Lies and liars
Good Monday morning to all. We're in the midst of a very hot stretch of weather here in central Kentucky, which was nicely broken by a mid-afternoon rain yesterday. No such luck for a couple of days, it seems.
And I'm being completely honest with you!
How did we get to the point where we are forced to question the honesty of virtually everything that's said to us, that's reported to us, that we see and that we experience?
When famous people say something is "fake news," they're either lying or saying that someone else is lying. Period.
There are no "alternative facts," as a White House counselor famously stated to a reporter some months ago, when confronted with a blatantly false statement made by a fellow staffer.
When a college football or basketball coach says "I'm not planning to leave" and then announced a new contract with a different university a short time later, he was lying, plain and simple.
When an athlete says "I plan to finish my career in [this city,]" is he lying when something happens that makes that an inaccurate claim, or did he say it in such a way as to allow himself an escape clause?
When a politician says that they are firmly opposed to a certain act or bill or policy and then wind up in line, did they lie or did they simply change their mind?
These are all questions that we'll be left with indefinitely, but where I get really upset is when someone says something on camera or on the record, then claims a short time later that he/she never said that, OK, that's outright lying.
But in our current environment, only certain people are called to task about their dishonesty. It's my understanding that the current administration has been found to have made misleading or dishonest statements over 3,000 false or misleading statements since beginning their term in January 2017.
Think about that for a minute.
How in the world can we emphasize honesty above all in our children (and more importantly ourselves) when the leader of the free world (well, our government, anyway) is guilty of that. This man has long touted the value of lying as a strategy in negotiations.
I always remind myself that I'm not in some senior management position with a large corporation largely because I'm not willing to play games with the truth. That may be the case, but at least I can look myself in the mirror.
Rant over. Please enjoy your week!
And I'm being completely honest with you!
How did we get to the point where we are forced to question the honesty of virtually everything that's said to us, that's reported to us, that we see and that we experience?
When famous people say something is "fake news," they're either lying or saying that someone else is lying. Period.
There are no "alternative facts," as a White House counselor famously stated to a reporter some months ago, when confronted with a blatantly false statement made by a fellow staffer.
When a college football or basketball coach says "I'm not planning to leave" and then announced a new contract with a different university a short time later, he was lying, plain and simple.
When an athlete says "I plan to finish my career in [this city,]" is he lying when something happens that makes that an inaccurate claim, or did he say it in such a way as to allow himself an escape clause?
When a politician says that they are firmly opposed to a certain act or bill or policy and then wind up in line, did they lie or did they simply change their mind?
These are all questions that we'll be left with indefinitely, but where I get really upset is when someone says something on camera or on the record, then claims a short time later that he/she never said that, OK, that's outright lying.
But in our current environment, only certain people are called to task about their dishonesty. It's my understanding that the current administration has been found to have made misleading or dishonest statements over 3,000 false or misleading statements since beginning their term in January 2017.
Think about that for a minute.
How in the world can we emphasize honesty above all in our children (and more importantly ourselves) when the leader of the free world (well, our government, anyway) is guilty of that. This man has long touted the value of lying as a strategy in negotiations.
I always remind myself that I'm not in some senior management position with a large corporation largely because I'm not willing to play games with the truth. That may be the case, but at least I can look myself in the mirror.
Rant over. Please enjoy your week!
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