As the economy took a downward spiral in the last several years, the rhetoric from some in opinion media went from blustering bombast to rancorous incivility faster than an out-of-control Toyota. What raises my ethical hackles most comes from the Unholy Trinity of political demagoguery: Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck – three individuals responsible for much of the...

What follows is the introduction to the new e-book, “Shameless – The Ethical Case Against Three Out-of-Control Critics and the Need for Civility Now, More than Ever.” More next week. We currently live in a cable news media-induced echo chamber where, much of the time, opinion too easily passes as fact. This is as much the fault of those who...

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. That quote, from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, came to mind when I read the recent decision by the current U.S. Supreme Court regarding Snyder v. Phelps. The First Amendment case had the Westboro Baptist Church appealing a lower court’s...

Episode 6: Sex and Stupidity. “Will someone prove to me not all [Craig’s List] men look like toads?” “Hi, hope I’m not a toad.” (see pic) “I’m a very fit, fun, classy guy…divorced, one child… Live in Cap Hill area. 6ft., 190lb blond/blue… 39…lobbyist. I promise not to disappoint.” “Are you sure that’s not a photo from a JCPenny ad?” “…Here…I...

Last Wednesday, President Obama spoke in words elegiac at the memorial for the shooting victims in Tucson, Arizona.  Four days later, John McCain wrote a great op-ed that appeared in The Washington Post. “President Obama gave a terrific speech Wednesday night,” the Republican Senator wrote. “He encouraged every American who participates in our political debates – whether we are on the...

No single word can adequately sum up any individual, but for Elizabeth Edwards, the former wife of presidential candidate, John Edwards, character would have to rank high on the list. Edwards died yesterday of breast cancer. In a final message to friends and colleagues, Elizabeth Edwards wrote, “I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my...

I say this with all due respect for his service above and beyondthe call of duty to this country: I am deeply disappointed in the senior United States Senator from Arizona, John McCain. For the John McCain who served his country with distinction in the Vietnam War, nearly lost his life in a fire aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal, was captured and...

“I still believe that the mildest and most obscure of Americans can be rescued from oblivion by good luck, sudden changes in fortune, sudden encounters with heroes. I believe it because I lived it.” Those words come from Ted Sorensen, advisor, counselor and speechwriter for President John Kennedy.  Sorensen died Sunday at the age of 82. In 1961, I clearly...

In my Honesty and Trust report (Aug. 2006), The Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis wrote, “The survey reflects a growing perception of a large gap between the values of corporations and government institutions and the values of the American middle class. Values gaps are always perceived as threatening, and a perceived threat to the middle class inevitably leads to social action as it...

Angelo Mozilo, U.S. Representative Charlie Rangel, Tiger Woods, Quarterback Brett Favre, Governor Mark Sanford are just a few who have been involved in ethics-related scandals. “Why do powerful people with so much to lose push so hard to squeeze out a little more gain for themselves?” That’s the great question posed by Wall Street Journal reporter Jason Zweig recently. (Oct. 16). Zweig...