In the final part of my conversation with Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) from July 29, we discuss principles, money in politics and avoiding partisan traps. Lichtman: Here’s one thing that frustrates many voters, me included: political decision-making appears to be calculated toward getting re-elected where appealing to the base of supporters becomes the overriding priority. How do stay true to...

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...

Before my August recess, I thought I’d leave readers with something more than another commentary on the day’s events. I want to leave you with something to think about, revisit and think again. I’ve been collecting quotes on integrity for some time and these are some of my favorites. So, enjoy and… think. I’ll be back after Labor Day. “Be...

There have been many issues on which I have disagreed with Senator John McCain. However, I respect the Arizona Republican for one simple reason: I trust him; I trust that he acts in the best interests of the country, not his own. Last week, when it was announced that McCain had brain cancer, I was stunned not because such a...

True story, every morning, I make the bed. (I also wash my own laundry but that’s another story.) Over the years, my wife has occasionally mentioned this to others at social functions, as if performing such tasks was due to some anomalous male genetic mutation. (The shocking truth is, most men routinely have made their beds and other chores before...

Graham Spanier, the former president of Penn State University, was found guilty last March of endangering the welfare of a child in the Jerry Sandusky sex assault case. In March, I wrote about my time at Penn State where I spoke on ethics to a variety of students, administrators, alumni and… as it turned out, then-President Spanier. Spanier and I...

Fox News executives should issue the following statement: “Fox News is calling for a total and complete shutdown of inaccurate and false stories coming from Sean Hannity until Fox representatives can figure out what the HELL is going on!” P.S. – They have, sort of. Conspiracy theories have bounced around popular culture and politics since the birth of the nation....

President Trump must’ve missed CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360  the other night when Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz recommended that the president get a personal lawyer and “zip it! …stop tweeting… stop talking…” On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – an oasis of rationality – announced the appointment of Robert Muller as special counsel to investigate the possibility of complicity...

Since June 2015, when he first announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most dismissive, divisive, defensive, histrionic, ill-tempered, sexist, Islamaphobic, bigoted, blame-laying, responsibility-evading, transparency-avoiding, media-needy, media-hating (except for stories about him that he likes), contradictory, federal judge-denouncing, Fake News-claiming, science-denying, historically illiterate, constitutionally ignorant, conspiracy-promoting, demagogic, fear-mongering, ally-alienating, NATO-naïve, authoritarian-leaning, Putin-praising, murderous-dictators-admiring (Korea’s Kim Jung...

“[The] wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine.” — Sun Tzu The board of directors of banking giant Wells Fargo announced “…that it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company’s scandal over fraudulent accounts: the bank’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf,...