Recent Commentaries

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Sophistry
In August 2009, here’s how New York Times reporter and Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak first described the unleashing of a monster. “The Supreme Court will cut short its summer break in early September to hear a new argument in a momentous case that could transform the way political campaigns are conducted.” Arguably, one of the biggest understatements in decades… and for the Supreme...
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June 29, 2012
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Viral Spiral
On Monday I received the following e-mail from a friend requesting that I pass it along to at least three others: “In 1952 President Truman established one day a year as aNational Day of Prayer. In 1988, President Reagan designated the first Thursday in May of each year as the National Day of Prayer. “In June 2007, (then) Presidential candidate Barack...
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June 27, 2012
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What the Public Should Expect
In order to understand why some in the media don’t like the new HBO series The Newsroom, here’s how TIME magazine’s James Poniewozik began his review: “The fourth episode of Aaron’s Sorkin’s The Newsroom is called ‘I’ll Try to Fix You.’ That may as well be the title of the whole series. Like Sorkin’s The West Wing, the show wants to fix America,  » Read more...
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June 25, 2012
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Us vs. Them
Ten years from now, historians may look back and label this period as the “reality show” era of politics. I’ve already talked about the reality show “quality” surrounding banker Jamie Dimon’s testimony before a Senate banking committee. Well, Dimon was on Capitol Hill again, this time testifying before House officials. Unlike the Senate, House lawmakers’ questions carried a much harder edge....
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June 22, 2012
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The Show
After learning that histrionic personality disorder would be used as part of the defense to explain, in part, the behavior of former Penn State Coach Jerry Sandusky’s alleged sexual abuse of at least 10 young boys, I began to see suspicious indicators in a number of recent events. Okay class, pull out your copy of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of...
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June 18, 2012
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Is This the Face of Humility?
Last month (May 14) after JPMorgan Chase Chief Jamie Dimon acknowledged “sloppy, stupid” mistakes that led to a $3 billion (maybe more) loss by the big and risky bet division of the United States’ largest bank, I wrote that “Dimon needs a lot more intelligent decision-making, and at the top of that list I would put: HUMILITY. So, how has...
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June 15, 2012
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The Pill
“I was thinking faster, harder, there was no fog – and nothing could distract me. I felt like Sherlock Holmes.” That’s what an 18-year-old high school student reported after taking a 36mg. tablet of Concerta, a drug used to control symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A few years ago I was returning home from the east coast by plane....
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June 13, 2012
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June 2012 Ethical Hero – Howard Schultz
Howard Schultz is not sitting around waiting for Congress to do something about jobs. Credited for making Starbucks the number three restaurant chain in America, last April, Schultz has raised the capitol and consciousness for jobs through an initiative he calls Create Jobs for USA. “My message” Schultz said in an interview on CBS This Morning, “is the following: we...
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June 12, 2012
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Far Worse
Watergate — a name forever synonymous with former President Richard M. Nixon. Forty years ago this month, I was glued to the TV watching the Senate Watergate Committee hearings, and astounded at the laundry list of accusations made against then President Nixon that would eventually lead to his resignation – something no one could ever imagine, let alone see come to...
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June 11, 2012
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Freedom vs. Responsibility
“We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do anything. All we’re trying to do is remind you that this is something that… is detrimental to your health and to do something about this national epidemic.” That’s New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg defending his proposal to ban sugary sodas in containers larger than 16 oz. from restaurants, concession stands and movie theaters in...
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June 8, 2012