FCC WON'T REDEFINE 'BROADBAND;' MOVE COULD HAVE WORSENED DIGITAL DIVIDE; Wired, January 18, 2018

Klint Finley, Wired; 

FCC WON'T REDEFINE 'BROADBAND;' MOVE COULD HAVE WORSENED DIGITAL DIVIDE

"The FCC announced Thursday that it will continue to define home broadband as connections that are 25 megabits per second (mbps). The commission also established a new standard for mobile broadband as a connection of 10mbps or higher, and said it had rejected the idea—which it had floated last year—of labeling mobile internet service an adequate replacement for home broadband.

Consumer groups and advocates for rural communities had worried that changing the definition of broadband would enable the government to minimize the so-called digital divide, between communities with speedy internet access and those without."

Congressman Combating Harassment Settled His Own Misconduct Case; New York Times, January 20, 2018

Katie Rogers and Kenneth P. Vogel, New York Times; 

Congressman Combating Harassment Settled His Own Misconduct Case

"After this article was published online, AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Mr. Meehan was being removed immediately from the House Ethics Committee, where he has helped investigate sexual misconduct claims, and that the panel would investigate the allegations against him. In addition, Mr. Ryan told Mr. Meehan that he should repay the taxpayer funds, Ms. Strong said.

Sexual misconduct accusations against powerful men across a range of industries in recent months have prompted a national conversation about gender dynamics in the workplace, and the inadequacy of support systems for victims."

Comey to teach ethical leadership course at College of William & Mary; Politico, January 19, 2018

Aubree Eliza Weaver, Politico; 

Comey to teach ethical leadership course at College of William & Mary

"Former FBI Director James Comey is joining the faculty at his alma mater, the College of William & Mary, and will teach a course on ethical leadership starting this fall, the school announced Friday morning.

“I am thrilled to have the chance to engage with William & Mary students about a vital topic — ethical leadership,” Comey said in a statement. “Ethical leaders lead by seeing above the short term, above the urgent or the partisan, and with a higher loyalty to lasting values, most importantly to the truth.”

“Building and maintaining that kind of leadership, in both the private sector and government, is the challenge of our time,” Comey said."

We Asked Ethics Experts About Trump’s Worst Abuses During His First Year In Office : Here’s what they said.; Mother Jones, January 17, 2018

Andy Kroll, Mother Jones; We Asked Ethics Experts About Trump’s Worst Abuses During His First Year In Office : Here’s what they said.

"No president in modern history has run roughshod over the laws, guidelines, and norms of running an ethical and transparent administration like Donald Trump.

He’s refused to divest any of his business holdings or meaningfully separate himself from his company. He’s visited (and so promoted) his private properties and golf courses at a breathtaking clip: Of his first 362 days in office, Trump spent one-third of them—121 days—at a Trump property, according to NBC News. His business has cashed in on his presidency by hiking membership fees and peddling access.

His aides have promoted Trump family properties and products. A year in, it is fair to describe the Trump administration’s approach to clean, ethical government as, well, nonexistent.

Below, six experts in clean government, ethics, anti-corruption, and transparency who have tracked the administration describe what they see as Trump’s most egregious ethical failings from his first year in office."

In new book, Microsoft cautions humanity to develop AI ethics guidelines now; GeekWire, January 17, 2018

Monica Nickelsburg, GeekWire; 

In new book, Microsoft cautions humanity to develop AI ethics guidelines now

"This dangerous scenario is one of many posited in “The Future Computed,” a new book published by Microsoft, with a foreword by Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, and Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence and Research group.

The book examines the use cases and potential dangers of AI technology, which will soon be integrated into many of the systems people use everyday. Microsoft believes AI should be developed with six core principles: “fair, reliable and safe, private and secure, inclusive, transparent, and accountable.”

Nimble policymaking and strong ethical guidelines are essential to ensuring AI doesn’t threaten equity or security, Microsoft says. In other words, we need to start planning now to avoid a scenario like the one facing the imaginary tech company looking for software engineers."

