Recent Honesty Commentaries

Featured image for “Seattle’s Best”
Seattle’s Best
Psychiatrist and radio personality Frasier Crane is wrestling with an ethical dilemma. Dr. Honey Snow is not only a pop-psychologist, best selling author and knockout blonde, she also has a crush on Seattle’s resident narcissist and relationship expert. (That’s not the dilemma.) When the stunning Snow asks him to write the forward to her new book, Frasier struggles to craft...
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June 17, 2008
Featured image for “A Higher Loyalty”
A Higher Loyalty
There’s a scene in the ’97 noir classic, “L.A. Confidential” that takes place after a front-page story breaks detailing local police beating-up helpless prisoners in the lock-up.  After straight-arrow cop Ed Exley unsuccessfully tries to stop the fight, the next day he’s asked if he would be willing to testify against his fellow officers. “Justice has to be served,” Exley...
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May 30, 2008
Featured image for “INDIANA JONES AND THE SACRED CODE”
INDIANA JONES AND THE SACRED CODE
THE MOST SACRED RELIC ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH… FILLED WITH INCREDIBLE POWER… AND INDIANA JONES MUST GET HIS HANDS ON IT BEFORE THE EVIL (NAZIS/CULTISTS/NAZIS/RUSSIANS) DO… THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT! World-traveling (and world-weary) archeologist Indiana Jones has studied ancient cultures, read sacred texts, raced Nazis for possession of religious artifacts, not to mention whip...
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May 23, 2008
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The Subprime Inheritance
“Why is it so hard for a man to see clearly beyond the letter of the law?” This deft piece of rationalization comes courtesy of Mr. Voysey, Sr. to his son, Edward, Jr. from a play by English dramatist Harley Granville Barker, edited by David Mamet. “The Voysey Inheritance” is a 103-year-old morality play that gives proof to the notion...
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May 19, 2008
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A Higher Ground
Dick Capen’s career is a unique blend of newspaper publishing and diplomacy. After leaving as publisher and chairman of The Miami Herald, Capen served as the United States Ambassador to Spain and Assistant Secretary of Defense. Known for his commitment to personal values and a positive approach to life, he is a nationally recognized columnist, author, and speaker on contemporary...
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May 5, 2008
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Three Friends
Three friends were called to the bedside of a friend who was dying.  The dying man says, “Look, I’ve led a good and happy life.  I’ve provided for my family, and settled with my business partners.  There’s just one thing I would like the three of you to do for me. “I want to give each of you $20,000 in...
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April 25, 2008
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Integrity’s Turn at Bat
Colman McCarthy, peace activist, and former columnist for the Washington Post wrote a provocative Op-ed (Sanctimony’s Turn at Bat) on Roger Clemens’ appearance last February before a House Committee.  The purpose of the hearing was to discuss Clemens alleged steroid use as outlined in the Mitchell Report. “This is the second time members of Congress have posed as drug-busters cleaning...
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April 7, 2008
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It’s Show Time!
John McCarthy is a former knuckleball pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization who, in 1992, started his Home Run Baseball Camp for kids in Washington, DC.  John teaches that“Talent is what you have; effort is what you give,” and there’s no room for drugs in striving to be your best. We had a conversation about baseball’s steroid scandal shortly after the...
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April 3, 2008
Featured image for “It’s Good To Be Honest!”
It’s Good To Be Honest!
Well… maybe with this guy, you could make the case for too much honesty. But the reality is that in the last several years we have seen an unsettling number of ethics scandals.  And every time another indignity is reported, our level of trust and confidence in individuals and institutions declines. In 2006, I wanted to know if these events were...
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March 26, 2008
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Client 9
When a breach of trust occurs, so many people are affected. When that breach occurs with an elected official, the implications are more far-reaching.  But Eliot Spitzer was no ordinary, elected official.  He was elected governor of the state of New York in large part because of his passion for meaningful ethics reform and direct actions against fraud and corruption....
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March 10, 2008