The worst is yet to come; Washington Post, July 27, 2017

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post; The worst is yet to come

"The Court of Mad King Donald is not a presidency. It is an affliction, one that saps the life out of our democratic institutions, and it must be fiercely resisted if the nation as we know it is to survive.

I wish that were hyperbole. The problem is not just that President Trump is selfish, insecure, egotistical, ignorant and unserious. It is that he neither fully grasps nor minimally respects the concept of honor, without which our governing system falls apart. He believes “honorable” means “obsequious in the service of Trump.” He believes everyone else’s motives are as base as his.

The Trump administration is, indeed, like the court of some accidental monarch who is tragically unsuited for the duties of his throne. However long it persists, we must never allow ourselves to think of the Trump White House as anything but aberrant. We must fight for the norms of American governance lest we forget them in their absence...

Do not become numb to the mad king’s outrages. The worst is yet to come."

Leakers Are Liars. Sometimes That's OK.; Bloomberg, June 9, 2017

Stephen L. Carter, Bloomberg; Leakers Are Liars. Sometimes That's OK.

"One important lesson from former FBI Director James Comey’s congressional testimony on Thursday is that leaking needs an ethical structure. Other human activities have ethical structures. Leaking should too...

I have been discussing here what is ethical, not what is legal. I take it for granted that many leakers may be breaking the law, and some few may even be prosecuted. 8  That is a separate issue, one that I have addressed elsewhere. But ethics matter too. In some ways they matter more, for they guide us in the shadowy spaces where few are likely to discover what we have done. 

In a time when government keeps far too many secrets, leaks are often the only way we find out about what public servants are doing. But the leaker’s motives and timing matter. What Comey said in his testimony was reasonable. Now that Muller [sic] is busily investigating, perhaps it’s time the flood of leaks slowed to a trickle."

A Break in the Assange Saga; New York Times, 8/17/16

Editorial Board, New York Times; A Break in the Assange Saga:

"Whether or not Sweden decides to formally charge Mr. Assange after questioning him, he may still be reluctant to abandon the Ecuadorean Embassy. But at least the focus of this curious saga will move closer to the serious legal, ethical and security issues at its core."