Recent Character Commentaries

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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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Navalny
Integrity frequently requires sacrifice. Some maintain the courage of their convictions; some don’t. The death of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny didn’t come as a surprise. One man is to blame and everyone knows it—a poisonous dictator who feared Navalny’s growing influence. When Navalny’s family asked to have his body returned to them the request was denied. However, Britain’s Telegraph...
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February 20, 2024
When Will America Reclaim Its Soul?
Embed from Getty Images I will return Friday. “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...
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February 9, 2024
Stop Sleepwalking and Start Fighting!
Embed from Getty Images Alarm bells go off on every page of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor,” . . . every page. At New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College last Friday, Cheney continued to press her message to primary voters. “Tell the world who we are with your vote. Tell them that we are a good and a great...
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January 9, 2024
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What’s Happened to America’s Morality?
What a way to end the year. The erosion of America’s moral integrity is overwhelming. Entitlement has overtaken personal responsibility. Meanness has overwhelmed kindness. And hatred has crushed tolerance. Many of today’s “leaders” place self-interest above public interest. They role model viciousness and lies instead of kindness and facts. They believe that the best way to influence the public forum...
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December 29, 2023
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“Their joy — that’s the gift to you.”
Watching the memorial service for Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the US Supreme Court, her son, delivering the eulogy, pointed to one of the former justice’s legacies. “Our purpose in life,” O’Connor reminded her children, “is to help others along the way.” Last Sunday, CBS reporter Steve Hartman offered a story demonstrating the power of purpose. Every...
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December 19, 2023
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Add Senator Robert Menendez to The List
Are you getting as tired as I am about scandal after scandal coming out of Washington. In he past, despite divisions, Senators and Representatives managed to right the ship and move forward representing the country’s citizens in legislation that would live up to the promise of the Founders. Now, outside influence has taken the place of honest legislative debate, and...
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September 26, 2023
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Moral Will
“A large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” That dead-on description offered up by Senate Republican Mitt Romney not only explains much of today’s Republican Party but sadly, explains that given a choice, most Republicans choose recklessness over responsibility, dishonesty over integrity and loyalty over democracy. The erosion of integrity, particularly in political leadership today, is...
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September 19, 2023
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America’s Character Revisited
With a country facing confusion, division, dissension with no apparent way out, I’m revisiting my commentary from November 2021 in the hopes that we can all learn how to move beyond the hateful rhetoric and divisiveness. Revisiting Jon Meacham’s book, The Soul of America, I was struck by a quote by historian and civil rights activist, W.E.B. Dubois. Writing in...
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September 12, 2023
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Trust Confidence: CliffsNotes
During the 1998 investigation of President Bill Clinton, independent counsel Ken Starr compelled Secret Service agents to testify about what they may have seen or heard regarding Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. With the support of the Department of Justice, Director Lewis Merletti argued that if agents were allowed to testify about anything other than criminal acts,...
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September 8, 2023