Let’s start with a quiz. Which U.S. president said, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”?

• George W. Bush, defending his authorization of domestic wiretapping by the National Security Agency?
• William J. Clinton, defending his public deceptions during the Monica Lewinsky affair?
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, defending his denial of U-2 spy-plane flights over Russia?

The answer: None of the above. It was Richard M. Nixon, in a 1977 interview with David Frost, defending his use of extra-legal actions against anti-war demonstrators.

What do we learn from the fact that there are so many possible answers, each in defense of highly dubious actions, and each leading to poisonous repercussions? It’s not simply that presidents are especially prone to believe they’re above the law. It’s that this belief also poisons those around them.

In his new memoir, Egil “Bud” Krogh recounts his own encounters with that poison. As one of Nixon’s close-in aides, Krogh helped create “The Plumbers,” the notorious clandestine group designed to stop leaks of White House secrets. Beginning with an investigation of the leak of the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times, those early plumbers paved the way for what ultimately became the Watergate scandal, Nixon’s resignation, and Krogh’s own guilty plea, jail term, disbarment, and eventual reinstatement within the legal profession.

Fittingly, Krogh titles his book Integrity: Good People, Bad Choices, and Life Lessons from the White House (New York: PublicAffairs, 2007). His topic, after all, is not simply the Nixon White House, or even Nixon. In the noble autobiographical tradition of the memoir, his real topic is himself. “The central question I have tried to answer for myself, and for this book, is why good people make bad decisions.” Why, he ponders, do people like me “choose courses of action that inflict harm on those we would help, destroy our own careers, or undermine the institutions we serve?”

Several years ago, before Krogh began writing this book, I interviewed him for my book Moral Courage. The cameo story I told there — about his willingness to surrender to Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski rather than try to defend his own wrongdoing — stands as a powerful example of moral courage in public affairs. Now, fleshing out that story, Krogh paints on a far larger canvas. One of his most telling vignettes describes a one-on-one meeting he had with Nixon in August 1974 — after the president’s resignation on August 9, but before his successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him on September 8. Krogh recalls that Nixon, under threat of the kind of criminal prosecution that already had sent so many of his former White House staff to jail, “asked me whether I thought he should plead guilty. I asked him whether he felt guilty, and he said, ‘No, I do not.’ “

“He had it within his grasp,” Krogh reflects, “to affirm one of the most basic principles in the American legal system — that no man is above the law…. But when he answered my question by saying that he did not feel guilty of any crime, it was clear that he felt that either on the facts he had not broken any law or, if he had, the law didn’t apply to him because as president he was indeed above the law.”

That ultimate hubris — the unquestioned lawlessness of the powerful — was the trap into which Krogh himself fell when, as a twenty-something with a heady White House posting, he concluded that if the president said something needed doing, it must be right. More than three decades later, sifting through the debris, he identifies the pieces that derailed his own career.

First and foremost, he cites his unbending loyalty to Nixon — not to the Constitution or even the office of the president, but to the person. He admits, in addition, that vanity played a role. He cites the great two-word excuse — national security — as a mantra giving boundless justification for illegal action. Mix in groupthink, a pressure to conform, a high-stakes, fast-paced environment, a well-known Nixonian willingness to dissemble and distort to preserve secrecy, an ambiguity about the Plumbers’ mission — the whole poisonous cocktail seemed calculated to quell any scruples and silence any integrity.

What, then, are the life lessons from this cautionary tale? How can other highfliers — not only in government, but in business, sports, the professions, and the media — learn from his example? In his all-too-brief final chapter, Krogh proposes the idea of an “Integrity Zone,” based on “the understanding that this quality of integrity inheres in our true selfhood and can be accessed by a desire to be in good conscience.” For any proposed decision, Krogh would have us ask three questions: Is it whole and complete? Is it right? Is it good?

