That raises an interesting question. Is there a sense of honor any more?

A friend of mine and I were driving to a hike a few years ago. He was a firm Conservative, funding many Conservative interests. I thought I had a safe comment, and said that Cheney was a crook. He reacted quite vigorously, then calmed and said, "It's true there is no sense of shame any more."

When I was a kid we were taught that it's not whether you win or lose but how you play the game. The culture today is to win at any cost, no matter what shortcuts are taken, how much the rules are stretched, and cheating is only wrong if one is caught.

I can't imagine an American destroyer captain doing the same.