Recent Honesty Commentaries

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Truth, Trust and Trump
“If Jesus Christ [got] down off the cross and told me Trump is with Russia, I would tell him,  ‘Hold on a second. I need to check with the President if it’s true.’ ” – Trump voter, CNN New Day, November 20 This is how low truth and trust have plummeted in the eyes of some voters. Writing about the...
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December 1, 2017
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That Uranium Deal: An Update
“Knowing what you know about Russia, was it really a good idea for the Obama administration and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to approve a deal giving the Russians control of 20 percent of our uranium supply? . . . Why did Hillary’s office and the Obama administration sign off on giving the Russians a fifth of our uranium? . . . What...
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November 27, 2017
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“Reeling”
That’s how CBS This Morning host Gayle King described her reaction to the news that co-host, and PBS correspondent Charlie Rose is the latest to be called out and admit to sexual misconduct charges leveled at him. Sitting alone at their morning table, and looking into the camera with sober faces, Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King discussed their reactions to...
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November 22, 2017
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The Menendez Fallacy
What should be done about men who do not directly and blatantly sell the favors of their offices for money and so place themselves within the penalties of the law? How do we deal with those who, under the guise of friendship, accept favors which offend the spirit of the law but do not violate its letter? – Senator J....
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November 20, 2017
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Fake News!
Seventy-nine years ago, on Halloween eve, director Orson Wells pulled off one of the great media hoaxes of all time with a radio broadcast that scared the beejesus out of millions of listeners who believed that Martians had invaded New Jersey. (New Jersey?) A front-page story in The New York Times read: “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as...
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October 31, 2017
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An Unheeded Warning
“Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide, and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the legislative branch or the executive...
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October 27, 2017
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If I Only Had a Brain
One day – (hopefully), many, many millennia in the future – some grad student will be green-lighted for a doctoral dissertation on President Trump’s tweets to examine, and perhaps shed light on the current “dark age” of American politics, starting here: “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please...
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October 23, 2017
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Sneaker-Gate
Back before journalists began adding the suffix “gate” to any scandal after Watergate, one of the biggest crimes in sports exploded exactly 97 years ago last Friday. As The New York Times reported on September 29, 1920: EIGHT WHITE SOX PLAYERS ARE INDICTED ON CHARGE OF FIXING 1919 WORLD SERIES While the eight Black Sox players, as they became known,...
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October 4, 2017
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What is Essential is Invisible
During the month of August, comfortably ensconced in my “cone of silence,” I spent most of the time reading a variety of books. While all of them speak to various ethical values, many of the authors were simply good storytellers. After listening to an interview of former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, I became interested in reading his account of how...
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September 11, 2017
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This Country
In a vigorous and powerful speech to the Senate yesterday (July 25), Arizona Senator John McCain wasn’t a Republican or Democrat; he spoke as an American and political figure fitted with the responsibility to do something for “the public good.” He spoke less about the health care debate that brought the Senate to a vote, and more about their lack...
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July 26, 2017