Wednesday, October 1, 2008

On Ethics

The P.B. Post has written about residency requirements (Oct1) on a few occasions.

When we think of ethics in government, we think of the bigger than life things—the reasons why officials go to prison. But ethics can be the little things, like an elected official who skirts around a residency requirement, hiding where he really lives. Ethics is what makes actions right or wrong. If an elected official covers up something that seems so innocuous, then what else is he capable of? Bad behavior begins with the benign and can grow like a cancer.

Politicians, corporate CEO's, doctors, lawyers and all people should have a code of ethics. Would you trust your life to a doctor who did not practice under a code? We should not entrust our country to politicians who do not adhere to a personal code either. The little things are important and telling about character and who we can depend upon.