Saturday, October 3, 2009

OK to break faith if you’re clever?

Lots of praise for ex-Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer’s tell-all book about what he heard in the Bush White House. “Hilarious,” wonderful, “excellent.” And lots of criticism from Bush loyalists: “high-schoolish, “unimportant,” “little punk.”

The ethical issue isn’t whether it’s a good book, or whether Latimer is a little punk. Ethics means keeping one’s commitments and living up to reasonable expectations. Latimer was privileged to hear lots of things in confidence. And made a commitment, even if implicit, to keep the confidences.

Even though the tales he told were juicy, even that they may be useful to historians, that doesn’t make it right.

1 comment:

Judith Ellis said...

"Even though the tales he told were juicy, even that they may be useful to historians, that doesn’t make it right."

I agree with this wholeheartedly, Bob. When I heard of the book I was not pleased with it at all. I also appreciate your definition of ethics. It's clear and precise. Thank you.