"You mean Ethics is required?

But nobody told me that when I got this job!"

President Bush has ordered White House staff to attend mandatory briefings beginning next week on ethical behavior and the handling of classified material after the indictment last week of a senior administration official in the CIA leak probe.

According to a memo sent to aides yesterday, Bush expects all White House staff to adhere to the "spirit as well as the letter" of all ethics laws and rules. As a result, "the White House counsel's office will conduct a series of presentations next week that will provide refresher lectures on general ethics rules, including the rules of governing the protection of classified information," according to the memo, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post by a senior White House aide.

How much do y'all bet that the "protection of classified information" will simply be "Don't talk to reporters... EVER. Unless it's Bob Woodward out to destroy his own reputation as a balanced writer or Ann Coulter because half of you probably have slept with her anyway."

I'm personally for sending 'em all back to Kindergarten, where they can learn to share and to tell the truth. You know, we may not have the White House or the Courts or Congress... but we still have EVERY RIGHT to demand some integrity from our leaders, especially if it does effect national policy:

The meetings come as Bush faces increasing pressure from Democrats to revoke a security clearance for Rove as punishment for Rove's role in unmasking to reporters a CIA operative whose husband was critical of the White House's prewar assessment of Iraq's weapons capabilities. The five-count indictment against Libby maintains that other government officials were aware of, if not involved in, leaking the identity of Valerie Plame to the media.

Let this be a lesson for all leaders, Democrat or Republican or Green or Independent or Socialist or - well, you get my point. They're in a position of trust and power, and we shouldn't have to keep them there if they are abusing their positions.