This book works hard to get it right, assembling accurate data and drawing warranted conclusions. It’s a good book, too — a compelling read, especially for those who lived through those baffling and unsettled times, and a book that steers us toward goodness. But as Krogh himself would probably admit, it is neither whole nor complete. If conscience is inherent in us all, will these three questions unerringly reveal it? If revealed, can it be made practical? And if practical, can it steer public policy — and our personal and professional lives — into greater integrity? While this book makes a compelling case in the affirmative, it is based on the lone example of one man who went through purgatory and came out the other side.

Yet he came out with something very important. Needed next is his sequel: a book that tests the concept of the Integrity Zone against the lives of lots of different people who haven’t done time or worked in the White House. This current book asks why good people do wrong. The next one needs to ask how, when good people have been tempted to be “above the law,” they have found ways to resist that temptation and remain inside the zone. The question, What makes us bad, is very worth asking. But the essential question is, What makes us good? I look forward to reading that book.

©2007 Institute for Global Ethics

“The nearly 8 percent rise in the number of hate crimes is obviously of concern, but the truth is that the FBI’s data severely undercount the number of hate crimes each year.”

– Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which studies hate crimes, talking to the Associated Press about the jump last year in reported hate crimes over the year before. FBI statistics indicate that at least “9,000 offenses were committed because of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability last year,” reports the Washington Post.

NEW YORK
A breakthrough discovery in stem cell research made headlines last week — as much for the ethics implications of the advance as for the science itself.

Researchers in Japan and the United States announced that they coaxed human skin tissue into cells that behave like embryonic stem cells, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The technique avoids the highly controversial process of creating and destroying embryos to produce stem cells, which some scientists predict will be the key to generating new tissue to replace body parts ravaged by disease or injury, according to TIME magazine.

While the promise of stem cell research has been evident for more than a decade, the New York Times notes that ethics issues have surfaced from the start as well.

James Thompson, who in 1998 was one of the first to cultivate an embryonic stem cell and was one of the researchers involved in the latest breakthrough, told the Times that he had ethical concerns about stem cell research from the outset.

“If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough,” he said. “I thought long and hard about whether I would do it.”

Last week’s developments come amid a recent avalanche of discoveries in the field: Two weeks ago, a method for coaxing human stem-cell tissue from primate embryos dominated headlines. But according to an analysis from the Economist, that method did not completely sidestep ethics objections and also produced cells that apparently are more prone to mutating into cancers.

VARIOUS DATELINES
The intersection of technology and intellectual property was the venue for some heavy ethics traffic last week:

• France is planning to get tough with intellectual property pirates by suspending the Internet accounts of repeat online offenders, according to the entertainment industry trade journal Variety. But the future of the scheme is uncertain, notes the Times of London, because it requires cooperation from Internet service providers who may be reluctant to in pull the plug on persistent pirates and to provide data that will allow authorities to track them down.
• Hollywood studios will have their say in a Chinese court in late November after filing suit against a Beijing-based online film and television content provider, PC World reports. The studios claim the firm, Jeboo.com, provides unlicensed versions of their films to China’s ubiquitous Internet cafes. Jeboo.com has posted a statement on its website saying it has the right to provide the service because of contracts signed with its partners, but an official of the company would not comment about the suit when contacted by Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.
• More than 80 percent of Russian companies use pirated software, according to a survey released last week. The St. Petersburg Times reports that the study, commissioned by Microsoft, indicates that many executives there simply believe that buying software legally is not cost-effective. Violation of intellectual property rights has long been a sore spot in Russia-U.S. relations, the Times notes.
• The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which has been sending pre-settlement letters to those it suspects of listening to pirated music, last week targeted several Ivy League universities. InformationWeek reports that the RIAA informed administrators at Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Penn, Princeton, and Yale that individuals on their campuses had used their networks to download copyrighted songs. Individuals were not named. RIAA’s strategy has been to write first and ask for a financial settlement before taking the case to court.

MONTE CARLO, Monaco
The governing body of track and field last week wiped out all of the records of disgraced U.S. sprinter Marion Jones, including her Olympic titles, back to 2000.

In addition, the International Association of Athletics Federations is recommending that her teammates in relay events, in which multiple runners compete during various legs of a race, lose their medals too, reports NBC Sports.

Jones, who recently admitted using steroids, also will be asked to return about $700,000 in prize money won during various events, according to the Chicago Tribune.

