Nancy is the precocious and wily young lady who is constantly in the state of a daydream or confused plot. “I am saying that the C.I.A. was misleading the Congress and at the same time the administration was misleading the Congress on weapons of mass destruction.” Sluggo Panetta is Nancy’s best friend, although sometimes seems at odds with some of her decisions....

Last week I shared the results of a new poll that Capps Center Director Wade Clark Roof and I commissioned Zogby International:  “Integrity, Leadership, Trust.”  We asked more than 3,300 Americans to grade both President Obama and Congress based on the qualities and issues they considered most important on November 5-6, 2008. Last week’s commentary revealed the “quality” grades:  Mr. Obama scored 58% positive...

Digging deeper into the results of the Walter H. Capps Center’s “First 100 Days” poll some interesting figures stand out. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, our poll is different from other “100 Days” surveys in that the majority of the questions were based on those qualities and issues Americans told us were most important to them last November:  honesty,...

Last November, immediately following the presidential election, Wade Clark Roof, director of the Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life and I asked more than 3,300 likely voters what “qualities do you think the country needs most from the new president” and, “what actions would you like to see accomplished most by the new president and Congress?” The top...

President Obama has called for “a new era of responsibility… Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”  Last week he pointed to “a confidence gap, when it comes to the American people… [and said] we’ve got to earn their trust.” So, when it comes to responsibility and openness, how is Mr. Obama doing?  Is...

A weekend conversation with a friend prompted the following: “Why be ethical?  What’s the payoff?” The standard fall-back:  “Virtue is its own reward.” Another might be the adage by Louis Armstrong when asked the definition of Jazz: “If you have to ask… you’ll never know.” The reality is that most of us face issues that challenge our ethical integrity on a regular basis.   » Read...

“How does the court have confidence that the Public Integrity Section has public integrity?” That was the question Judge Emmet G. Sullivan asked last October in the face of prosecutorial misconduct by attorneys from the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in the corruption case of former Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. In a front page story in the New York Times (April...

You’re trapped in an elevator with a guy who looks like a cross between Al Franken and a computer nerd. You’re a little uneasy. Wait, he just put his hand in his pocket, reaching for… a BlackBerry.  You discreetly look over his shoulder to read: “Need your help!  Can you come… fast?” Oh, it’s just Norm. Norm Eisen is Mr. Ethics...

“You’re Roland Burris.  You used to be in the Senate.  You used to be big.” “I AM big.  It’s the Senate that got small.” First, he’s in:  Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, arrested on corruption charges stemming from trying to “sell” Barack Obama’s Senate seat, appoints Roland Burris. Then, he’s out:  Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says the Senate won’t seat anyone appointed...

Nixon had Watergate, Clinton had Lewinsky, Cheney his “Scooter” Libby.  Now, we have Rod Blagojevich who seems determined to turn hubris into a new category at the Academy Awards. For your consideration:  “They’re just hanging me… [They’re] trampling the constitution… The good guy is up against the establishment.” However, when Illinois state senators begin their impeachment trial today based on the governor’s...