Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
March 17, 2010
Television is a sucker for sex and sexy pictures. It loves a story with legs—both literal and metaphorical. So the saga of Rielle Hunter, John Edwards’s baby mama, goes on and on.
First the denials of an affair. Then admission of the affair but denial of the payments. Then admission of the payments but denial of the fatherhood. Now the exclusive in GQ Magazine: “Hello, America, My Name Is Rielle Hunter,” complete with a photo spread worthy of Playboy’s Playmate of the Month.
Now the USAToday headline: “Hunter ‘in tears’ over ‘repulsive’ photos in ‘GQ’.” Those are the photos she posed for that she labels repulsive.
The photos are quite nice. It’s Rielle and her Johnny that are repulsive. And the media’s intensive coverage and re-coverage. Her fifteen minutes of fame should be up. Bring back Paris Hilton.
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Tags:GQ Magazine, John Edwards, Paris Hilton, Playboy, Rielle Hunter
Posted in Ethics-general, Politics | 2 Comments »
March 16, 2010
The flap intensifies over Israel’s announcement of
plans to build 1600 new homes in East Jerusalem. After strenuous objection from Joe Biden and the State Department , Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized for the timing of the announcement but not for the substance, telling the Israeli Parliament that construction of Jewish housing in Jerusalem was not a matter for negotiation.
The New York Times quotes a senior administration official as saying, “What happened to the vice president in Israel was unprecedented. Where it goes from here depends on the Israelis.” But the Israelis seem intent on continuing to expand into East Jerusalem and more broadly into the West Bank.
The U.S. is in a difficult position, caught between the uncompromising Israeli ally on one side and (more…)
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Tags:anti-American, apology, Arab world, construction, East jerusalem, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Joe Biden, Jordan, Muslim world, Netanyahu, Pakistan, Palestinians, Saudi Arabia, State Department, terrorism Lieberman, Turkey, West Bank
Posted in Ethics-general, International, Politics | Leave a Comment »
March 13, 2010
The Anti-Defamation League’s website says its purpose is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Apparently this includes supporting any Israeli expansion—like the plan announced this week to build 1600 new houses in East Jerusalem—and opposing any criticism of Israel by the U.S. government.
Thus, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement yesterday (March 12):
We are shocked and stunned at the Administration’s tone and public dressing down of Israel on the issue of future building in Jerusalem. We cannot remember an instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the United States. One can only wonder how far the U.S. is prepared to go (more…)
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Tags:Abraham H. Foxman, Anti-Defamation League, Biden, East jerusalem, ethics, Israeli expansion, Netanyahu, Palestinians, Philip Crowley, Secretary Clinton
Posted in Ethics-general, International, Politics | 2 Comments »
March 10, 2010
I was puzzled, amidst all the craziness about ex-congressman (Oh, I hope it’s ex) Eric Massa (D-NY), by his early suggestion that he was being forced out of his seat for saying “I should be fracking you” to an aide. I wasn’t certain what fracking meant until I read Jack Marshall’s wise blog on “Fracking Ethics.”
I recommend this provocative analysis of obscenity, euphemism, and straight talk. Don’t miss the string of comments.
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Tags:Eric Massa, ethics, euphemisms, fracking, Jack Marshall, obscenity, straight talk
Posted in Ethics-general, Politics | Leave a Comment »
March 9, 2010
It’s never good politics in America to criticize Israel. It’s especially not good politics to criticize Israeli plans for East Jerusalem, which lies at the epicenter of the Israeli/Palestinian dispute.
Doubtlessly the Israeli government was counting on this when they announced a plan to build 16oo new homes in East Jerusalem. Biden’s trip was supposed to demonstrate American support; indeed Biden’s planeside remarks pledged a total U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and declaring that the bonds between the United States and Israel were “unbreakable.”
