Recent Commentaries

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July 2013 Ethical Hero – John N. Baldwin
In his book, One Patient at a Time – A Medical Center at Work, Milton Zisowitz writes, “The battle for health and life in a great hospital, revealed in a dramatic case histories of people like…the young intern, only three months out of medical school, whose courage and split-second thinking saved the life of a fifty-year-old lawyer in an emergency...
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July 12, 2013
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Subtext
In his closing argument in the George Zimmerman murder trial, Florida state prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda told a jury of six women that Trayvon Martin  “is dead because another man made assumptions, because his assumptions were wrong.” That statement pretty much sums up the entire Martin/Zimmerman incident. From the outset, as soon as the shooting death of the 17-year-old,...
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July 12, 2013
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Murray’s Moment
The final moments of the men’s final at the All England Club last Sunday were simply spellbinding. Every time Andy Murray made one incredible shot, each time he made the impossible look possible, cheers exploded from Wimbledon to Dunblane, Scotland, Murray’s home town. Murray took three straight sets from Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 player in a Grand Slam...
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July 10, 2013
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Visiting Hiroshima
David Krieger is a friend and president of The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation His most recent book is “ZERO: The Case for Nuclear Weapons Abolition.” I recently visited Hiroshima to give a speech.  It is a city that I have visited many times in the past, and I am always amazed by its resilience. The city represents for me the...
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July 8, 2013
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Now is the Time
Scandal, political unrest, uncertainty. Henry Brooks Adams, an American journalist, was the grandson of John Quincy Adams and great-grandson of John Adams. His specialty was exposing political corruption in the late 19th century, and according to historian David McCullough, Henry believed the country was indeed, going to hell in a hand basket. “They went at each other on the floor...
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July 4, 2013
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Moments of Principle
By now, most everyone has heard of the 11-hour filibuster waged on the floor of the Texas state senate in Austin by Senator Wendy Davis to prevent passage of a bill that would effectively close most of the medical facilities available for abortion in the state. What most may not know is that this wasn’t Davis’ first time at the rodeo. Anyone...
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July 1, 2013
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What Now?
The fallout for former Food Network star Paula Deen continues to grow. After learning, through a recent court deposition, that she had used racial slurs and jokes that disparage blacks, the network announced that it would not renew Deen’s contract which expires at the end of this month. Now, Smithfield Foods announced that it was taking similar action. “Smithfield condemns the use...
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June 26, 2013
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Two Standards
Friday’s news carried two business-related stories that, on the surface, may not seem similar but really demonstrate a double standard when it comes to guilt. Paul Deen took to YouTube Friday to apologize for using the “n” word. In part, Deen said, “I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I’ve done. I want to learn and grow...
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June 24, 2013
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Profile in Courage
President Obama formally nominated former Justice official James Comey to succeed Robert Mueller as the next director of the F.B.I. However, it was in 2004 that Comey nearly resigned his position as acting attorney general under George W. Bush. In March 2004, a gravely ill Attorney General John Ashcroft had been taken to a Washington hospital for gallbladder surgery. At...
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June 21, 2013
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The Ethical Take
Each month I take a look at several issues that have received attention in the news. Let’s start with the easy stuff, first. The Supremes Have Spoken – In a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Arizona’s new voter law which would have added a “proof-of-citizenship requirement to a federal voter registration form…” The Wall Street Journal reported (June...
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June 19, 2013

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
When Political Identity Replaces Ethical Judgment
The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of...
Principles Matter.
A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single...
All the President’s Men 2.0
“Politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House.” —Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President’s...
The Threat to November Is Already Here
“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s...
Jon Ossoff and the Conscience of Atticus Finch
I’ve written about Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff before, but after watching his questioning of Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI),...
Hearts and Minds
There’s a moment in Cool Hand Luke when Luke, played by Paul Newman, is returned to a prison camp after escaping. Determined to break his...