Mr. President, stop attacking the press; Washington Post, January 16, 2018

John McCain, Washington Post; Mr. President, stop attacking the press

"Ultimately, freedom of information is critical for a democracy to succeed. We become better, stronger and more effective societies by having an informed and engaged public that pushes policymakers to best represent not only our interests but also our values. Journalists play a major role in the promotion and protection of democracy and our unalienable rights, and they must be able to do their jobs freely. Only truth and transparency can guarantee freedom."

‘Our democracy will not last’: Jeff Flake’s speech comparing Trump to Stalin, annotated; Washington Post, January 17, 2018

Amber Phillips, Washington Post; ‘Our democracy will not last’: Jeff Flake’s speech comparing Trump to Stalin, annotated

"For the second time in a span of several months, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor to  call out President Trump. This time, Flake excoriated the president for launching a war on the media, comparing the president to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and warning his colleagues that nothing less than American democracy is at stake. It was all pegged to Trump's “Fake News Awards,” which the president said he was going to hand out Wednesday. Here's Flake's entire speech, annotated. Click on highlighted text to read the annotations."

What Flake got right — and wrong; Washington Post, January 17, 2018

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; What Flake got right — and wrong

"Flake gave an impressive and far-reaching speech indicting Trump’s web of lies and the damage his international pals (e.g., Vladimir Putin) are doing to freedom of the press. He correctly admonished his Senate colleagues that undermining truth strengthens the hand of despots. Give him credit — but only partial credit. Elected Republicans engage in much of the same anti-truth propaganda as the president does. The evening programming of an entire TV cable “news” network is dedicated to conspiracy theories, misleading information about immigrants and terrorists, and refusal to cover facts that contradict the president’s tropes.

Trump did not materialize out of thin air. He masterfully manipulated white grievance and anti-elite conspiracy-mongering. But the ground was plowed by many of Flake’s colleagues and by Republicans’ self-selected news outlets. Getting rid of Trump will help, but unless and until the mind-set that permeates the right is dismantled, the war on the truth will rage on."

Ethics Report On Trump Administration: The Most Unethical Presidency; NPR, January 16, 2018

[Podcast] Morning Edition, NPR; 

Ethics Report On Trump Administration: The Most Unethical Presidency

"Steve Inskeep talks to Richard Painter, top ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, and Norman Eisen, top ethics lawyer for President Obama. They argue Trump's administration has been unethical."

Duquesne University is embracing the future: We will help reinvent the region while instilling core values in the next generation of leaders; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 14, 2018

Ken Gormley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Duquesne University is embracing the future: We will help reinvent the region while instilling core values in the next generation of leaders

"Ken Gormley is a former dean of the Duquesne University School of Law and has served as the university’s president since July 2016...

As the only Catholic, Spiritan university in the United States, we have a duty to address troublesome trends. Fewer students than ever enter college today with foundations in religious faith or possessing core values. Fewer students than ever have grown up in close-knit communities where respectful treatment of others is practiced and moral compasses are shaped.

Technology is amazing. Yet young people raised on smartphones, text messaging and Instagram often have stunted social skills and difficulty interacting with others. Shout-fests on cable TV and insensitive postings on social media have become the norm, in lieu of productive social discourse. If society is going to get a grip on today’s crisis of moral ambiguity, universities like Duquesne must play a larger and more creative role in shaping responsible, ethical leaders.

We also have a duty to help reinvent Western Pennsylvania...

Duquesne faces more daunting responsibilities than ever, and we’re prepared to shoulder them. We recently completed a five-year strategic plan that doubles down on Duquesne’s historic role in this region. Duquesne has a rich tradition of serving people of all faiths and backgrounds. We welcomed African-American students, Jewish students and women to our campus more than 100 years ago — long before most universities opened their doors to such diverse groups."

