Recent Responsibility Commentaries

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The Ethical Take: Odds and Ends
Before leaving on summer recess at the end of the month, here is an assortment to read and ponder. Ginsburg Guff – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had the temerity to exercise her First Amendment right of free speech by calling out Donald Trump as a “Faker.” As The New York Times reported (July 10), “I can’t imagine what this place...
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July 22, 2016
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That was Then, This is Now
It’s remarkable how many Republicans have come down from the mountaintop of conservative values and demonstrated a complete turn-around in their opinion of Donald Trump. One year ago this month, former Texas Governor Rick Perry had this to say of Trump: “…A toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued....
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July 20, 2016
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About Last Week
I began writing this while watching thousands gather for the interfaith memorial service held for the five Dallas police officers who were ambushed and gunned down by a lost and damaged army veteran. The shooter, Micah Johnson, said that he “…specifically set out to kill as many white officers as he could,” following the deaths of two black men by...
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July 13, 2016
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7 Key Points from the F.B.I. Investigation into Clinton E-Mails
In a televised oral report on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server, F.B.I. Director James B. Comey summed up his department’s findings this way: While the F.B.I. could find no “clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence...
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July 6, 2016
Featured image for “The Ethical Take: The Long, Hot, <em>Hate-filled</em> Summer”
The Ethical Take: The Long, Hot, Hate-filled Summer
No, this is NOT a joke – Rick Tyler, an independent candidate running for Congress from Tennessee, received a much deserved flood of criticism after putting up a campaign billboard along Highway 411 in Polk County which reads, “Make America White Again.” According to WTVC-TV, Tyler explained his reasons this way: “ ‘The Make America White Again billboard advertisement will...
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July 1, 2016
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“Heaven” is Real
“My hand was writing out the words: There’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven… “I just sat there and looked at them and almost leapt out of my seat. “Plant’s own explanation of the lyrics was that it ‘was some cynical aside about a woman getting everything she wanted all...
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June 27, 2016
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Those Emails – Part 2
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s e-mails have been the subject of criticism, speculation and more ever since it was discovered that she used a private server located in her home to handle her e-mail account during the period she served as secretary of state. From an ethical standpoint, here are the questions that concern me most: 1) Was Secretary...
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June 17, 2016
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“You don’t know me, but you’ve been inside me.”
On June 2, a California judge ordered Stanford University student Brock Turner to serve six months in jail for sexually assaulting a female student. In a statement to the judge, Turner blamed the “party culture and risk-taking behavior” for his actions. On June 15, Congress will hold a special one hour presentation where congressional members, both men and women, will...
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June 13, 2016
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Between a Rock and a Trump Place
SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES! Dear Mr. Speaker, Well, that didn’t take long. Last month you told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “I’m just not ready to [endorse Donald Trump].” You said you couldn’t support Trump unless he “advances the principles of our party and appeals to a wide, vast majority of Americans.” The only problem with that statement, Mr. Speaker is that...
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June 7, 2016
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Muhammad Ali – Legend, Activist, Leader
“I am the Greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.”   – Muhammad Ali Since his death last Friday in Arizona, words of praise for the life of Muhammad Ali have been making their way around the media. “He was arguably the greatest fighter of all time,” Ali biographer Thomas Hauser said. But Hauser was quick to add...
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June 6, 2016

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...