It's Ethics, Stupid!
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Recent humor Commentaries

Featured image for “Because We Need It”
Because We Need It
From the man who invented The Tonight Show. What Steve Allen understood—long before humor became sharper and more performative—is that laughter can be light and still leave a mark. His humor was humane and light, an invitation, not an attack. In a moment when so much public conversation feels joyless, this feels less like nostalgia and more like a reminder...
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February 5, 2026
  • humor
Featured image for “Four More Presidents Who Took an Ethical Stand”
Four More Presidents Who Took an Ethical Stand
  What separates a good leader from a great one isn’t intelligence, charm, or even experience. It’s character—specifically, the willingness to do the right thing when it’s difficult, unpopular, or politically damaging. We’ve seen this quality in several U.S. presidents, but four in particular stand out—not for partisan wins, but for the ethical backbone they demonstrated when it mattered most....
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June 2, 2025
  • Character
  • Courage
  • Ethics
  • humor
  • Politics
Featured image for “The Political System Explained (from the opening of my doctoral thesis)”
The Political System Explained (from the opening of my doctoral thesis)
(Note: this is a rough draft and still undergoing revisions.) Welcome, esteemed colleagues, to a comprehensive exploration of one of the most perplexing and confounding systems known to mankind: the United States political system. Drawing from years a few a couple of weeks of research, and kind of rigorous analysis (a caffeine binge helped), this thesis aims to explain the...
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January 30, 2025
  • Ethics
  • Honesty
  • humor
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  • Truth

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
Where’s the Character
In 1984, Wendy’s ran a television commercial featuring the redoubtable Clara Peller, staring at an enormous hamburger bun. Inside was a burger patty smaller than...
  • Character
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...
  • Extremism
  • History
  • Media
  • Personalities
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...
  • Ethics
  • Government
  • Politics
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...
  • Character
  • Democracy
  • Personalities
  • Politics
  • Principle
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...
  • Accountability
  • Ethics
  • Government
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...
  • Accountability
  • Civic Responsibility
  • Democracy
  • Ethics
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  • Government
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  • Responsibility

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It's Ethics, Stupid!
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