Bad behavior and rise in ethical dilemmas are an advantage to Denver’s Convercent, which just raised $25M; Denver Post, December 19, 2017

Tamara Chuang, Denver Post; 

Bad behavior and rise in ethical dilemmas are an advantage

 to Denver’s Convercent, which just raised $25M

"Ethics software developer Convercent said Tuesday it raised $25 million in new funding. The investment was led by Rho Ventures.

The Denver firm has seen interest in its software surge as tech companies and others battle ethical issues that went public, such as Uber’s problems with workplace harassment. Uber is reportedly a new client. Convercent’s software can pop up a reminder to employees when they’re facing a potential issue, such as rules that kick in when traveling overseas. But closer to home, companies are reaching out to Convercent in the wake of celebrity sexual harassment scandals."

5 Signs Your Organization Might Be Headed for an Ethics Scandal; Harvard Business Review, December 18, 2017

Alison Taylor, Harvard Business Review; 

5 Signs Your Organization Might Be Headed for an Ethics Scandal

"Corporations often approach ethics as an individual problem, designing oversight systems to identify the “bad apples” before they can turn the organization into a “rotten barrel.” But at places like Wells Fargo, FIFA, and Volkswagen, we can’t fully describe what happened by reading profiles of John Stumpf, Sepp Blatter, or Martin Winterkorn. Bad apple explanations also fail to explain the string of ethical crises at Uber, the long-term impunity of powerful men who sexually harass colleagues, or any of the other ethics scandals we’ve seen this year. Rather, we see a “tone at the top” underpinned by widespread willful blindness, toxic incentives, and mechanisms that deflect scrutiny. These conditions seem to persist and metastasize. They replicate despite changes in leadership and in management systems."

Mashable; What an AI ethics expert thinks of 'Black Mirror' Season 4; January 12, 2018

Angie Han, Mashable; What an AI ethics expert thinks of 'Black Mirror' Season 4

Spoilers in the linked Mashable article 

[Kip Currier: I recently finished watching not-too-distant-future-tech anthology series Black Mirror's six new Season 4 episodes over the course of a week. In terms of audacious creativity, corkscrew concept, and visual effects, "U.S.S. Callister" was the clear "ep-to-remember" of this season. Just as 2017 Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Television Movie, "San Junipero", was the stand-out of Black Mirror Season 3--and, for me, the most memorable (and uncharacteristically upbeat) Black Mirror episode to date. The 80's and 90's "earworm" music callbacks were a big part of San Junipero's charms too!]

"The best Black Mirror episodes don't just leave you wondering whether these futures could happen. They force you to consider what it would mean if they did.

For John C. Havens, these aren't just idle TV musings. He's the executive director of the IEEE Global Initiative on Ethics of Autonomous and Intelligent Systems, a program that aims to inspire the creation of IEEE Standards around the design and development of artificial intelligence.

In other words, he and his team are the ones trying to keep us from hurtling, unprepared and unaware, into a Black Mirror dystopia. He also happens to be a big Black Mirror fan, which is why we called him up to ask him all the questions that kept us up at night after we finished Season 4."

With Trump White House, Are Ethics Issues Becoming Just Part Of The Scenery?; NPR, August 25, 2017

Peter Overby, NPR; With Trump White House, Are Ethics Issues Becoming Just Part Of The Scenery?

"Kathleen Clark, the ethics-law professor, said all administrations come to grips with ethics, but normally they see a pro-ethics stance as politically smart. She said the Trump White House appears to have a different perspective.

"The question isn't, 'How can we use this to strengthen our hand politically?' " she said. "It's instead, 'How can we avoid application of any restriction, anything that would get in the way of our financially benefiting and exploiting government office?' And that is unprecedented.""

"Solar Eclipse"; robrogers.com, August 21, 2017

Rob Rogers, robrogers.com; "Solar Eclipse"

One more lesson from Charlottesville: Our comedians are more ethical than our president; Salon, August 19, 2017

Sophia A. McClennen, Salon; One more lesson from Charlottesville: Our comedians are more ethical than our president

"This week we have now seen another key feature of satire: It offers ethical responses to unethical actions.

