In Colin Powell and the American Dream (1995), Judith Cummings and Stefan Rudnicki write about an early choice made by a man who would rise to become an extraordinary leader and statesman. “In 1964, stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia, Powell pulled into a drive-in hamburger stand on Victory Drive. The waitress said she was not allowed to serve him, but if he...

Spoiler Alert: This one’s for fun, not ethics. According to an April 12th poll of possible GOP presidential candidates that includes former Governor Mike Huckabee, former Governor Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann, and Representative Ron Paul of Texas, businessman-real-estate-developer-reality-TV-star Donald Trump (you better sit down for this) is currently...

Let’s all bow our heads for a moment of silent prayer for the soon to be departed right Reverend-Professor Beck. Moment over. For those who have not heard the news, Glenn Beck announced last week that he will be leaving Fox News at the end of the year… (with five months notice in the bank). “Not long ago,” Linda Feldmann writes in...

In this excerpt from “Shameless,” I discuss 60s talk show confrontationalist Joe Pyne.   In 1966, I sat before a TV to watch a strange, new kind of entertainment unlike anything I had ever seen before.  It began like this… “The Joe Pyne Show, a fascinating forum of funny, famous, infamous, way out, and factual confrontations and interviews with real...

When it comes to opinion media, what raises my ethical hackles most comes from Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck – three individuals responsible for much of the fear, unreason and cynicism that flourishes today. This excerpt comes from the chapter on Glenn Beck, from my new e-Book entitled, Shameless: The Ethical Case Against Three Out-of-Control Critics and the...

When it comes to opinion media, what raises my ethical hackles most comes from Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck – three individuals responsible for much of the fear, unreason and cynicism that flourishes today. This excerpt comes from the chapter on Ann Coulter. I used to like Ann Coulter back in the day when she’d appear on Politically Incorrect,...

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...