“I do not understand the cost benefit here… what voter is gonna vote for [Mitt Romney] because he is seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me.” In a rare moment of pique, that’s how mild-mannered, conservative writer George Will described Donald Trump – the business magnate, author, self-obsessed TV...

Memo to: President Obama and Governor Romney With both of you remain busy ramping up your campaigns, I offer some ethical wisdom from now until November, and… hopefully, beyond. 1. Loyalty is important, but… It’s nice to have loyal friends and followers who have the same passion to want to make this country work for the betterment of all, but not...

Last Monday’s commentary (The Trust Deficit) talked about insider trading – the use of non-public information to trade on stocks and other securities. However, what has been illegal for most of us has been perfectly legal for officials in Congress. With the passage and signing of The Stock Act, all this ends. Among the examples of insider trading, I cited author,...

In Silver Spring, Maryland, Police stopped a black Lamborghini without “tags” (no visible license plates). The man who stepped outside the vehicle turned out to be The Dark Knight himself… Batman! The Batman? Well, no. His real name (at least on his license and registration) is Leonard B. Robinson, a 48-year-old self-made success who made a pile of money after selling his commercial...

Colman McCarthy is an anarchist! He believes that teaching peace to high-school and college students will lead to – can you believe this – PEACE! And people think I’m a radical when it comes to ethics!! McCarthy and I are too oranges on a tree called Hope. In fact, Winston Churchill wrote, “All the great things are simple, and many...

Here’s a re-cap of recent issues that have caught my attention. Representative Charles Rangel, (D) from New York, who was censured by the House in 2010 after the Ethics Committee found him guilty of 11 counts of ethics violations, (failure to pay taxes, improper solicitation of fundraising donations, failure to correctly report his personal income), has agreed to pay $23,...

Last Wednesday, (Mar. 21) comedian Bill Maher wrote an Op-Ed for The New York Times; the gist of it being that he’s tired of all the apologies. From celebrities to politicians, anyone and everyone with a voice in the media for what Maher believes are incidental infractions of polite society. “I don’t want to live in a country,” Maher writes, “where...

In the run-up to Super Tuesday, outside political action committees “spent three times as much as the candidates themselves according to a Wall Street Journal analysis…” “Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich spent a combined $2.4 million on television ads during the last two weeks in Ohio, Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee, the contests with the most delegates Tuesday, according to a...

“It’s a story of when cynicism and idealism collide, when you have to do the things that are necessary to win to try to get in office to do the great things you want to do for the country.” That was McCain/Palin campaign honcho Steve Schmidt commenting to Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe about his time spent with Sarah Palin. (It also...

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Rushworth Kidder, founder and president of The Institute for Global Ethics, whose stated mission is “To promote ethical behavior in individuals, and cultures of integrity in institutions and nations through research, public discourse, and practical action.” I first became acquainted with Rush through his book, How Good People Make Tough Choices. “At a...