Recent Responsibility Commentaries

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Ethics 101
Earlier this month, Eric Trump, the president’s son, was interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity. “Morality’s just gone,” Trump said, “morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.” Trump was specifically referring to Democrats criticisms of his father the president, even going so far as to say, “To me, they’re...
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June 23, 2017
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Comey v. Trump – Part 1
Every week… EVERY week, the Trump administration has some controversy that sucks the air out of any meaningful legislative action in Washington. This week, it’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions. While I think it’s important to look at some of the clouds surrounding President Trump, I do not intend to ethically parse every controversy. However, I believe last week’s Senate testimony...
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June 14, 2017
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Want to Change the World?
True story, every morning, I make the bed. (I also wash my own laundry but that’s another story.) Over the years, my wife has occasionally mentioned this to others at social functions, as if performing such tasks was due to some anomalous male genetic mutation. (The shocking truth is, most men routinely have made their beds and other chores before...
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June 12, 2017
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A Blind Eye?
Graham Spanier, the former president of Penn State University, was found guilty last March of endangering the welfare of a child in the Jerry Sandusky sex assault case. In March, I wrote about my time at Penn State where I spoke on ethics to a variety of students, administrators, alumni and… as it turned out, then-President Spanier. Spanier and I...
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June 7, 2017
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Standards, What Standards?
Fox News executives should issue the following statement: “Fox News is calling for a total and complete shutdown of inaccurate and false stories coming from Sean Hannity until Fox representatives can figure out what the HELL is going on!” P.S. – They have, sort of. Conspiracy theories have bounced around popular culture and politics since the birth of the nation....
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May 26, 2017
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A Bridge Too Far?
Gen. Field Marshall Model’s aide: Field Marshall, pardon me for interrupting, but… British paratroops have apparently landed … three kilometers from here! Gen. Model: Why should they do that? There is nothing valuable here. … Me! I am valuable. They have all come just to capture me. Get my driver and car. Evacuate my headquarters. …And don’t forget my cigars!...
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May 17, 2017
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His Own Big Mouth
There’s a moment in the film Patton where America’s World War II general has been sidelined from command and stationed in a French château after criticizing U.S. allies, slapping an enlisted soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress and calling him a coward. General Bedell Smith explains Eisenhower’s decision. “Frankly, George, you’re on probation. “Remember,” Smith cautions, “your worst enemy is your...
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May 15, 2017
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How Many More Shoes?
Look, let’s get serious here; the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Trump while the director is in the midst of an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is not normal. Senator John McCain called Trump’s actions “unprecedented,” The Washington Post reports (May 10). “Probably the most respected individual in all of the American...
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May 12, 2017
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It Didn’t Have to Happen
This is what happens when poor information and irrational fear trumps verified medical science. “The young mother,” The Washington Post reports (May 5), “started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella — it causes autism, they said. “Suaado Salah listened. And this...
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May 8, 2017
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All Lies Matter
Since June 2015, when he first announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most dismissive, divisive, defensive, histrionic, ill-tempered, sexist, Islamaphobic, bigoted, blame-laying, responsibility-evading, transparency-avoiding, media-needy, media-hating (except for stories about him that he likes), contradictory, federal judge-denouncing, Fake News-claiming, science-denying, historically illiterate, constitutionally ignorant, conspiracy-promoting, demagogic, fear-mongering, ally-alienating, NATO-naïve, authoritarian-leaning, Putin-praising, murderous-dictators-admiring (Korea’s Kim Jung...
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May 5, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
It Was Important Then. It is Important Today
Freedom of speech in America is under attack, not only when people are denied the right to speak, but when lies, intimidation and the deliberate...
When Political Identity Replaces Ethical Judgment
The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of...
Principles Matter.
A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single...
All the President’s Men 2.0
“Politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House.” —Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President’s...
The Threat to November Is Already Here
“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s...
Jon Ossoff and the Conscience of Atticus Finch
I’ve written about Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff before, but after watching his questioning of Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI),...