“To be courageous… requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula… whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces, if he follows his conscience – the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men – each man must decide for himself the course he...

(With apologies to Booth Tarkington) The ‘magnificence’ of the Trumps began with Frederick Christ ‘Fred’ Trump, who acquired his wealth by building and selling housing to soldiers who returned from World War II and their families. Their gilded splendor lasted throughout all the years that son Donald took over his father’s company, later renamed The Trump Organization. The younger Trump...

As the partial shutdown of the federal government grinds on, we have learned that employees who have been furloughed will eventually be paid. That’s little consolation to those who literally live paycheck to paycheck with housing and other costs. “The shutdown is affecting parts of nine cabinet-level departments,” The New York Times writes (Jan. 1), “and as it drags on,...

“Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in, and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, speech at JFK School of Government,...

P.M. Forni, the early Italian Literature professor who asked all of us to choose civility, died earlier this month at his Maryland home. As a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, Forni help found The Civility Project whose aim was to examine the importance of civility in society, and promote its practice on college campuses and communities around the country....

Looking back on his life and presidency, George H. W. Bush made decisions consistent with specific ethical values. Here are seven illustrations. 1: Nice Guys Don’t Finish Last (Respect, Compassion) – Bush was always respectful. Even in the political fray, he never ridiculed or berated opponents. He also understood how others felt and went above and beyond to support them....

In the age of Trump everything is a cultural/political battlefield where the truth is suspect and the weapons are in most everyone’s hands. The Internet is the infrastructure and social media has become a pipeline of hate speech, conspiracies and political tribalism; a cultural free-for-all where people say whatever they want, attach a link to fear or hate, and pass...

The Federalist Society is a group of conservatives and libertarians who believe in a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Often referred to as “originalists,” the Society’s central argument for judicial restraint can be found in Federalist Paper 78, authored by Alexander Hamilton: “It can be of no weight to say that the courts, on the pretense of a repugnancy,...

In response to yet another controversial and unprecedented action taken by President Trump, cable news organization CNN has filed a lawsuit against the president, as well as some members of his administration, for revoking White House Correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass to The White House. Updated: Friday, 11:23 a.m. The opening of the 18-page lawsuit reads: “…on November 7, 2018,...

In the olden days (of 2017), I used to say, “every week”; ridiculous! Every DAY, Trump and/or his administration face some new potential legal or ethical issue. Here’s the latest rundown: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke – According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), “…Zinke has racked up 17 federal investigations into his behavior since becoming Secretary.” “…the...