Recent Accountability Commentaries

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What Matters
Tomorrow, New Hampshire voters go to the polls for the first primary of the season where Republican voters appear poised to select front-runner and former president, Donald Trump, as the party’s candidate for a second term in the highest office in the federal government. This is a good time to take a clear, hard look at what matters. The New...
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January 22, 2024
Words Matter
Embed from Getty Images It begins like this: Bit by little bit, misleading words grow in shadows where they are picked up and spread. Bit by bit, false conspiracies are created and multiplied. Lies spread, becoming a wildfire of hate from those who feel isolated, threatened, fearful. According to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll,  » Read more about: Words Matter...
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January 5, 2024
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What’s Happened to America’s Morality?
What a way to end the year. The erosion of America’s moral integrity is overwhelming. Entitlement has overtaken personal responsibility. Meanness has overwhelmed kindness. And hatred has crushed tolerance. Many of today’s “leaders” place self-interest above public interest. They role model viciousness and lies instead of kindness and facts. They believe that the best way to influence the public forum...
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December 29, 2023
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Mr. Roberts’ Dilemma
While much of the media discussion has surrounded the decision made by the Colorado Supreme Court, where the judges ruled that former president Donald Trump is barred from holding any public office because he engaged in insurrection, there’s another question that hasn’t been addressed: Will Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any case brought before the Supreme...
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December 22, 2023
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What Do Donald Trump and Ken Starr Have in Common?
Both willfully compromised the US Secret Service. Among the egregious behaviors former President Donald Trump inflicted on democracy was utilizing, to his own ends, a federal agency whose mandate was the nonpartisan protective mission of the Secret Service. During his time in office, it was axiomatic that anyone in Trump’s orbit faced a Hobson’s choice: loyalty to Trump or the...
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December 12, 2023
It Doesn’t Change the Truth
“What a triumph for our enemies . . . to find that we are incapable of governing ourselves.”—George Washington Embed from Getty Images What or who are these people pledging their allegiance to? Amendment V — “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury...
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December 8, 2023
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A Matter of Conscience
UPDATE: SANTOS EXPELLED BY HOUSE . . . Finally! After months of disturbing reports regarding Representative George Santos’s lies, fraud, money laundering and other offenses, the New York Republican has been removed from office. What’s next? New York Governor Kathy Hochul will now begin the process of a special election to replace the missing seat in the House. The Senate...
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December 1, 2023
The Knight of Knaves
“I’m trying to help them be the best they can be. I have enough of an ego to think I know better than anyone what’s best for them.”—Bobby Knight Embed from Getty Images For legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, what was “best” for his students was to be a legendary jerk. Knight died on November 1st.  » Read more...
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November 17, 2023
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What Would Thurgood Marshall Do?
Many people ask me, “Hey Jim, how do you do it? How do you write and speak on, (and once a year, teach) ethics? After all, you must face the same trials and travails as the rest of us have, right? When ethical decisions get difficult, how do you make the tough calls?” Well, I’ll let you in on a...
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November 14, 2023
Say It Ain’t So, Mickey!
Embed from Getty Images With the end of the 2023 World Series, I became a little nostalgic for the baseball heroes I grew up with.  Most of them were Dodgers: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snyder. All great but didn’t come close to the charismatic hitting power of Mickey Mantle. So, when I read a story by former Detroit Tigers...
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November 7, 2023