CNN notes that the International Olympic Committee will make the final call on possibly stripping medals from other relay team members, and on whether the silver medalist who finished second to Jones in the 2000 Olympics should be elevated to gold status in the record books.

Jones is formally banned from the sport for two years, although she announced her retirement in October when she pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to investigators probing doping allegations against her, according to Bloomberg.

Jones was one of a string of high-profile athletes caught up in doping charges over the fall and summer, but she was among the most adamant of implicated athletes in her repeated denial of steroid use and her denunciation of those who accused her.

SEOUL
South Korea’s parliament last week voted to begin an independent inquiry into corruption allegations against manufacturing giant Samsung Group.

According to a report from South Korea’s Donga online Internet news agency, the probe comes on the heels of allegations by a former executive that the company bribed police and politicians to turn a blind eye to management irregularities, including a planned transfer of power from the chairman to his son.

Samsung repeatedly has denied all wrongdoing, according to a report from South Korea’s official news agency, Yonhap.

While a presidential veto could delay passage, the combined number of house seats of the three parties backing the bill total more than enough to override the veto, reports the Seoul-based newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

According to the English-language Korean newspaper Korea Times, president Roh Moo-hyun is considering a veto because he claims the bill authorizing the probe is too broad.

Other administration officials who disagree with the implementation of the probe contend that the allegations already have been dealt with in various probes and court cases.

The BBC reports that Samsung’s troubles are the latest in a series of ethics scandals rocking a nation that generally reveres big industry. Six Samsung executives pleaded guilty earlier this year in the United States to price-fixing. In February, notes the BBC, the chairman of Hyundai Motor Company was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement, and last year South Korean prosecutors raided the Seoul offices of Citigroup while probing the sale of a local bank.

PARIS
Former French president Jacques Chirac was placed under formal investigation last week on suspicion he embezzled public funds by doling out phony contracts while serving as the mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

The International Herald Tribune reports that a judge examining the case questioned Chirac last week. Additional hearings are expected.

Under French law, a formal investigation consists of a preliminary probe that could lead to charges and a trial, according to the Financial Times.

French law also protects a sitting president from prosecution, a grace period that ended in June when Chirac finished his final term, reports Voice of America.

Chirac has waged a vigorous public defense, including the unusual step of writing a response in Le Monde after receiving his summons.

“Never were the resources of the city of Paris used for anything other than to act on behalf of Parisians,” wrote Chirac, according to a translation of the defense in Forbes. “Never was there any personal enrichment.”
But Chirac did say that the handful of employees that were under scrutiny may have included qualified people “who were going through a difficult time professionally, and to whom I wanted to give another chance.”

RALEIGH, N.C.
A North Carolina lawyer has been caught up a bizarre legal quandary after he attempted to prove a convicted killer innocent by disclosing a 20-year-old confession from another man. The problem: The other man was his client.

According to the Associated Press, a judge thinks public defender Staples Hughes violated attorney-client privilege, and now Hughes could lose his law license.

The Fayetteville Observer reports that Hughes believes his duty ended with the death of his client, who committed suicide in prison in 2002.

Hughes says the man confessed full responsibility for the murder, absolving codefendant Lee Wayne Hunt, who still serves a life term.

Further complicating the case are allegations that the evidence used to convict both men hinged on a now-discredited forensic technique, according to a report from the Raleigh News and Observer.

A six-month investigation by CBS News’s “60 Minutes” and the Washington Post claims that there are hundreds of defendants around the country convicted on the basis of the questionable technique known as bullet lead analysis.

“60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft claims that the FBI has not notified the prisoners, their lawyers, or the courts that their cases may have been affected by faulty evidence.

LONDON
A British court case has ignited a fierce debate about the limits of free expression and how much latitude artists should have in examining sensitive issues such as religion.

The Reuters news agency reports that the controversy centers on a Christian activist group that is attempting to employ a little-used blasphemy law to prosecute a BBC executive for airing a program that ridiculed religion.

