Inviting a Return to Integrity

There were many things “lost” on 9/11. One of the most surprising, however, seems to be that we lost any sense of journalism. Remember, journalism? When people go out, gather facts and observations — and report the patterns they find, rather than just reporting and encouraging acceptance of the way officials “say” things are?

In today’s news world, these two bits by Keith Olbermann are stunning. Breath returns. I can suddenly feel a little more life in my tissues. The world starts to make sense again. What’s that? Could it be somebody speaking the truth? It’s so foreign, it’s stunning — but body recognizes and welcomes it just the same.

Olbermann on the Clinton/FoxNews thing, and then he checks out the Clinton and Rice stories, to see how they match up to the evidence. This Olbermann guy makes me want to buy cable — another stunning thought!

“The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.”
– G.W. Bush, 9/13/01

“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.”
– G.W. Bush, 3/13/02

We don’t tolerate this flim-flam in our personal lives. We don’t trust it in business relationships and leadership. So, how do we invite a return to integrity in the White House? I’m not really partial to any one guy or party, I have no special bias — I expect the truth from everybody.

Leadership — in any organization — and Democracy in any nation — are more than saying the right things. We have to mean them, stand by them, follow through on them. They have to be true. Telling the truth is the first great task of leadership — and an early casualty in the downfall of any organization, large or small.