Throughout the course of recorded history, songwriters and authors have been hurt by others "borrowing" their ideas and actual words without giving them credit.

And yet honesty is at the basis of most creative and socially responsible people who stand for doing the right thing.

That theme of honesty became very clear when I went to Georgia Southern University last month for the graduation of my nephew, Anthony Holland, and his wife, Holly, and heard U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson's incredible talk about six secret rules for living: learning, respect of others, ethics, love, faith, dreaming. Everybody there was raving afterward about what a great speech it was.

I especially loved a story the Georgia congressman told about Oklahoma humorist Will Rogers being asked the key to a happy, successful and fulfilling life. Mr. Rogers replied, "Just remember this: Always love people and use things -- never use people and love things."

Well, I loved that Will Rogers quotation so much that I Googled it the following Monday, and guess what: I not only found the quotation, but also found that an almost identical speech about the six secret rules for living had been given three years ago by U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller R-Fla., at the commencement of the University of West Florida on Dec. 11, 2004!

Here's just one example:

ISAKSON: "I hope you'll take your graduation diploma today and not frame it and put it on the wall but treat it like a passport and have it validated over and over and over again; wherever you go and wherever you travel."

MILLER: "In a few minutes you are going to receive a diploma. You can frame it or hang it on the wall -- do whatever you'd like with it. But if I were you, I'd treat it like a passport. I'd have it validated over and over and over again as you go through life ... as you continue your education, move through your career development, or in whatever interests you choose to pursue."

So I called the two offices in Washington, D.C., to find out who copied who without giving the other credit.

At first, Rep. Miller's press secretary, Dan McFaul, wouldn't even call me back until I left a message that Sen. Isakson's staffers were claiming their boss first gave the talk at his oldest son's graduation in 1988 at Walton High School in Marietta, Ga. They also said, besides Georgia Southern, Sen. Isakson had given the same talk in 2006 at the University of Georgia law school.

After that, Mr. McFaul did call back. He said one of Rep. Miller's staffers had heard Sen. Isakson's six secrets talk and that Miller's office staff had contacted Isakson's office staff and asked to borrow the basic remarks for Rep. Miller's commencement address.

Mr. McFaul also said Rep. Miller had given Sen. Isakson credit during his University of West Florida graduation speech and was unaware that Sen. Isakson was not being credited on the Web site.

Credit now is given to Sen. Isakson on the Web site.

When I called back to Sen. Isakson's office to tell his staffers the real author of the speech had been determined, the senator himself got on the line.

"When you're asked to give your kid's [commencement] address, you really get all worked up, and I got all worked up. I was on a plane from Tokyo coming back to New York coming back from a trade mission the day before ... "Finally toward the end [of the flight], I just decided, 'Well, I'll just try and tell him the things I hoped he learned while he was growing up with my wife [Diane] and I and reduce those six things and stories and edit those into a speech. I've given that speech 117 times . . . and it's been published in a university commencement speech anthology magazine. I've got a lot of references to justify whose it is."

Did Sen. Isakson recall anyone from Rep. Miller's office contacting Isakson's office and asking permission to use it?

"No I don't," the senator replied. And then he added, "Jeff [Miller] called me about 30 minutes ago and said, 'That was a great speech. One of my staffers went to a graduation and heard you give it, and they brought it back, and I gave you credit when I made it but somehow it didn't get into the Web site.'"

Before concluding the call, Sen. Isakson remarked, "Thank you, Don, for protecting my integrity."

So, this theme of honesty all comes down to these words of these two congressmen in their respective college speeches:

ISAKSON: "You never stop learning. You respect everybody regardless of any difference. You're ethical and you treat everybody the way you'd like to be treated. You love the institutions and the people that have made you what you are today. You develop a deep and abiding faith and you never, ever, stop dreaming."

MILLER: "If you will just remember to never stop learning; respect your fellow man; be an ethical person and treat the other guy just like you want to be treated; love those who got you where you are and love those who will get you where you're going; develop a faith that sees you through; and never stop dreaming."

Ah, I couldn't have said that better myself.