Torture “is basically subject to perception.” Sounds like something said by the bad guy to Clint Eastwood from some 70’s-era “Dirty Harry” movie, doesn’t it? It’s not. This is what CIA counterterrorism lawyer Jonathan Fredman advised U.S. officials at Guantanamo Bay regarding the treatment of detainees in October, 2002.  The statement comes from one of several documents released by a...

Psychiatrist and radio personality Frasier Crane is wrestling with an ethical dilemma. Dr. Honey Snow is not only a pop-psychologist, best selling author and knockout blonde, she also has a crush on Seattle’s resident narcissist and relationship expert. (That’s not the dilemma.) When the stunning Snow asks him to write the forward to her new book, Frasier struggles to craft...

It’s easy to criticize reporters when they go too far, but what about the times when reporters are pressured to go farther… and they don’t. Charles Lewis founded the Center for Public Integrity after eleven years as an investigative reporter at ABC News and CBS News, as well as a producer for 60 Minutes. The following story comes from my...

It’s interesting to see the direction these commentaries take.  I never have a preconceived plan.  I go where the story and the ethical issue take me. In Monday’s post (June 10) I had strong feelings that “Vanity Fair” editor Todd Purdum’s use of anonymous sources to insinuate that former President Bill Clinton’s “…appearances of impropriety” on the road campaigning for...

Sunday mornings, in a quiet corner of Washington, D.C., John McCarthy gets out on the baseball diamond and teaches kids the skills necessary to deal with life – effort, persistence, humor and honor. In 2005, McCarthy was chosen by Newsweek magazine as “one of America’s best.” “For McCarthy,” Newsweek said, “baseball is about joy and if you treat it with...

New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt recently discussed the issue of anonymous sources used in news stories.  He characterized the use of such sources as both “the lifeblood and bane of journalism.” On the “lifeblood” side we have the Pentagon Papers and Watergate – two significant stories that quite possibly might not have seen the light of newsprint and...

In the summer of ’68 I was 19-years-old and in my first year of college. During the first of what would become my two favorite years, I listened to the Moody Blues (on cassette), Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” (on vinyl) and Simon and Garfunkle.  I studied theater and philosophy, worked on a college production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the...

Patricia Hill Burnett has led an extraordinary life. She was Miss Michigan in 1942 and first runner-up to Miss America that year. She also played the female lead for five years in The Lone Ranger and Green Hornet radio shows. In 1969, Patricia demonstrated her commitment to the women’s movement by founding the first chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Michigan,...

“The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average...

There’s a scene in the ’97 noir classic, “L.A. Confidential” that takes place after a front-page story breaks detailing local police beating-up helpless prisoners in the lock-up.  After straight-arrow cop Ed Exley unsuccessfully tries to stop the fight, the next day he’s asked if he would be willing to testify against his fellow officers. “Justice has to be served,” Exley...