Recent Character Commentaries

What Stands Before Us
Embed from Getty Images In 1941, as President Roosevelt remained reluctant to enter the war in Europe, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dining with U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant discussing England’s fate. Listening to the BBC, the radio station announced that the Japanese had attacked American ships at Pearl Harbor. Within minutes, Churchill received a phone call from FDR confirming...
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February 24, 2021
The Darkness
“It is written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.” – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness The poison that is Donald Trump has so deeply infected followers that they forcefully speak out against any unfaithful Republican who dares speak against him much less hold him accountable for the attack on the Capitol. Embed from Getty Images Here’s...
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February 19, 2021
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I Speak for the Preservation of the Union
“A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or reward that quality in its chosen leaders today…” – Senator John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage In the first chapter of Kennedy’s book he writes, “… a member of the [President’s] Cabinet had...
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February 12, 2021
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Who Was Senator Philip Hart and Why is His Example Vitally Important Today?
“This building is dedicated by his colleagues to the memory of Philip A. Hart with affection, respect, and esteem. A man of incorruptible integrity and personal courage strengthened by inner grace and outer gentleness, he elevated politics to a level of purity that will forever be an example to every elected official. He advanced the cause of human justice, promoted...
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January 11, 2021
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Reality Check
With a number of GOP House members planning to challenge the election of Joe Biden on Wednesday, Texas Representative and Republican, Chip Roy has a solution. In a respectful but frank statement, Roy states that newly elected GOP House members elected on the same ballot as President Trump should be subjected to the same scrutiny. “Today, I objected to the...
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January 5, 2021
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Who was Aristides “The Just,” and Why Was He Kicked Out of Athens?
“No good deed goes unpunished.” — Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and playwright Reading about the greatest Greeks in history, I came across Aristides “The Just,” and wondered how a military general and politician came to be recognized for his moral rectitude. Aristides, who lived between 530 – 468 BC, came to prominence as a strategos (general) who led Athens against...
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December 21, 2020
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Trust but Verify
In the Contemporary Ethics class held at the New Hampshire Technical Institute where I assist in teaching, the one value I spend the greatest amount of time discussing is the most vital, Trust. Vital because of the number of the additional values that are essential. Using the Josephson Institute’s list of core ethical values, trust encompasses four separate values: Honesty...
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December 17, 2020
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Democracy Calls on Us
We are living in dangerous times. In his biography of George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman wrote that President Washington led the country “by directness, by deference and by manifest dedication to duty.” Donald Trump is the polar opposite of Washington in character and duty. Indeed, Washington would be sickened to see that the nation’s capital that bears his name has...
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December 11, 2020
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December 7, 1941
With the lack of courage and duty in Washington, it’s more important than ever to take a moment to remember some of the heroes who acted above and beyond 79 years ago, today. As memorialized by the History Channel, here are four stories that show what courage and duty look like. “Missouri-born Samuel Fuqua had a front row seat to...
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December 7, 2020
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“A Fire Not to be Quenched”
“A democracy cannot survive merely by being well informed, it must also be contemplative, and wise.” – E.B. White John and Jeremy Zogby are part of the team at Zogby Strategies whose mission is to examine Americans’ thinking to keep us better informed, and hopefully, more “contemplative and wise.” Before Tuesday’s election, both correctly recognized that the race between Trump...
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November 6, 2020

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
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He Just Does His Job
I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings,...
Why Donald Trump Has Pulled Me Back In—Again
Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his...
Scott Pelley Responds
During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari...
The Clock is Still Ticking. But Now It’s Ticking for CBS
I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism:...
God Has Chosen Donald Trump
At a Trump-backed Christian prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington on May 17, officially called Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise...
The White House as Profit Center
There was a time—not very long ago—when public service required sacrifice. In 2006, when President George W. Bush nominated Hank Paulson, then C.E.O. of Goldman...