First there was the "missionary" position where the man is on top. 

Now in Trinidad we have the "commissionary" position where one is not clear who is on top until one gets to the bottom of the unsavoury mess that integrity has become. 

I have always believed that like "police service", "jumbo shrimp" and "independent Senator", the term "Integrity Commission" is an oxymoron or contradiction. 

How does one commit integrity or commit anyone including the commissioners of the Commission to integrity? 

The word "integrity" does not only mean "honesty" but also means "uprightness". 

Clearly, uprightness is not something that is consistent with the missionary position so if you have a commisionary position it is either you stand for something or things, or you take the consequences lying down. 

However, if you're in an Integrity Commission, lying is the last thing you should do since it constitutes a sin of commission and not one of omission. 

One missionary has taken the position that "The first, sins of commission, is a category of sin describing the things we did and shouldn't have. I committed (commission) a sin when I lied and I shouldn't have."

I worked with Ken Gordon for about a year when he was president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and lying or taking things lying down are not behaviours I associate with him. 

The one thing I learnt, and appreciated about Mr Gordon, is that I knew exactly where I stood with him. 

This, I believe, was why he was elected president of the WICB and why he was also not re-elected. 

In his managerial universe there are no shades of grey, just black and white. 

For those accustomed to life in the twilight zone enjoying power without responsibility, and positions without accountability, Mr Gordon is nemesis and Namor the Sub-Mariner. 

The ambivalence of the WICB towards Mr Gordon is consistent with how we deal with truth.

Recently a teacher from Britain was fired because she told her class of nine-year-olds that there was no Santa. 

One parent said it had taken away the magic from the myth and was traumatic for the children.

I remember Mr Gordon doing exactly that with the WICB when he saw a budget of many millions for a company that was bankrupt. 

Even though Mr Gordon took the WICB out of the Caribbean equivalent of Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve started with his being given out without a DRS (decision review system) or anyone saying to his face what the problem was. 

It was a clear case of no balls if ever there was one.

Now the sniping continues. 

Granted that Mr Gordon could be more diplomatic, he should not be less forthright. 

I strongly believe that "integrity" is a verb and not a noun. 

It is what in the old days we called a "doing" word, one denoting actions. 

It is not merely a concept but a precept. 

The issue here is not the president and what he said or did when.

It is whether what is unfolding now is a sin of the commission or of a particular commissioner. 

I do not believe that Mr Gordon should resign or even consider resigning until this matter is settled. 

Although it seems like a dead-end in T&T, integrity is not a two-way street where you can drive on both sides. 

I read a Readers Digest story that is appropriate:  One day my wife and I came home to find a message from a friend of hers on our phone machine. She said she had applied for a job and needed a character reference – basically someone to verify she was honest and trustworthy – and had given the interviewer my wife's name.

Also, she said, there was a form for my wife to sign. 

"But I couldn't find you," the friend concluded, "so I forged your signature."