According to the London Daily Telegraph, the case centers on a production called “Jerry Springer: The Musical,” which aired on the BBC in 2005. Based loosely on the eponymous U.S. talk show, it contained sections that ridiculed Christ — the same type of action that resulted in the last blasphemy case filed in Britain 30 years ago.

The current case took on broader significance when a human rights group called Liberty entered the fray with a third-party submission to Britain’s High Court, arguing that blasphemy should not be a recognized offense because it violates the European Convention on Human Rights, United Press International reports.

In related news, a Catholic school board in Ontario, Canada, has become the focus of controversy over free expression after it voted to remove noted children’s book The Golden Compass from library shelves in part because it was written by an atheist, according to the Toronto Star.

The Halton Catholic District school board, which oversees 43 elementary and secondary schools, says parents have complained that the author’s books have an anti-religion theme.

The Golden Compass has received several awards and serves as the basis for a new motion picture due in December, notes the Star.

The school board says it has only pulled the book for purposes of conducting a formal review, which was requested by a parent, according to CTV.

BOSTON
The Boston Globe reports that the debate over “robot ethics” has been renewed after an article in the journal Science described how a bug-size robot has been used to coax cockroaches into seeking light, open spaces.

Such behavior is highly unnatural for creatures who have for millennia sought shelter in darkness.

Globe reporter Colin Nickerson writes: “No one cares too much if cockroaches can be hoodwinked into acting against their own interests. Still, it’s surprising that robots can insinuate themselves into colonies of living things, however wee-witted, and more or less take charge.”

“Although not designed to address major philosophical issues, the research nonetheless points to how robot science appears headed in weird and unpredictable directions. Some scientists say it is inevitable that advances will ultimately affect the fundamental relationship between humanity and its machines. And many analysts say it is high time that societies start seriously considering the ethical dimensions of the technological advances, although others contend the dangers are exaggerated,” Nickerson writes.

Nickerson notes that in Asian countries, where robotic research is on the front burner, scientists are taking the ethics issue seriously, looking at unprecedented proposals for laws that would regulate the “rights” given to robots and the decisions the devices would be allowed to make in venues such as hospitals or battlefields.

From Deloitte:

“The environment is increasingly on consumers’ radar screens, according to the 22nd Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, commissioned by Deloitte.

“The survey reports that almost one in five consumers (18 percent) will purchase more ‘eco-friendly’ products this holiday season than in the past, and a similar number (17 percent) will shop at more ‘green’ retailers.

“Additionally, almost one-third of consumers (27 percent) surveyed will use fewer plastic bags from supermarkets and other stores this holiday season, and one in five (20 percent) will consider not wrapping holiday gifts to conserve paper. Surprisingly, these responses concerning the environment and holiday shopping intentions were consistent across gender, age and income groups.

” ‘Most importantly, a significant number of people — 17 percent — are willing to pay more for ‘green’ gifts or supplies, which tells us that this issue is on shoppers’ minds this year and is becoming more central to consumers’ purchasing decisions,’ said Stacy Janiak, Deloitte’s U.S. Retail Leader.

” ‘Savvy retailers are taking concrete steps to become more environmentally friendly, and are incorporating this sensibility into their operations, as well as their customer communications. At the same time, they should be cautious about promoting their eco-initiatives too early, before they’ve made real progress, due to the potential for consumer backlash.’

“How this environmentalism will translate into gift purchases remains to be seen. In the survey, clothing continued its four-year run as the second most popular gift category (gift cards have been #1 for four years)….

“Almost two-thirds of consumers (63 percent) say they enjoy the experience and spirit of the holidays; however, a similar amount (61 percent) say they avoid holiday shopping crowds — an increase from the 56 percent that said this in 2006.

“Consumers said that over-commercialization, rude people/bad manners and crowded stores are the aspects of holiday shopping that they find most frustrating; surprisingly, younger age groups were most likely to cite these frustrations.

” ‘These findings may help explain why American consumers continue to turn to the Internet in droves,’ said Janiak.”…

“The chief support of an autocracy is a standing army. The chief support of a democracy is an educated people.”

– Lotus D. Coffman (U.S. university president,1875-1938)