Recent Ethics Commentaries

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Ethics 101
Earlier this month, Eric Trump, the president’s son, was interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity. “Morality’s just gone,” Trump said, “morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.” Trump was specifically referring to Democrats criticisms of his father the president, even going so far as to say, “To me, they’re...
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June 23, 2017
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When the Media Goes Too Far
Last Memorial Day, in the early hours of the morning, an adult male unsuccessfully attempted to pull his car off the side the road. With the car partially sticking into the right lane, the brake light on as well as the right turn signal blinking, the car remained stopped. No other individuals or vehicles were involved. According to a police...
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June 21, 2017
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Comey v. Trump – Part 2
On May 9, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. “…it’s a story,” National Public Radio (NPR) reports (May 15), “that has now continued past his termination, with a winding narrative that has seen the president make veiled threats and contradict his own staff as well as the vice president.” On May 18, President Trump tweeted: “This is the single...
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June 16, 2017
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Just Two Baseball Managers
Yesterday’s shooting incident during baseball practice between Republicans and Democrats in Alexandria, Virginia sobered up a lot of people. Most notable, Democratic Congressman Mike Doyle from Pennsylvania, and Republican Congressman Joe Barton from Texas, who together gave a lengthy press conference to discuss the morning’s incident. Republican House Whip Steve Scalise and four others were shot during the episode in...
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June 15, 2017
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The Witch Doctor of Truth
President Trump must’ve missed CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360  the other night when Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz recommended that the president get a personal lawyer and “zip it! …stop tweeting… stop talking…” On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – an oasis of rationality – announced the appointment of Robert Muller as special counsel to investigate the possibility of complicity...
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May 19, 2017
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A Bridge Too Far?
Gen. Field Marshall Model’s aide: Field Marshall, pardon me for interrupting, but… British paratroops have apparently landed … three kilometers from here! Gen. Model: Why should they do that? There is nothing valuable here. … Me! I am valuable. They have all come just to capture me. Get my driver and car. Evacuate my headquarters. …And don’t forget my cigars!...
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May 17, 2017
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How Many More Shoes?
Look, let’s get serious here; the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Trump while the director is in the midst of an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is not normal. Senator John McCain called Trump’s actions “unprecedented,” The Washington Post reports (May 10). “Probably the most respected individual in all of the American...
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May 12, 2017
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All Lies Matter
Since June 2015, when he first announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most dismissive, divisive, defensive, histrionic, ill-tempered, sexist, Islamaphobic, bigoted, blame-laying, responsibility-evading, transparency-avoiding, media-needy, media-hating (except for stories about him that he likes), contradictory, federal judge-denouncing, Fake News-claiming, science-denying, historically illiterate, constitutionally ignorant, conspiracy-promoting, demagogic, fear-mongering, ally-alienating, NATO-naïve, authoritarian-leaning, Putin-praising, murderous-dictators-admiring (Korea’s Kim Jung...
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May 5, 2017
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The Attack of the Clawbacks!
“[The] wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine.” — Sun Tzu The board of directors of banking giant Wells Fargo announced “…that it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company’s scandal over fraudulent accounts: the bank’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf,...
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May 1, 2017
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U.C. Berkeley’s Almost Big Mistake
Conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter says she will make an appearance at the University of California at Berkeley on April 27 despite university officials cancelling a previously scheduled on-campus event. [See updates below.] I’m not a fan of Coulter. I wrote about the conservative’s narcissistic “antics” in my last book, Shameless: The Ethical Case Against Three Out-of-Control Critics, and...
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April 21, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
It Was Important Then. It is Important Today
Freedom of speech in America is under attack, not only when people are denied the right to speak, but when lies, intimidation and the deliberate...
When Political Identity Replaces Ethical Judgment
The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of...
Principles Matter.
A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single...
All the President’s Men 2.0
“Politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House.” —Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President’s...
The Threat to November Is Already Here
“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s...
Jon Ossoff and the Conscience of Atticus Finch
I’ve written about Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff before, but after watching his questioning of Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI),...