Dear Editor,
Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is looking. It also means doing the right thing regardless of the situation. Regardless if you like someone or not, it should have no influence on you doing the right thing. That is a true sign of maturity and having integrity.
When Stuart Johnson plagiarised his Facebook post, some people drew his attention to the fact that this was in fact Bernie Sanders’ speech and he should edit his post with giving the right credit.
Mr. Johnson deleted every comment that made reference to the plagiarism. One person even asked why he deleted a previous comment and that person’s question was deleted as well.
Are these actions of someone who “unintentionally” forgot to mention a source? I think not! He had ample opportunity to correct the error because he had discussions about it in his private chat as well.
Making an apology only because the print media brought it to light is not a sign of integrity! An integer person would have corrected the post and/or made an apology even without the necessity of print media bringing it to light.
If St. Maarten people choose to be gullible, continue to believe and accept politicians and aspiring politicians of questionable character, then they deserve everything they get.
The old people always say: “when someone shows their true nature, always believe them.”
Stuart Johnson in his apology says he “was disappointed at the negative reaction of bloggers to his error.” No, Mr. Johnson they were NOT negative because you made an error, they were negative in your intentional refusal to edit your post and give the credit where it was rightly due! When you choose not to do the right thing because you don’t like who or how they pointed out the error, then you don’t know the true meaning of integrity.
Maria S. Hodge
