of Moore's series, you can see the Comedian as a representation of Man against God - "You judge me for the terrible things I've done. But you're all-powerful and all-knowing! You could have stopped them just as easily as I could have, if not more so!".
It's also why I hate that JMS has been put on the Dr. Manhattan book, by the by. He also tackled the argument of "If you're so powerful, why can't you save everyone?" in the most hackneyed manner possible, at the beginning of the "Superman: Grounded" arc, as the motivation for the entire arc. I don't think he quite gets that this is the sort of argument usually asked by complete dicks, not grief-stricken widows (See also: Richard Dawkins).
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In that sense, the scene is also a religious one - as Doc steadily becomes more God-like over the course of Moore's series, you can see the Comedian as a representation of Man against God - "You judge me for the terrible things I've done. But you're all-powerful and all-knowing! You could have stopped them just as easily as I could have, if not more so!".
It's also why I hate that JMS has been put on the Dr. Manhattan book, by the by. He also tackled the argument of "If you're so powerful, why can't you save everyone?" in the most hackneyed manner possible, at the beginning of the "Superman: Grounded" arc, as the motivation for the entire arc. I don't think he quite gets that this is the sort of argument usually asked by complete dicks, not grief-stricken widows (See also: Richard Dawkins).