The ethics of satire is often hard to see, especially because comedy can so often be crass and crude...

This is all to say that comedians are unlikely moral leaders. And yet in the Trump era, when literally every value in our nation seems to have been turned upside down, we are now seeing comedians play an increasingly larger role as champions of good versus evil.

This is why as Meyers ended his monologue he directly went after Trump for failing to uphold his moral obligations as president of our nation:

The leader of our country is called the president because he’s supposed to preside over society. His job is to lead, to cajole, to scold, to correct our path, to lift up what is good about us and to absolutely and unequivocally and immediately condemn what is evil in us. And if he does not do that, if he does not preside over our society, then he is not a president. You can stand for a nation or you can stand for a hateful movement. You can’t do both. And if you don’t make the right choice, I am confident that the American voter will.

Meyers wasn’t just scolding Trump for failing at his job; he was also showing his audience what real leadership looks like." 

Trump is Sarah Palin but better at it; Washington Post, August 17, 2017

Jane Coaston, Washington Post; Trump is Sarah Palin but better at it

"His fans weren’t dissuaded by his past support for Democrats (including his 2016 opponent), or his lies, or his personal liberalism, or his crudeness, or his long history of mistreating small-business owners of the kind he claimed to champion, because his fans weren’t voting for Trump. They were voting for what Trump meant to them personally.

In turn, his base will not leave him, because to abandon Trump would not be to abandon the current president but to leave behind deeply held beliefs of their own. His popularity is cultural, not political, resilient to the notions of truth and fiction and to Trump’s own failures. Even after his presidency, regardless of whether it ends in impeachment or in two consecutive terms in office, the image will remain undaunted.

At the 2015 Freedom Summit in Iowa, Palin gave a 35-minute speech described as confusing at best and career-ending at worst by conservative writers and commentators in attendance. The Washington Examiner’s Byron York even wrote that Palin “made a guy like Trump look like a serious presidential candidate.” How appropriate then that the student became the master."

There is a shriveled emptiness where Trump’s soul once resided; Washington Post, August 17, 2017

Michael Gerson, Washington Post; There is a shriveled emptiness where Trump’s soul once resided

"Every additional day of standing next to Trump — physically and metaphorically — destroys reputation and diminishes moral standing. The rationalizations are no longer credible. But resignation, in contrast, would be a contribution to the common good — showing that principled leadership in service to the Constitution is still possible, even in the age of Trump. When loyalty requires corruption, it is time to leave."

Trump is a cancer on the presidency; Washington Post, August 18, 2017

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post; Trump is a cancer on the presidency

"Trump must be held accountable for his false moral equivalency and his willingness to exalt the treasonous Confederacy at the expense of our union. The “harsh penalty” that escaped him in 2011 must be visited upon him now. People of good conscience must speak up and stay vocal. More Republicans must stand up to him now and do so boldly. They have to put the country before party or some longed-for policy that pales in comparison to the preservation of our ideals. And if Trump succeeds in surviving this unbelievable affront to all we say we are, he will not be to blame. We will."

Donald Trump has no grasp of what it means to be president; Economist, August 19, 2017

Economist; Donald Trump has no grasp of what it means to be president

"Mr Trump is not a white supremacist. He repeated his criticism of neo-Nazis and spoke out against the murder of Heather Heyer (see our Obituary). Even so, his unsteady response contains a terrible message for Americans. Far from being the saviour of the Republic, their president is politically inept, morally barren and temperamentally unfit for office."

Trump Makes Caligula Look Pretty Good; New York Times, August 18, 2017

Paul Krugman, New York Times; Trump Makes Caligula Look Pretty Good

"Anyone with eyes — eyes not glued to Fox News, anyway — has long realized that Trump is utterly incapable, morally and intellectually, of filling the office he holds. But in the past few days things seem to have reached a critical mass...

