Recent Government Commentaries

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Comey v. Trump – Part 1
Every week… EVERY week, the Trump administration has some controversy that sucks the air out of any meaningful legislative action in Washington. This week, it’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions. While I think it’s important to look at some of the clouds surrounding President Trump, I do not intend to ethically parse every controversy. However, I believe last week’s Senate testimony...
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June 14, 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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Carl Foreman’s Real Life High Noon
One of the most iconic images in Hollywood film is a static black and white picture of a pair of train tracks trailing into a distant western landscape. By itself, it doesn’t seem to say much. However, in the western classic High Noon, the image represents a reckoning that’s coming and the man whose actions make him a reluctant hero....
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April 26, 2017
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All the President’s Men… and Women
“When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.” – Richard Nixon “The law’s totally on my side… the president can’t have a conflict of interest.”          – Donald Trump Well, I made it through the wilderness of Lent, and refrained from writing about President Trump until last Friday. However, in reviewing events of the last 7 weeks,...
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April 17, 2017
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Biiiiig Mistake!
Don’t do it! That’s my advice to Senate Democrats who seem to be ready, willing and very able to filibuster a confirmation vote on Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch. “While a parade of witnesses spoke in the committee room,” The New York Times writes (Mar. 23), “[Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer went to the Senate floor and announced that he...
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March 24, 2017
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Bad Actor
On Tuesday, WikiLeaks, the Julian Assange-created so-called “whistle-blower” site, released more than 8,700 classified documents and files, known as “zero day” – detailing all manner of cyber tools used by the CIA to gather information on “bad actors” (individual(s) with the intent on doing serious harm) outside the U.S. It is one of the worst thefts to occur since Edward...
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March 10, 2017
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Mr. Rogers Goes to Washington
On May 1, 1969, Fred Rogers – the venerable host of the Public Broadcasting Service show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood – testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications which had jurisdiction over television and radio. At the time, PBS received $20 million. However, due to the demands of the Vietnam War, President Nixon was looking to cut the funding in...
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March 8, 2017
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Long-Term Solution to Terrorism
While news stories about extremism and terrorism abound — infiltration, online radicalization, lone wolf attacks, etc. — these are symptoms. The real question is, how do we address the disease of terrorism itself? The answer to that question has seen little public attention. In his book, The Great War of Our Time, former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell...
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February 22, 2017
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…Which Gives to Bigotry no Sanction
Over the last several years, I have usually talked about Lincoln on Presidents’ Day. So, here’s to little equal time to our nation’s first president, George Washington. It’s interesting to note that unlike others running for office, Washington never went looking for the job. In fact, in August 1788, he was quite content in the role of retired gentleman farmer...
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February 20, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
The Supreme Court is Broken. How Do We Fix It?
As distilled from an email update from Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down...
Leadership as a Moral Act
Britain’s King Charles III spoke to a chamber that, for a moment, set aside party labels—Democrat and Republican—and listened not as factions, but as participants...
Unity is Not a Declaration. It’s a Discipline.
How does a country move from argument to action? The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is not an isolated event. It is part...
When the Line No Longer Holds
There are moments when events reveal more than they intend. What unfolded Saturday at the Washington Hilton was not simply an isolated act. It was...
How High Can Leadership Rise?
What is power accountable to when it no longer accepts limits? We have seen what happens when power turns inward—when it begins to believe it...
The Burden of Command
What does leadership require when decisions send others into harm’s way, and uncertainty is shared not just by those in command, but by the nation...