Recent Respect Commentaries

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Respect and Responsibility
Last week I wrote how the outcome of James Holzhauer’s loss on the game show Jeopary! was leaked the Sunday before the show aired on Monday, (I’ll take ‘Best Penalties’ For $1,000, Alex). The show’s executive producer, Harry Friedman, believes he knows who leaked the information and said that “very, very, very appropriate” action will be taken. At the end...
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June 10, 2019
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Follow Nancy
Last Friday (Jan. 25), when Trump announced that he would temporarily end the government shutdown without funding for his wall (for now), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered the right response: no gloating, no victory lap, no expressions of, “we won, you lost!” Trump likes to define his actions in terms of winning and losing, and his remarks on Friday, despite...
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January 28, 2019
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The “Magnificent” Trumps
(With apologies to Booth Tarkington) The ‘magnificence’ of the Trumps began with Frederick Christ ‘Fred’ Trump, who acquired his wealth by building and selling housing to soldiers who returned from World War II and their families. Their gilded splendor lasted throughout all the years that son Donald took over his father’s company, later renamed The Trump Organization. The younger Trump...
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January 4, 2019
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“…to make ourselves better”
“Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in, and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward M. Kennedy, speech at JFK School of Government,...
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December 28, 2018
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Is This A Good Time to Talk About Civility?
P.M. Forni, the early Italian Literature professor who asked all of us to choose civility, died earlier this month at his Maryland home. As a faculty member at Johns Hopkins University, Forni help found The Civility Project whose aim was to examine the importance of civility in society, and promote its practice on college campuses and communities around the country....
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December 12, 2018
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7 Lessons from the Life of George H.W. Bush
Looking back on his life and presidency, George H. W. Bush made decisions consistent with specific ethical values. Here are seven illustrations. 1: Nice Guys Don’t Finish Last (Respect, Compassion) – Bush was always respectful. Even in the political fray, he never ridiculed or berated opponents. He also understood how others felt and went above and beyond to support them....
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December 7, 2018
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CNN v. Trump
In response to yet another controversial and unprecedented action taken by President Trump, cable news organization CNN has filed a lawsuit against the president, as well as some members of his administration, for revoking White House Correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass to The White House. Updated: Friday, 11:23 a.m. The opening of the 18-page lawsuit reads: “…on November 7, 2018,...
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November 16, 2018
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Never Forget
NBC’s Saturday Night Live (Nov. 11), offered a funny and thoughtful exchange between regular Pete Davidson and Lt. Com. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost an eye from an I.E.D. in Afghanistan and was recently elected to the House. As the segment of Weekend Update unfolded, I was completely unaware of the previous week’s show and who Crenshaw...
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November 12, 2018
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If You Don’t “Embrace,” I Will Debase
“When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well, blame not him that did it.” – George Washington, Rules of Civility Civility is a word Mr. Trump and his spokespersons use only when condemning reporters who have the temerity to ask hard questions. What is a “hard” question? Any question the president doesn’t like. The latest hard...
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November 9, 2018
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We Are All Immigrants
In the run-up to the midterms on Tuesday, President Trump has been hitting the campaign trail, hitting Democrats, and anyone else in his way, about the dangers from a group of Central American migrants working their way up to the U.S. border. With Fox & Friends egging him on, Trump said, “Anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to the...
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November 5, 2018

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
He Just Does His Job
I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings,...
Why Donald Trump Has Pulled Me Back In—Again
Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his...
Scott Pelley Responds
During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari...
The Clock is Still Ticking. But Now It’s Ticking for CBS
I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism:...
God Has Chosen Donald Trump
At a Trump-backed Christian prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington on May 17, officially called Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise...
The White House as Profit Center
There was a time—not very long ago—when public service required sacrifice. In 2006, when President George W. Bush nominated Hank Paulson, then C.E.O. of Goldman...