Integrity

With everything going on in Washington these days, namely all the folks who haven't paid their taxes either getting into, or almost getting into, cabinet positions, I have been thinking about the importance of Integrity. Today Janice sent me this quote she got from a daily email she receives:

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Then, this evening I saw this small article in the news from the New York Post:

FRESNO, Calif. -- Hero pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger is now every librarian's hero, too.

When the US Airways pilot's plane ended up at the bottom of the Hudson River on Jan. 15, so did a book he had checked out from the library at California State University, Fresno, through his local library near Danville.

Sullenberger contacted library officials and asked for an extension and waiver of overdue fees because the book was in the airliner's cargo hold.

Fresno State library officials said they were struck by Sullenberger's sense of responsibility and did him one better: they're waiving all fees, even lost book fees, and placing a template in the replacement book dedicating it to him.

The book's subject? Professional ethics.

I'm not sure how to wrap my mind around this whole thing. It seems to me that Sullenberger should be the guy going after one of these cabinet positions. Not because he landed a plane in the Hudson. He was supposed to do that. He was trained to do that. But because he's reading a book on professional ethics. I think the above quote applies to him. He has the integrity, and probably the knowledge. Plus he is still trying to get more knowledge. Then he calls the library to say he won't be returning the book! I bet he would have paid any fees had they not waived them and he would have done it without complaint.

I'd like to see what these guys in Washington are reading.

My point is this: I think most of us are more like Sullenberger than these Washington clowns. We're just regular Joe's out there working hard trying to make an honest living. How does it even make sense that any of those guys in Washington can make decisions on our behalf? How do they know what we need or what's best for us? 

What can we do? Uncle Ted (Ted Nugent) said it best. I heard him interviewed a few weeks ago. He said we need to make our opinions known to our congressmen and senators as often as possible. Let them know we are not politicians, we're just regular people. Scream loudly and often and make them listen. Be nice, but always share your opinion. Get involved in your community and help make changes at the local level. Make a difference in your community. Volunteer. Serve. Help others. Be part of a community. Have a stake in something.

I feel like this whole posting is a bunch of rambling, but only we can make a difference. We can't give up. Our nation depends on it.