Recent Commentaries

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Maddi Runkles
“…if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom…” – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter Maddi Runkles, an 18-year-old high school student with a 4.0 grade average, was not allowed to attend the graduation ceremony with her class in Hagerstown, Maryland, because she is pregnant. Technically, according to a statement to parents...
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June 9, 2017
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A Blind Eye?
Graham Spanier, the former president of Penn State University, was found guilty last March of endangering the welfare of a child in the Jerry Sandusky sex assault case. In March, I wrote about my time at Penn State where I spoke on ethics to a variety of students, administrators, alumni and… as it turned out, then-President Spanier. Spanier and I...
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June 7, 2017
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What’s Your Tribe?
With all the fractiousness in the country – Right, Left, Alt-Right, Democrat, Republican, North, South, East, West, up, down – the nation is clearly living through challenging times. How do we relate to one another with such diverse beliefs, cultures and goals? How can we learn to listen more and bark less? John Zogby’s 2016 book, We Are Many, We...
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June 5, 2017
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Make America Covfefe Again!
Whenever Press Secretary Sean Spicer is asked to explain one of President Trump’s tweets, he responds, “The president’s tweet speaks for itself.” When Spicer was asked what the president meant by “covfefe,” Spicer replied, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.” It now seems perfectly clear that Spicer, and that very “small group” were...
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June 2, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
He Just Does His Job
I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings,...
Why Donald Trump Has Pulled Me Back In—Again
Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his...
Scott Pelley Responds
During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari...
The Clock is Still Ticking. But Now It’s Ticking for CBS
I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism:...
God Has Chosen Donald Trump
At a Trump-backed Christian prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington on May 17, officially called Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise...
The White House as Profit Center
There was a time—not very long ago—when public service required sacrifice. In 2006, when President George W. Bush nominated Hank Paulson, then C.E.O. of Goldman...