Not that anyone has to discuss the ethical issues surrounding the election, about which I am thoroughly sick.
Do stick to ethics, however…
open forums
Election Day Open Forum!
I’m going to be posting today as usual, but Instapundit had an excellent idea: have an open forum all during election day, at least until the fires and muggings start.
Feel free to post about anything here, including today’s madness, of course.
As long as it concerns ethics.
Last Ethics Forum Before The Election!
Ethics Alarms offers an Open Form approximately every three to four weeks, so it’s time. (It’s also time because a doctor’s appointment beckons.)
Both Althouse and Instapundit do this every day, and accumulate literally hundreds of comments, but to be fair, Althouse allows comments about anything at all, and Prof. Reynolds’ free-for-all has evolved into a political gag-fest where substance is rare (and poor taste runs rampant). The topic here is ethics, and I assume a high standard will be be maintained.
I Hereby Declare An OPEN FORUM!
Lots of reasons—I’m doing a three-hour Zoom legal ethics seminar for government lawyers in about an hour, I’ve been wrestling alligators for three days, and even WordPress has turned on me, showing readers a discarded paragraph in the last post that never showed up for me on two computers. It’s a good time for cooler heads to take over.
The usual ground rules apply: keep comments substantive and on topic, and make me proud.
I may be back if I have any enthusiasm left after 9 pm.
Open Forum!
From now until around 12:30 pm (E.S.T), I’m going to be occupied with holding a Zoom seminar for the New Jersey State Bar, ably assisted by the stellar Mike Messer, who will be presenting the legal ethics problems and dilemmas by singing my parody lyrics of such pop and rock classics as “American Pie,” “Fire and Rain,” and “The Boxer,” while accompanying himself on guitar and piano (though not simultaneously.)
It seems like a good time for an Open Forum, where Ethics Alarms commenters can pose their own issues, debate, and otherwise enlighten cyberspace, keeping everything civil and on topic, of course. There also were some provocative posts here over the weekend (if I do say so myself, though not all of them were mine), but the traffic was inexplicably spotty.
Have at it, and I’ll be back in the afternoon.
Open Forum On Zoom Day!
Ugh. I have a Zoom seminar on legal ethics to give today, which means dry runs, tech checks, and anxiety. I’ve concluded that I detest Zoom programs. You can’t read your audience, and for all I know they are doing crossword puzzles. Managing notes is awkward, graphics don’t look very good, and neither do I.
I intend to be pantless as my silent protest against the whole fiasco.
Since I have no idea how and when posts will be emanating from 2707 Westminster Place, I’m opening up another Open Forum. As always, keep your commentary on topic (ethics and leadership), civil, witty, and substantive.
Now I’m going to review my notes…
You Have The Floor In Another Open Forum, With Some Preliminary Opening Observations
I’m going to open up the floor to comments on whatever you want to talk about, ethics-wise. This day looks chaotic for me, beginning with an interment of a dear friend at Arlington National Cemetery. I’ll visit mom and dad while I’m there…
Let me append a footnote. Althouse, who lives in Madison, directs readers to this article: “Two women arrested in beating of state Sen. Tim Carpenter during night of protests in Madison.” I remember the incident and the frightening video. From the article,
Police arrested Samantha R. Hamer, 26, and Kerida E. O’Reilly, 33, on suspicion of being parties to the crimes of substantial battery and robbery with use of force. They were both in custody Monday night, according to online records from the Dane County jail.
He fell to the ground after he was punched and about 10 people hit and kicked him, one witness told police. Stunned, Carpenter told them he was an ally and had long fought for the kinds of policies they were seeking.
Paramedics treated him but he declined to go to the hospital that night. A week later, he said he had surgery in St. Francis for injuries he suffered during the attack.
Observations:
- I have to believe that sooner or later the cognitive dissonance scale will work its silent magic, to the advantage of Republicans and the detriment of Democrats. These are ugly, scary people who are behind the rioting and statue-toppling, and the classic types that have fueled totalitarian take-overs throughout history (Yesterday was the anniversary of the revolutionaries turning on Robespierre.).
Yet Democratic leaders are fearfully giving them their seals of approval.
- Not for the first time, I’m wondering if it’s fair to publish mug shots. Professor Turley is addicted to them, but they encourage people to judge others by their appearances, and publicizing an individual’s appearance at a time when they can’t possibly be at their best seems gratuitously cruel. The photos of the two arrested women…
…prompted lots of mockery among Althouse’s commentariat, most of whom resorted to stereotyping
- The article had a link to this bit of fake news: “RELATED:Trump falsely claims Wisconsin lawmaker was ‘rooting on’ destruction of Madison statues before being assaulted.”
What the President said, in response to a question about the incident, was, “The person they beat up was a Democrat who happened to be gay and he was probably out there rooting them on or something because Democrats think it’s wonderful they’re destroying our country.”
Typical “fact-check.” This kind of dishonesty has been going on for almost four years, but I’m sure that Washington Post will add it to its “lie list.” The state senator is gay and is a Democrat. Saying what he was “probably” doing is not a “claim” but an opinion, and based on Carpenter’s own protestation, it’s probably an accurate one. By the basic rules of English, there is no way one can fairly say that the President “falsely claimed” that Carpenter was rooting the statue-topplers on.
That’s enough from me.
“Over to you, Clarence…”
Let’s Have An Open Forum!
I’m about to do my first Zoom ethics seminar, fortunately with the more than able assistance of Paul Morella, the acclaimed D.C. actor who has been portraying legal icon Clarence Darrow with me in one format or another for 20 years. Still, I’m nervous about it, so I would benefit from knowing that Ethics Alarms is in good hands: yours.
No topics are forbidden, as long as they they relate to ethics. As Jimmy Durante once sang to Bing Crosby, “Sing soft, sing sweet, sing gentle!” I should be back after 9 or so, unless I’m zoomed out.
Emergency Open Forum!
I just can’t mount the energy or mental acuity to post anything coherent right now, but if I don’t at least open the lines, I may go nuts. I actually just had a WordPress nightmare…I’m serious.
If anyone wants to use this as an opportunity to play “Ask The Ethics Man!,” that might be fun. I think I could respond to direct questions and inquiries I often feature a song called “The Ethics Man” in my musical legal ethics seminars. Sung wittily and well, as always, by my partner Mike Messer, it’s a singalong. There are several versions; I keep updating it. I’m pretty sure you know the Billy Joel classic song it parodies:
Quick Notes, And An Open Forum
Before opening discussion up to the floor (I’ve got a bunch of deadlines to meet today), a couple of brief notes:
- Ed Whelan nicely shreds a ridiculous letter from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse that I was going to take on myself before I saw his excellent job.
- Earlier I wrote about the case of Aimee Stephens, now pending in the Supreme Court, whose employer fired her because she was transitioning to female and used the pretense that she was refusing to wear gender-appropriate garb. She just died before any ruling, but I assume this won’t render her case, or the issue, moot.
- I will be writing about the ethical significance regarding the release of the “unmasking” list as soon as I figure it out. At very least, the list seems to show that several Obama officials, notably Joe Biden, have been lying.
And now, you’re on your own.
