Recent Accountability Commentaries

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Chaos Du Jour
Every week some new Trump controversy sucks the oxygen out of the news cycle, and humanity. Even TIME magazine can’t keep up. This week’s cover story on the Kim-Trump summit… sorry TIME, old news! Every time we think Trump hits a low point, he invents a new one. Remember last summer’s Charlottesville? “You had a group on one side that...
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June 20, 2018
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Let’s Be the Change
Last Sunday’s Tony Awards show was debased by displays of indecency and disrespect. Actor Robert De Niro walked on stage to introduce Bruce Springsteen, but the first words out of his mouth were, “I’m going to say one thing: F#$k Trump!” The disrespect quickly followed when much of the 6,000-seat audience at Radio City Music Hall stood and cheered De...
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June 15, 2018
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“Peace in Our Time”
Apologies for the note of cynicism, but at the press conference held shortly after President Trump signed a piece of paper proclaiming, “a message of peace,” I couldn’t help but be reminded of another piece of paper and message. After meeting with Adolph Hitler, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arrived back in England on September 30, 1938 and proclaimed: “This morning,...
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June 13, 2018
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The Insider
Today, the news cycle is likely to be consumed by the summit meeting between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jung-un. To regular visitors to this site, you might be surprised to hear me say that I’m hoping things go well for both sides, truly. But, while Trump’s “crazy man” gambit may pay off, this commentary is about what Trump,...
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June 11, 2018
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When is an Apology an Apology?
On Tuesday’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Bill Clinton tried to explain his fumbled apology to Monica Lewinsky in response to a question by an NBC reporter the previous day. Colbert offers Clinton a “do-over.” “Here’s what I want to say: It wasn’t my finest hour, but the important thing is, that was a very painful thing, 20 years ago,...
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June 8, 2018
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The Trump Doctrine
“I have the absolute right to PARDON myself…” – Donald J. Trump, June 4, 2018 “The appointment of the Special Councel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL!” – Trump, June 4, 2018 “I don’t know how you can indict while he’s in office. No matter what it is. [Even] If he shot James Comey…” – Rudy Giuliani, lawyer for President Trump,  » Read more...
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June 6, 2018
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Starbucks Grand Experiment: Will it Work?
On the same day the media was covering the fallout from Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet, something on a different but related track was taking place at 8,000 Starbucks stores across the country. Last month, two black men, waiting for a meeting with a third, were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks. The two men had asked to use the restroom but...
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June 1, 2018
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More Than Money
Rosanne Barr is funny, except when she’s not. Lately, she’s worse. Finally, a high-profile celebrity who receives their comeuppance after years of racist Twitter rages. Tuesday morning, actress-comedian Roseanne Barr posted the following tweet: “muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.” The “vj” Barr is referencing is former Obama senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. Apparently, word got around...
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May 30, 2018
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The Truth Still Needs Allies
On December 4, 2017, 28-year old Edgar Maddison Welch, of Salisbury, N.C. was arrested after he terrorized customers of Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington, DC. “When police arrived,” NBC News reported (Mar. 24), “Welch admitted driving to Washington with three loaded weapons, responding to a baseless internet conspiracy claim, known as ‘Pizzagate,’ that the …restaurant was involved...
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May 25, 2018
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How Does the Country Come Together? Conclusion
“What really makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other kind of dictatorship to rule is that the people are not informed. If everyone always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but that no one believes anything at all anymore.” German-born American political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt spoke those words in a...
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May 21, 2018