Recent Ethics Commentaries

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Principle Before Party
“Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”—John Quincy Adams In 1806, after a series of attacks by Britain on American ships carrying goods, Massachusetts Senator John Quincy Adams and his colleagues were outraged. American sailors were being captured and “impressed” into the King’s navy. When the American frigate Chesapeake was fired upon by a British ship, Adams was so incensed he...
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April 23, 2024
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A Long Time Ago in a Washington Far, Far Away. . .
. . . two U.S. Senators, one Republican, one Democrat, showed us the meaning of duty and character. Republican John Williams, a chicken farmer and feed dealer from southern Delaware, had never gone to college.  He spoke so quietly on the Senate floor that the news media dubbed him “Whispering Willie.” But when he spoke, people listened as he exposed...
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April 9, 2024
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Trump Supporters Need to Read This Before They Vote
If you are a Trump supporter or are considering voting for the former president, you need to read and seriously consider the observations from the people who worked closely with him: “His understanding of global events . . . of US history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept...
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February 27, 2024
If Only She Had Just Told the Truth
Embed from Getty Images CNN recently completed a four-part series on homemaker extraordinaire Martha Stewart. The final episode reminded me of the time I debated Vanity Fair journalist Michel Wolff on CNN with host Aaron Brown in 2004. By this time, Stewart was already a household icon of “a good thing.” An incredibly successful entrepreneur, the first female self-made billionaire,...
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February 6, 2024
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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
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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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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
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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
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It’s Ethics, Justice Alito, Justice Thomas
After recent reports of ethics scandals, it appears the two “learned” justices need a remedial course in ethics. It’s a good thing I’m here to help. “Gentlemen, the study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you — unlike any other schooling you have ever known before… You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds....
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July 7, 2023
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It’s Time.
In 1940, journalist Edward R. Murrow stood in a church in England while the country endured German bombers night after night. Inside the church was a crudely written sign which read, “If your knees knock, kneel on them.” It’s time for Americans to get up off their knees and fight. Like a hamster on a wheel, we’ve become stuck going...
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May 16, 2023