Recent Accountability Commentaries

Featured image for “Man of 1000 Faces vs.   . . .”
Man of 1000 Faces vs. . . .
Silent movie legend Lon Chaney was known as the “Man of a Thousand Faces.” So convincing was Cheney—who developed and applied his own makeup—he could disappear into roles from the “Phantom of the Opera” to “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and the cross-dressing old woman from “The Unholy Three.” Embed from Getty Images Donald Trump only needs three to convince...
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April 26, 2024
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Conscience of the Senate
Continued from Tuesday’s commentary, I offer two Senate leaders from the past. Tuesday, I spoke of the integrity of Republican John Williams. Today, I offer the character of Senator Philip Hart as excerpted with permission from The Buying of the Congress (1998) by Charles Lewis, whose response appeared in my book, “What Do You Stand For?” John Williams and Philip...
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April 12, 2024
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A Long Time Ago in a Washington Far, Far Away. . .
. . . two U.S. Senators, one Republican, one Democrat, showed us the meaning of duty and character. Republican John Williams, a chicken farmer and feed dealer from southern Delaware, had never gone to college.  He spoke so quietly on the Senate floor that the news media dubbed him “Whispering Willie.” But when he spoke, people listened as he exposed...
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April 9, 2024
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This is The America I Know
We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, the courage, and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to foolish optimism, nor succumb to timid and ignoble...
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April 5, 2024
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We’ve Become Morally Complacent
My 90-year-old father was a Reagan Republican. When I told him that I was going to call to say hello to my uncle Don (his closest friend since grade school, so he was always referred to as our uncle), “Whatever you talk about,” he warned, “don’t mention politics. He’s a big Trump supporter.” Five years later, I would walk into...
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March 26, 2024
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My Declaration of Conscience
If I were a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, this would be my address to members. Mr. Speaker, Members of the House: We are failing. We’re failing the American people because we’re failing to govern. I know it, you know it, and the American people know it. We have a duty to solve the country’s problems. Instead, we’ve...
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March 21, 2024
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A Clarion Warning
At a time when trust in Washington leadership is at its lowest point, it’s more vital than ever to revisit the lessons from our past. As a freshman Senator from Maine, a deeply republican state, Margaret Chase Smith had been concerned about Communism’s threat to the United States. However, she had become increasingly troubled about the extremist actions of Senator...
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March 18, 2024
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What Would John Adams Say?
“The Due Process clauses of the United States Constitution require judges to recuse themselves from cases in two situations: Where the judge has a financial interest in the case’s outcome, and where there is otherwise a strong possibility that the judge’s decision will be biased. “In either case, it does not matter whether or not the judge is actually biased. What...
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March 12, 2024
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Trump Supporters Need to Read This Before They Vote
If you are a Trump supporter or are considering voting for the former president, you need to read and seriously consider the observations from the people who worked closely with him: “His understanding of global events . . . of US history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept...
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February 27, 2024
If Only She Had Just Told the Truth
Embed from Getty Images CNN recently completed a four-part series on homemaker extraordinaire Martha Stewart. The final episode reminded me of the time I debated Vanity Fair journalist Michel Wolff on CNN with host Aaron Brown in 2004. By this time, Stewart was already a household icon of “a good thing.” An incredibly successful entrepreneur, the first female self-made billionaire,...
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February 6, 2024

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