Recent Integrity Commentaries

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Trust Confidence: CliffsNotes
During the 1998 investigation of President Bill Clinton, independent counsel Ken Starr compelled Secret Service agents to testify about what they may have seen or heard regarding Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. With the support of the Department of Justice, Director Lewis Merletti argued that if agents were allowed to testify about anything other than criminal acts,...
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September 8, 2023
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Fantasy Island
Wasn’t that the fantasy/drama show from the 70s? Welcome to Fantasy Island, the reality show in Washington, DC. On the South side of the island, we have the octos (octogenarians). Democrat Dianne Feinstein, at 90 years old is clearly frail and recently fell in her San Francisco home. Retiring? Not a chance. Republican Mitch McConnell, 81, stopped in mid-sentence during...
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August 11, 2023
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It’s Ethics, Justice Alito, Justice Thomas
After recent reports of ethics scandals, it appears the two “learned” justices need a remedial course in ethics. It’s a good thing I’m here to help. “Gentlemen, the study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you — unlike any other schooling you have ever known before… You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds....
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July 7, 2023
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It’s Time.
In 1940, journalist Edward R. Murrow stood in a church in England while the country endured German bombers night after night. Inside the church was a crudely written sign which read, “If your knees knock, kneel on them.” It’s time for Americans to get up off their knees and fight. Like a hamster on a wheel, we’ve become stuck going...
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May 16, 2023
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The Thomas/Crow Affair
Starring Clarence Thomas as the Supreme Court’s oldest serving justice, and . . . Harlan Crow as the Republican Megadonor. The latest saga in Justice Thomas’s lifestyle has just been reported by ProPublica, a non-profit group of investigative journalists. To recap: “The Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas Caper.” Despite a complete lack of evidence, Mrs. Thomas held the opinion that the 2020...
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May 5, 2023
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What America Needs Most
In the face of near-impossible odds, George Washington–tasked with leading his relatively untrained, beaten-down, militiamen demoralized by the deaths of 2,000 from disease–ultimately turned the tide with his victory over the British at the battle of Princeton. How did he succeed in his greatest test of character and courage? Washington’s unequivocal moral integrity earned him the trust of his men...
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April 11, 2023
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Lessons From Ukraine
Think about this. Because of Putin’s war against Ukraine, millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children are enduring the harshest conditions imaginable: nightly bombing; an absence of light, heat and water. Ukraine’s health system cannot keep up with the sick and injured. Schools have closed in much of the country. Despite help from European and Western allies, life in Ukraine...
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February 24, 2023
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Supremely Compromised
Let’s cut to the chase: Americans expect a higher standard from the US Supreme Court than the other two branches of government . . .  much higher and we’re not getting it. Let’s start with Justice Alito. “A former leader of the anti-abortion movement wrote to the chief justice to report an alleged earlier breach, of a 2014 contraception decision,...
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January 27, 2023
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Mr. Smith is Back!
Here’s what I like about politicians. Every once in a while, we get heroes—people who stand up for what’s right and good and best not just for the people back home, but the entire country. Margret Chase Smith, the Republican Senator from Maine, was such a hero when she stood up against the lies and tactics of her Senate colleague,...
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January 17, 2023
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Integrity Matters
In a TIME magazine essay, Michelle Obama talks about a question she is frequently asked: “What do you mean when you say, ‘When they go low, we go high?’” Mrs. Obama explained that she and the former president are “committed and recommitted to the idea of going high many times . . . Hate crimes, trans rights, gay rights, voting...
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December 16, 2022