For here’s the situation: Everyone in Washington now knows that we have a president who never meant it when he swore to defend the Constitution. He violates that oath just about every day and is never going to get any better.

The good news is that the founding fathers contemplated that possibility and offered a constitutional remedy: Unlike the senators of ancient Rome, who had to conspire with the Praetorian Guard to get Caligula assassinated, the U.S. Congress has the ability to remove a rogue president."

The Week When President Trump Resigned; New York Times, August 18, 2017

Frank Bruni, New York Times; The Week When President Trump Resigned

"Trump resigned the presidency already — if we regard the job as one of moral stewardship, if we assume that an iota of civic concern must joust with self-regard, if we expect a president’s interest in legislation to rise above vacuous theatrics, if we consider a certain baseline of diplomatic etiquette to be part of the equation.

By those measures, it’s arguable that Trump’s presidency never really began...

On Tuesday he “relinquished what presidents from Roosevelt to Reagan have regarded as a cardinal duty of their job: set a moral course to unify the nation,” wrote The Times’s Mark Landler, in what was correctly labeled a news analysis and not an opinion column. Landler’s assessment, echoed by countless others, was as unassailable as it was haunting, and it was prompted in part by Trump’s perverse response to a question that it’s hard to imagine another president being asked: Did he place the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va., on the same “moral plane” as those who showed up to push back at them?

“I’m not putting anybody on a moral plane,” Trump answered.

Indeed he wasn’t. And if you can’t put anybody on a moral plane, you can’t put yourself on Air Force One."

New ABA President Hilarie Bass touts lawyers' role in protecting democracy; ABA Journal, August 15, 2017

Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; New ABA President Hilarie Bass touts lawyers' role in protecting democracy

"[ABA new President Hilarie] Bass also emphasized how the ABA and lawyers can make a difference at a time when many are concerned about whether the nation can be a “shining example” to the rest of the world. “But all can agree it is lawyers who must lead the effort to protect our democracy from its challenges,” she said.

She pointed to lawyers stationed in airports who offered free legal assistance to immigrants, to attorneys general who challenge what they believe to be unconstitutional mandates, and to lawyers who have spoken out about the need for an independent judiciary.

“Our democracy functions best when there are lawyers prepared to protect it,” she said."

Trump again blamed ‘both sides’ in Charlottesville. Here’s how politicians are reacting.; Washington Post, August 16, 2017

Kevin Uhrmacher, Denise Lu, Kevin Schaul and Aaron Steckelberg, Washington Post; Trump again blamed ‘both sides’ in Charlottesville. Here’s how politicians are reacting.

"Tim Scott R

SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR

Aug. 15, 9:43 p.m. 

The moral authority of this nation rests upon clarity of convictions & actions that reinforce our commitment to the greater good for all! My party&our nation must stand united against hate, racism& groups/individuals who want to reject the truth that we are all from one blood.

Kamala Harris D

CALIFORNIA SENATOR

Aug. 15, 4:26 p.m. 

“Many sides” suggests that there is no right side or wrong side, that all are morally equal. But I reject that. It's not hard to spot the wrong side here. They're the ones with the torches and the swastikas.

Marco Rubio R

FLORIDA SENATOR

Aug. 15, 5:27 p.m. 

The organizers of events which inspired & led to #charlottesvilleterroristattack are 100% to blame for a number of reasons [Later tweet:] Mr. President,you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame. They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain

Patty Murray D

WASHINGTON SENATOR

Aug. 15, 5:38 p.m. 

There is only one side. White supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazis, & hate groups have no place in our country. The President needs to say that.

Paul Ryan R

HOUSE SPEAKER AND WISCONSIN CONGRESSMAN

Aug. 15, 6:01 p.m. 

We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity."

