Recent Honesty Commentaries

Featured image for “Kavanaugh v. Blasey Ford”
Kavanaugh v. Blasey Ford
Who to believe? The sexual assault allegations leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh are yet another stunning shock to an administration that is already shell-shocked from revelations in the last 10 days: Bob Woodward’s book, “Fear” which details an out-of-control president; an anonymous insider who confirms an out-of-control president; and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s unexpected “flip” to...
Read More
September 19, 2018
Featured image for “Updates”
Updates
In Friday’s commentary (Right Message, Wrong Moment), I sided with Serena Williams’s point about a double standard that women are held more accountable for their bad behavior than men. I was wrong. Near the end of this year’s women’s U.S. Open final, Williams was fined $17,000 for three code violations in the finals against Japan’s Naomi Osaka, her first Grand...
Read More
September 17, 2018
Featured image for “Dear Speaker Ryan”
Dear Speaker Ryan
When President Trump addressed a group of evangelical leaders at the White House recently, he offered this stark warning: “This November 6 election is very much a referendum on not only me, it’s a referendum on your religion, it’s a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment. … “It’s not a question of like or dislike, it’s a question...
Read More
September 10, 2018
Featured image for “In Treatment”
In Treatment
As Mr. Lichtman’s recovery specialist, he asked if I would I apprise his readers as to his health and welfare. As many of you who have followed Jim’s commentaries over the past eighteen months know, he has spent an ungodly amount of time examining and writing about President Trump. It became obvious, to both Jim and treatment specialists at The...
Read More
July 30, 2018
Featured image for “The Ethical Take: <em>The Truth is Out There</em> Edition”
The Ethical Take: The Truth is Out There Edition
The words and actions of this unprecedented president, and his cronies continue to chip away at our most fundamental values. Carter Page – After the release of a 400-page FBI document, Page, a “campaign advisor” to the Trump campaign, declared that he was not an “informal advisor” to the Kremlin. According to the document, the FBI believed Page was “the...
Read More
July 27, 2018
Featured image for “Who is Richard Painter and Why is He Saying All Those Terrible Things About President Trump?”
Who is Richard Painter and Why is He Saying All Those Terrible Things About President Trump?
Richard Painter served for two years as George W. Bush’s ethics counsel. Since Donald Trump took office however, he’s frequently spoken out about Trump’s ethical lapses on cable news shows. Painter, along with Norm Eisen, Obama’s ethics counsel, have made clear that this president is perhaps the most ethically conflicted of the past 100 years. Last Sunday’s (July 1), New...
Read More
July 9, 2018
Featured image for “Truth, Trust and the Media”
Truth, Trust and the Media
Approximately 20 minutes into a one-on-one conversation with PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff last month, CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl revealed something that Donald Trump told her in a pre-interview conversation. “At one point,” Stahl said, “he started to attack the press, and I said, ‘You know, that is getting tired. Why are you doing this? … You’ve won...
Read More
June 25, 2018
Featured image for “The Insider”
The Insider
Today, the news cycle is likely to be consumed by the summit meeting between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jung-un. To regular visitors to this site, you might be surprised to hear me say that I’m hoping things go well for both sides, truly. But, while Trump’s “crazy man” gambit may pay off, this commentary is about what Trump,...
Read More
June 11, 2018
Featured image for “When is an Apology an Apology?”
When is an Apology an Apology?
On Tuesday’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Bill Clinton tried to explain his fumbled apology to Monica Lewinsky in response to a question by an NBC reporter the previous day. Colbert offers Clinton a “do-over.” “Here’s what I want to say: It wasn’t my finest hour, but the important thing is, that was a very painful thing, 20 years ago,...
Read More
June 8, 2018
Featured image for “Character and Commitment”
Character and Commitment
During a 2008 presidential campaign town hall held for John McCain, a woman in the audience looked the senior senator from Arizona in the eye and said, ‘I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him, and he’s not, — he’s an Arab.” McCain respectfully took the microphone away from her, shook his head and responded, “No ma’am. He’s a...
Read More
May 28, 2018

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),...