Recent Accountability Commentaries

Featured image for “Good Night, and Good Luck… to Us All”
Good Night, and Good Luck… to Us All
Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney on Broadway is a wake-up call about the ethical courage we desperately need today—a timely parable based on a pivotal moment in American history when journalism was not only a public service, but a moral stand. The play recalls the courage of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow as he confronted Senator Joseph...
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April 14, 2025
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The Immaculate Contradiction
A timely Opinion piece in The New York Times by David French sheds greater light on why so many Evangelical Christians fervently believe in Donald Trump. In 1998, during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Evangelical leaders issued a public statement declaring that “character counts” and that “the President’s personal morality is not private.” The message was clear: integrity matters—especially for those who...
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April 11, 2025
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While America Burns
While Americans struggle to make ends meet, while school boards face threats for doing their jobs, while democracy itself stands on a knife’s edge, Donald Trump retreats to his private clubs. It’s not that he plays golf—it’s what he walks away from. It’s the fire he leaves raging behind him, the chaos he continues to stoke, and the willful neglect...
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April 7, 2025
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The Choice is Still Ours
In 1951, The Day the Earth Stood Still delivered a stark warning: humanity’s survival depends on its ability to overcome fear and embrace cooperation. More than 70 years later, that message remains as relevant as ever. The film’s central conflict—whether we choose peace or succumb to fear—mirrors the choices we face in today’s political and cultural landscape. The film tells...
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March 24, 2025
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Why I Write So Much About Trump
Several times, I’ve been asked why I spend so much time writing about President Donald Trump. Two reasons (I’ll get to the second later): So many of his actions go far beyond the pale of ethical propriety. It’s not just that the lines are crossed, it’s how shamelessly they’re erased. Let’s focus on one issue: a conflict of interest. It’s...
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March 21, 2025
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When Fear Dictates Policy
“The mob is easily deceived, for it judges by appearances.” Aristotle’s words speak to a dangerous flaw in human nature: how easily fear can be stoked, trust compromised, and institutions dismantled from within. In 1947, amid growing fears of communist influence, President Harry Truman issued an executive order authorizing a “loyalty investigation of every person entering civilian employment” in the...
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March 19, 2025
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…Until It Happens to You
What do we owe the people who dedicate their lives to public service? Should the security of their jobs—and by extension, their families—be subject to the whims of those in power? Across the country, federal workers were preparing for the fallout of a sweeping purge of the federal workforce by the White House, but Ryleigh Cooper didn’t figure it would include...
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February 28, 2025
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Dispatches From the Front
Let me get this straight: … the Senate will vote to approve a woman with ties to authoritarian leaders, a man who has pushed vaccine conspiracy theories for years, and a man on the bubble who openly plans to fire thousands of career FBI agents who investigated Trump’s role on January 6, and have the White House oversee the agency....
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February 5, 2025
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Foreshadowing What’s to Come
After learning that one of Donald Trump’s first actions as president pardoned nearly all of the 1,600 January 6, defendants, police officer, Michael Fanone–who was almost beaten to death by Trump supporters said this: “I have been betrayed by my country and I have been betrayed by those who supported Donald Trump. Whether you voted for him because he promised...
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January 20, 2025
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Hard Truths
“[President Trump] then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to stay in power.”—Final Report on the Special Counsel Investigation into Efforts to Interfere with The Lawful Transfer of Power Held on January 6, 2020 Despite the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report, one thing is clear: amid the relentless...
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January 15, 2025