Hundreds mourn for Heather Heyer, killed during Nazi protest in Charlottesville; Washington Post, August 16, 2017

Ellie Silverman, Arelis R. Hernández and Steve Hendrix, Washington Post; Hundreds mourn for Heather Heyer, killed during Nazi protest in Charlottesville

"“Thank you for making the word ‘hate’ more real,” said her law office coworker Feda Khateeb-Wilson. “But...thank you for making the word ‘love’ even stronger.”

In a packed old theater in the center of the quiet college town that has become a racial battleground, those who knew Heyer turned her memorial into a call for both understanding and action.

“They tried to kill my child to shut her up, but guess what, you just magnified her,” said her mother Susan Bro, sparking a cheering ovation from the packed auditorium, where Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) were among the crowd.

“No father should ever have to do this,” said Mark Heyer, his voice breaking on a stage filled with flowers and images of the 32-year-old paralegal who was killed Saturday when a car plowed into a crowd of protestors gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally."

August Wilson’s Pittsburgh; New York Times, August 15, 2017

John L. Dorman, New York Times; August Wilson’s Pittsburgh

"The stacks of the main Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh soon became Wilson’s new classroom, nurturing his intellectual curiosity. I walked throughout the building, imagining Wilson using the large reading rooms and admiring the architecture. With the words “Free to the People” etched in stone across the entrance, the ornate library, which opened in 1895, complements the nearby 42-story Gothic Revival Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.

Back in the Hill District, the local Carnegie Library branch has a community room dedicated to Wilson. During my visit it was packed, filled with patrons playing chess. There is that stool salvaged from Eddie’s restaurant, a large map of the Hill District and notably, a high school diploma issued to Wilson by the library.

August Wilson was 60 years old when he died of liver cancer. His memorial service, held at the grand Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland, was followed by a jazz-infused procession through the Hill District.

“When Wynton Marsalis played ‘Danny Boy’ at the service, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” Mr. Udin said. “August dealt with death in a manner of dignity, the same way he would have done with any of his characters.”

I always wondered how August Wilson could write about joy and tragedy with such vigor. But then I realized that his use of raw vernacular among African-Americans was rather unprecedented. Not only are Wilson’s poems and plays necessary, but they will continue to be vital in understanding the complexities of the common man."

What I Saw in Charlottesville Could Be Just the Beginning; Politico, August 14, 2017

Brennan Gilmore, Politico; 

What I Saw in Charlottesville Could Be Just the Beginning

"This violence will continue unless we commit universally to condemning and standing against it. I am confident that most of my neighbors in Virginia and the majority of my fellow Americans know that the side marching through my town carrying lit torches and assault weapons, mowing down peaceful anti-racist protesters, and espousing an ideology of hatred and bigotry, is wrong. But it takes more than just knowing. If Americans want the violence to end, we need to actively oppose those who seek to divide us along racial lines and demand that our leaders do the same.

In his book on the neurological bases of the good and bad of human behavior, the biologist Robert Sapolsky emphasizes that it is fundamental human psychology to create an “us” and a “them.” But, he writes, “If we accept that there will always be sides, it’s a non-trivial to-do list item to always be on the side of angels.”

That’s our charge. Whether it is in Bujumbura or Charlottesville, we all must be on the side of the angels."

What did you expect from Trump?; Washington Post, August 15, 2017

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; What did you expect from Trump?

"We should be clear on several points. First, it is morally reprehensible to serve in this White House, supporting a president so utterly unfit to lead a great country. Second, John F. Kelly has utterly failed as chief of staff; the past two weeks have been the worst of Trump’s presidency, many would agree. He can at this point only serve his country by resigning and warning the country that Trump is a cancer on the presidency, to borrow a phrase. Third, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have no excuses and get no free passes. They are as responsible as anyone by continuing to enable the president. Finally, Trump apologists have run out of excuses and credibility. He was at the time plainly the more objectionable of the two main party candidates; in refusing to recognize that they did the country great harm. They can make amends by denouncing him and withdrawing all support. In short, Trump’s embrace and verbal defense of neo-Nazis and white nationalists should be disqualifying from public service. All true patriots must do their utmost to get him out of the Oval Office as fast as possible."

