Moral courage is a rare commodity, rarer still today. Those who stand up—frequently alone—to shine a light on corruption, deceit, and discrimination at the risk of their reputations and livelihoods are worthy of admiration. Republican representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, football coach Brian Flores—all have gone it alone in standing against reprehensible behavior,...

“I’m suggesting, Mr. President, that there’s a military plot to take over the government.” —Seven Days in May “People have got to understand the danger of President Trump and the danger that he posed on that day.” —Wyoming Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney Embed from Getty Images After the Cuban Missile Crisis, where America came within inches of a nuclear war...

Why has Missouri Attorney General Attorney Eric Schmitt declined to release Lamar Johnson despite “overwhelming evidence of innocence”? Why has Kevin Strickland remained behind bars even though “the real killers pleaded guilty, and have already served their time for the murders”? Why has Missouri Governor Mike Parson declined to pardon either man? In an episode of the CBS news show,...

“If it’s naïve to want peace instead of war, let ‘em make sure they say, I’m naïve. Because I want peace instead of war.” — Benjamin Ferencz Right now, I can’t think of a more important time in the country and the world where we need heroes , ethical heroes, men and women of principle. Ben Ferencz is one of...

This is what irresponsibility looks like, where dishonesty thrives and “loyalty” trumps rationality. This isn’t a close call. This isn’t, well, you know, it might have been this, or maybe that. No. The January 6 attack on the Capitol building by fervent Trump supporters and armed extreme right insurrectionists is not opinion. It’s fact. Many of those who didn’t see...

The assault on Capitol Hill yesterday that the entire world witnessed was nothing less than a 9/11-like domestic insurgency willfully initiated by a president whose words of derision and division lit the match of anarchy akin to the Civil War. American history has endured irrational demagogues before – Joseph R. McCarthy, George Wallace. Now, we are experiencing the diseased, unhinged-from-reality...

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.…” – Winston Churchill We think of America as exceptional, the leader of the free world, an example of doing the right thing. However, we’ve made our share of...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice who was a fierce advocate for gender equality, died last Friday. In a statement released by the nation’s highest court, read, “Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said. “We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague. Today we mourn, but with confidence that future generations...

“To meet the challenge of our times… we must first defeat the enemy within.” —Robert F. Kennedy While Kennedy was addressing corruption in labor unions, he could have spoken those words today, given the multiple challenges we face: — A massive virus; unemployment; a struggling economy; companies struggling with new protections for workers and protocols for conducting business; attacks against...

I always believed that Attorney General William Barr’s decision-making was biased toward Trump, but until Wednesday I never understood the utter contempt and lethality he has for the rule of law. Barr has decidedly moved from serving “at the pleasure of the president” to serving the President’s pleasures. Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on Justice Department Oversight, Aaron Zelensky...