What is more offensive to the public is how politicians trivialize the problem and try to smooth things over by launching a public cleanup campaign with special committees to investigate the problem they created in the first place by not carrying out their oversight responsibilities. Instead, they want to start an ethics training program for staff with the belief that people will then come out being ethical.

"Teaching ethics" is now another growth industry in America. Many prestigious universities now require courses on ethical behavior. And we have elected officials who want to require ethical training for employees. Is ethical behavior really learned from a course?

Schools are attempting to teach ethical behavior through character education curriculum. What the administrators do not see is that ethical behavior is taught and learned in the whole culture of the school, in every single interaction. Some parents, in relating to the schools, don't get it, either. It's do as I say, not what I do.

Learning moral behavior starts with the bonding of the infant with the parent and continues through the teenage years to carry on into adulthood. It's not taught in seminars. It is done by caring adults who are there to help children learn right from wrong. Young children are extremely observant, watching and mimicking much of what we do and say, often to our embarrassment. That's why 95 percent of parenting is just showing up.

Leaders, like parents, set the tone of what is appropriate behavior. When looking for leaders, examine what they've done in the past, what they've learned and where they demonstrate that they hold the values that you hold dearly. If we want a society that is moral, it will not come from ethics training seminars, just as self-control does not come from anger management courses. It starts with parents teaching children right from wrong and public role models who live by the rules.

I'm beginning to think we are either optimistic or living in denial when it comes to believing all the people we elect are ethical and can be trusted with our government. What I don't want to believe is that some of the unethical people we elect are simply a reflection of those of us who keep electing them.

If that's the case, then that is something we can change.

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Utah native John Florez has founded several Hispanic civil rights organizations, served on the staff of Sen. Orrin Hatch and on more than 45 state, local and volunteer boards. He also has been deputy assistant secretary of labor. E-mail: dflorez@comcast.net