Recent Commentaries

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Change Has Come!
No, not that change.  We already know that in 11 days, former Illinois Senator Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States. I’m talking about a few other changes taking place in Washington. Former Idaho Senator Larry Craig has (finally!) given up efforts “to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from his 2007 arrest in a Minneapolis airport bathroom,” the Washington...
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January 9, 2009
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Who Do You Trust?
Years ago, long before the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson hosted a game show in which couples were brought on stage.  The man would be asked a series of questions and offered a choice:  he could either answer the question himself, or trust his wife to come up with the answer. The cash prize was limited, but what really held your interest...
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January 7, 2009
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The Nature of Fear
Looking at two recent films, I was struck not only by the similarities in deception but how the underlying aspect of fear transports individuals to act in unethical ways. Frost-Nixon is about the final disintegration of a man’s character. (For some, that would be assuming Nixon had any character to begin with.) But what the film shows us is how easy it is...
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January 5, 2009
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Wrong Choice
The events surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s decision to appoint a replacement to the United States Senate seat previously held by President-elect Barack Obama grows denser and unnecessarily more controversial. The New York Times reported (Jan. 1) that Gov. Blagojevich “…had an emissary make a call on the Dec. 24 to Danny K. Davis, a Democratic representative and longtime African-American...
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January 2, 2009