Tech firm is fighting a federal order for data on visitors to an anti-Trump website; Washington Post, August 14, 2017

Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post; Tech firm is fighting a federal order for data on visitors to an anti-Trump website

"On Friday, DreamHost filed a reply arguing that the warrant’s breadth violates the Fourth Amendment because it failed to describe with “particularity” the items to be seized. Asking for “all records or other information” pertaining to the site, including “all files, databases and database records” is far too broad, the company said.

The warrant also raises First Amendment issues, it said. Visitors to the protest site should have the right to keep their identities private, but if they fear that the Justice Department will have information on them, that will chill their freedom of speech and association, the company argued.

The company said that the warrant would require them to turn over data on potentially tens of thousands of law-abiding website visitors.

Mark Rumold, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that no plausible explanation exists for a search warrant of such breadth, “other than to cast a digital dragnet as broadly as possible.”

He said that the government appears to be investigating a conspiracy to riot, “but it’s doing it in a blunt manner that does not take into account the significant First Amendment interests.”"

Under Armour and Intel C.E.O.s Follow Merck Chief, Quitting Panel in Rebuke to Trump; New York Times, August 14, 2017

David Gelles and Katie Thomas, New York Times; Under Armour and Intel C.E.O.s Follow Merck Chief, Quitting Panel in Rebuke to Trump

"Though three C.E.O.s had spoken out by the end of the day, for much of it, Mr. Frazier of Merck was the lonely voice of opposition.

On Sunday, Mr. Frazier, the son of a janitor and grandson of a man born into slavery, watched news coverage of white nationalists clashing with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, and of Mr. Trump’s ambiguous response to the violence.

That evening, he informed his board members that he was preparing to resign from Mr. Trump’s American Manufacturing Council, one of several advisory groups the president formed in an effort to forge alliances with big business...

“America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal,” Mr. Frazier wrote. “As C.E.O. of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against extremism.”

Obama Responds To Charlottesville Violence With A Quote From Nelson Mandela; Huff Post, August 12, 2017

Paige Lavender, Huff Post; Obama Responds To Charlottesville Violence With A Quote From Nelson Mandela

"Former President Barack Obama tweeted a quote from former South African President Nelson Mandela Saturday in an apparent response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia...

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,” Obama tweeted.

The quote is from Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. Obama’s series of tweets also featured a photo of him greeting children at a day care facility in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2011."

The false equivalency of Trump blaming “many sides” in Charlottesville; Vox, August 12, 2017

German Lopez, Vox; The false equivalency of Trump blaming “many sides” in Charlottesville

"In short, there aren’t multiple morally equivalent sides here. There’s one side — white supremacists — that has long oppressed all other groups of people. Their protests aim to ensure that oppression continues, even if it means using violence. The people counterprotesting, on the other hand, are trying to end that oppression.

So while it’s true that both sides participated in the brawls seen throughout the protests, one side — in a country that supposedly values equality — has the much stronger case by actively working against the hate, bigotry, and violence that the white supremacist side is actively trying to perpetuate.

But Trump won’t acknowledge any of that. Asked to clarify his remarks, a White House official said, “The President was condemning hatred, bigotry and violence from all sources and all sides. There was violence between protesters and counter protesters today.” Trump is deliberately not calling out the white supremacists who led to the unrest in Charlottesville."

Trump babbles in the face of tragedy; Washington Post, August 12, 2017

Michael Gerson, Washington Post; Trump babbles in the face of tragedy

"One of the difficult but primary duties of the modern presidency is to speak for the nation in times of tragedy. A space shuttle explodes. An elementary school is attacked. The twin towers come down in a heap of ash and twisted steel. It falls to the president to express something of the nation’s soul — grief for the lost, sympathy for the suffering, moral clarity in the midst of confusion, confidence in the unknowable purposes of God.

Not every president does this equally well. But none have been incapable. Until Donald Trump.

