To be in Congress. What an honor, to be respected to the extent fellow Americans put one in the highest offices of the land, offices in which great, momentous decisions are made, decisions that may affect our land for years to come, perhaps for all eternity.

Maybe a serious mistake has been made. As media coverage of the politics occurring in Washington have increased over the past half century, so has the public's knowledge of illegal and other anti-social acts that are carried out by politicians.

Thus, the pedestal, our faith in government, has been eroded away by the people who should be the epitomy of societal correctness.

Past situations caused the pedestal to be eroded. People began having less faith in their politicians and anyone else in the Washington governmental arena. But a situation such as the one created by Gingrich doesn't just chip away at the concreteness of faith we must have in government but, instead, attacks it with a jack hammer.

What faith can we have in our politicians who allow a person to do as Gingrich has done and do little more than, as the House has phrased it, `disciplined' Gingrich for his transgressions against society and its laws, including those considered ethical and moral.

What faith can we have in a government that treats its own differently than the manner in which other citizens are treated? The evidence is clear and the perpetrator (Gingrich) of violations against society has basically confessed and admitted he is a liar, cheat, and thief.

Why isn't he being prosecuted?

What faith can we have in politicians who condone such acts? Are his actions so common-place politicians in Washington do not consider what he has done to be serious violations?

A very important question is what would have happened with Gingrich if the news of his actions had not been made public. Would he have even been reprimanded or just told to make sure he doesn't get caught? Would the entire situation have been covered up?

Actually, might it not have been better to not have had the information made public? Wouldn't it have been better to simply force the man to resign for personal reasons?

This may be. For one, this writer has far less trust in politicians now than ever before. Too many politicians accepted Gingrich's activities as the apparent norm, including leaders such as Dick Armey.

It was stated that Gingrich used bad judgment. Isn't allowing the man to continue in his office also bad judgment? Aren't any who support Gingrich exhibiting bad judgment. Aren't all those that are not pushing for him to be prosecuted in the courts also displaying bad judgment?

If all those are displaying bad judgment, then isn't it also true that they could very well be displaying bad judgment in other governmental decisions? How can we have any faith their decisions are based on sound judgment?

This may be more of a monumental pivot point in our country's history than any politician in Washington realizes. Beginning with the lies that the writer read of or heard on the news during last year's primaries and the following presidential campaigns, the writer, a person who in the past has basically ignored politics and politicians, has now dedicated himself to being heard.

There must be more people who have become fed up with Washington politics and politicians, and the deceits that seem to prevail. WE, the American public, deserve better. We need to control our government and return this country to a state of high integrity.

It may be that world trust is also at stake. If I were in another government, there isn't any way that I would trust people who determined what actions were taken against Gingrich. The people who are running other countries are not stupid or unaware of how our politicians behave, particularly when showing their lack of integrity.

The head of the House has proved that he doesn't have any integrity, as have those that have supported him. Why should other world leaders trust those that have proven their lack of integrity or belief in integrity? Just because they say, "Trust me. I am a Congressmen."

Not hardly. The thought of the other leaders could very well be, "Why should I trust you? You are a Congressman." That would be a terrible blow to world peace.

The mistake alluded to earlier is not that the media has been able to make information available concerning the wrong doings of politicians. The mistake made is we have not taken corrective actions in the past as the information became available and insisted our elected officials obey the same laws the rest of us obey.

We, the People, have allowed them far too much leniency in the past. We have permitted them to exhibit excessive numbers of cases of complete lack of integrity and strength of character, and, yes, even criminal acts that were not followed by prosecution.

As far as media coverage, that is as it should be. We should know of any and all wrong-doings by the leading citizens we put in Washington. There is a key word here, the word being "citizen."

The question now, Ladies and Gentlemen, is whether or not it is too late to establish integrity and law-abiding, including ethical and moral, citizens in our government.

Because those people who have been put in office are still citizens, maybe they should be treated as citizens, not as being above the laws of the nation.

Perhaps, as stated by the Constitution, Congress should not have the right to be the sole determining factor in the cases of politicians who have violated societal laws. Of course, it would take an act of Congress to change this, a most unlikely event.

You see, if it were changed, violations would be left up to the people meaning alleged legal violations would be a function of our legal and judicial systems, not other politicians who may have committed like or more serious violations.

After all, when a group of citizens is responsible for policing its own, isn't it far more likely they will cover up illegal and unethical acts, especially those that could potentially be against the best interests of the group? In example, how many besides Gingrich have violations that have not entered the public domain through 'leaks' yet?

Can we gain control over Congress or will Congress remain as it is, an entity wallowing in its own regurgitated garbage we call Washington politics?

Is it possible to rebuild the pedestal to one of honor, integrity, and once again have a Congress serving as a true symbol of what America holds dear?

What do you think?

Special Addendum: Gingrich did eventually resign but not because of any violations of his own. The Republican Party realized after two additional years of seeing the effectiveness of Gingrich being wore away, that they needed a new House Leader.

This same bunch also impeached President Clinton for very questionable violations and of far less seriousness than any committed by Gingrich during his career of hoodwinking the public.