by Calvin Robinson

Created on: September 03, 2007

Public officials who violate the public trust and bring shame on themselves, as well as the country they represent, should have the guts to step down from representing us. Disgraced Republican President Richard Nixon had the guts to step down after the Watergate scandal and spared our country even more shame. Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich did the right thing by stepping down after his scandal and so did Republican House Speaker Trent Lott. Many other leaders have also took responsibility for their own actions and stepped down after violationing the public trust of our country. The issue is one that both Democrats and Republicans have been involved with and it is not by any means an issue owned by any one party.

One of the first candidates for president I recall stepping down was Colorado Democrat Senator Gary Hart. He did the right thing when he stopped his candidacy for president after his extra marital sex scandal was made public. It seems there are some that feel they can do anything they want and still represent this nation. Chief among those who tried to explain away their violations of the public trust was Democrat President William Jefferson Clinton. He explained away his scandal and continued to grip his power until the last moment. For me it was never an issue of whether or not I liked him, I thought he was a very personable president, my issue was with his judgment. I hope the trend of trying to explain away violations of public trust does not continue in our elected leaders. The public trust should not be violated by our elected officials and when it is they should have enough character to pay the consequences by stepping down from elected office. There is only one honorable choice for Republican Congressman Larry Craig to make, and that is for him to tender his resignation immediately.

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