Recent Ethics Commentaries

The Road Most Traveled
Embed from Getty Images When Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito refused to recuse himself from cases concerning the January 6 insurrection despite having far-right flags flying over two of his homes in support of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, he had a ready response to Congress. “I had nothing whatsoever to do with flying the flags. My wife is fond...
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June 14, 2024
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What Would Jesus Say?
“The Democrats and the fake news media want to constantly talk about ‘President Trump is a convicted felon.’ Well, you want to know something? The man that I worship is also a convicted felon. And he was murdered on a Roman cross.”—Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene Christians fanatical zeal for Donald Trump remains stunning to many millions, including myself, who just...
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June 11, 2024
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Maniac
She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor, And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before. —Michael Sembello, Flashdance I’ll give Marjorie Taylor Greene credit for two things: she knows exactly who she is and exactly what she’s doing. Of all the Trump wannabes, Greene sits at the top of the heap. She takes self-aggrandizement to a new level. No, arrogance....
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May 10, 2024
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Principle Before Party
“Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”—John Quincy Adams In 1806, after a series of attacks by Britain on American ships carrying goods, Massachusetts Senator John Quincy Adams and his colleagues were outraged. American sailors were being captured and “impressed” into the King’s navy. When the American frigate Chesapeake was fired upon by a British ship, Adams was so incensed he...
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April 23, 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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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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What Matters
Tomorrow, New Hampshire voters go to the polls for the first primary of the season where Republican voters appear poised to select front-runner and former president, Donald Trump, as the party’s candidate for a second term in the highest office in the federal government. This is a good time to take a clear, hard look at what matters. The New...
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January 22, 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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What Do Donald Trump and Ken Starr Have in Common?
Both willfully compromised the US Secret Service. Among the egregious behaviors former President Donald Trump inflicted on democracy was utilizing, to his own ends, a federal agency whose mandate was the nonpartisan protective mission of the Secret Service. During his time in office, it was axiomatic that anyone in Trump’s orbit faced a Hobson’s choice: loyalty to Trump or the...
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December 12, 2023

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
Rage and Outrage
The last presidential election was marked by deep mistrust and anger. Four years later, the anger has escalated exponentially, with rage now dominating the political...
What Do We Look for in a President?
In a 2016 poll entitled “What Voters Want in a President Today,” Pew Research reported that “more than a year before the first primaries, more...
The Great and the Regrettable
The Presidential Greatness Project, led by Professors Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin Vaughn, is a research effort that evaluates U.S. presidents through the lens of expert...
Facts or Fear
The Rockwellesque city of Springfield, Ohio, has recently been thrust into the national spotlight, not for its charm but because of false claims spread on...
Fueled by Fear, Guided by Solutions
In America’s deeply polarized political landscape, we’ve become engulfed by lies, hateful rhetoric, and now, escalating violence. The most recent example is an assassination attempt...
What Does the Supreme Court Stand For?
“A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all Activities.” –Canon 2, Code of Conduct for United States Judges In 1969, Supreme...