Trump’s reaction to events in Charlottesville was alternately trite (“come together as one”), infantile (“very, very sad”) and meaningless (“we want to study it”). “There are so many great things happening in our country,” he said, on a day when racial violence took a life...

By his flat, foolish utterance, Trump proved once again that he has no place in the company of these leaders.

Ultimately this was not merely the failure of rhetoric or context, but of moral judgment. The president could not bring himself initially to directly acknowledge the victims or distinguish between the instigators and the dead. He could not focus on the provocations of the side marching under a Nazi flag. Is this because he did not want to repudiate some of his strongest supporters? This would indicate that Trump views loyalty to himself as mitigation for nearly any crime or prejudice. Or is the president truly convinced of the moral equivalence of the sides in Charlottesville? This is to diagnose an ethical sickness for which there is no cure."

What a presidential president would have said about Charlottesville; Washington Post, August 12, 2017

Editorial Board; Washington Post; What a presidential president would have said about Charlottesville

"HERE IS what President Trump said Saturday about the violence in Charlottesville sparked by a demonstration of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members:

We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides.

Here is what a presidential president would have said:

“The violence Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., is a tragedy and an unacceptable, impermissible assault on American values. It is an assault, specifically, on the ideals we cherish most in a pluralistic democracy — tolerance, peaceable coexistence and diversity.

“The events were triggered by individuals who embrace and extol hatred. Racists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and their sympathizers — these are the extremists who fomented the violence in Charlottesville, and whose views all Americans must condemn and reject.

“To wink at racism or to condone it through silence, or false moral equivalence, or elision, as some do, is no better and no more acceptable than racism itself. Just as we can justly identify radical Islamic terrorism when we see it, and call it out, so can we all see the racists in Charlottesville, and understand that they are anathema in our society, which depends so centrally on mutual respect.

“Under whatever labels and using whatever code words — ‘heritage,’ ‘tradition,’ ‘nationalism’ — the idea that whites or any other ethnic, national or racial group is superior to another is not acceptable. Americans should not excuse, and I as president will not countenance, fringe elements in our society who peddle such anti-American ideas. While they have deep and noxious roots in our history, they must not be given any quarter nor any license today.

“Nor will we accept acts of domestic terrorism perpetrated by such elements. If, as appears to be the case, the vehicle that plowed into the counterprotesters on Saturday in Charlottesville did so intentionally, the driver should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The American system of justice must and will treat a terrorist who is Christian or Buddhist or Hindu or anything else just as it treats a terrorist who is Muslim — just as it treated those who perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

“We may all have pressing and legitimate questions about how the violence in Charlottesville unfolded — and whether it could have been prevented. There will be time in coming days to delve further into those matters, and demand answers. In the meantime, I stand ready to provide any and all resources from the federal government to ensure there will be no recurrence of such violence in Virginia or elsewhere. Let us keep the victims of this terrible tragedy in our thoughts and prayers, and keep faith that the values enshrined in our Constitution and laws will prevail against those who would desecrate our democracy.”"

Tom Brokaw: Friends Across Barbed Wire and Politics; New York Times, August 11, 2017

Tom Brokaw, New York Times; Tom Brokaw: Friends Across Barbed Wire and Politics

"[Mr. Norman Mineta] also urged young people to get into public service “to be at the table.” “If you’re not there,” he said, “other people are making decisions that impact you.”

His Republican friend, typically, is more blunt. “It’s embarrassing,” Mr. [Alan] Simpson thundered when asked about the current political environment. He said that Sept. 11 “injected something into us called fear.” And that fear, he worries, is overriding an important lesson of history: that patriotism, forgiveness and tolerance can coexist.

The senator likes to recall the words of Justice Frank Murphy, one of only three dissenting votes when President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1944. Justice Murphy wrote that “the broad provisions of the Bill of Rights” are not “suspended by the mere existence of a state of war. Distinctions based on color and ancestry are utterly inconsistent with our traditions and ideals.”"