The Israeli Interior Ministry picked today to announce their expansion plans, in full defiance of the Obama administration’s plea to suspend building to give peace talks a chance. They must have figured that Biden would be too polite a guest and too much in awe of America’s pro-Israel sentiments to complain.
Not our Joe! Here’s how the leading Israeli daily, Haaretz, described Biden’s reaction:
“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units (more…)
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Tags:Biden, courage, East jerusalem, ethics, Interior Ministry, Israel, Israeli/Palestinian, proximity talks
Posted in Ethics-general, International, Politics | 8 Comments »
March 7, 2010
George W. Bush said
a year ago, in his first speech after leaving the Presidency, “I’m not going to spend my time criticizing him [President Obama]. There are plenty of critics in the arena. He deserves my silence…I love my country a lot more than I love politics. I think it is essential that he be helped in office.”
For this major contribution to civility in our public discourse, President Bush earns a (mythical) Reinhold Niebuhr award.*
With all the criticism—much of it unfair and quite ugly–of Bush and his administration coming from the left, and with all the criticism—much of it unfair and quite ugly–of Obama and his administration coming from the right, Bush could have made things quite worse. And he would have been forgiven, even justified, because he was only defending his record. But in spite of the provocation, Bush stuck to his conviction and gave President Obama the great gift of his silence. All Americans owe George W. Bush a debt of gratitude.
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*Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.”
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Tags:civility, ethics, George W Bush, Niebuhr, Obama, silence
Posted in Politics | 4 Comments »
March 4, 2010
Old hat
reds die hard. Many Serbs still burn with hate for Muslims over the lost battle of Blackbird’s Field in Kosovo on June 15, 1389. In Great Britain there remains mutual hatred between Catholics and Protestants dating from atrocities of the 17th century. And many Armenian Americans still burn over the massacres and other deaths of 1,500,000 Armenians by the forces of the collapsing Ottoman Empire—the predecessor to modern Turkey in 1915. Turks dispute the number, claiming that 300,000 Armenians were killed and at least as many Turks as the empire descended into chaos and war.
It seems that civilization depends on our ability to put such horrors aside, to consign them to the ash heap of history. That ability is (more…)
Tags:1389, Ambassador Namik Tan, Armenia, Armenian-Americans, Blackbird's Field, ethics, genocide, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Muslims, Ottoman Empire, Serbs, slavery, Turkey
Posted in Politics | 8 Comments »
March 4, 2010
Amidst all the scandals erupting from New York (about which, more later–stay tuned), finally a big helping of ethics cheer: Joe Scarborough earns a (mythical) Reinhold Niebuhr award* for bringing good temper and integrity into the political fight.
Thanks to Samuel Jacobs for alerting us to Scarborough’s ethics heroism in his Daily Beast blog.
Scarborough, a conservative Republican former congressman from Pensacola and now co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, blasted Glenn Beck for hate-mongering:
“We’re going to have a conservatives’ honor roll on this show… I’m talking to you, Mitt Romney, and I’m talking about anyone who wants to be president in 2012. … You need to call out this type of hatred.”
The highest level of political ethics is to call out members of one’s own party. We’re not surprised when Republicans call out Charlie Rangel, or when Democrats criticize Appalachian Trail-trekker, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. That’s no contribution to the integrity of the political fight. But when a Republican calls out fellow Republicans like Scarborough did, he deserves kudos. And when he does it on national television he deserves a Niebuhr award. Nice going Joe.
Romney declined, through a spokesman, to take up Scarborough’s challenge.
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*Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, ‘The temper of and integrity with which the political fight is waged is more important for the health of our society than the outcome of any issue or campaign.”
Tags:ethics, Glenn Beck, Joe Scarborough, Mark Sanford, Mitt Romney, Niebuhr, Rangel, Samuel Jacobs, scandals
Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »
Television is a sucker for sex and sexy pictures. It loves a story with legs—both literal and metaphorical. So the saga of Rielle Hunter, John Edwards’s baby mama, goes on and on.
Ethics Bob 