Before I retired, I was a member of the Public Relations Society of America. For true professionals, this organization’s code of ethics is the unbreakable rule of ethical conduct.
In executive meetings, when discussions turned to “spinning” the facts in favor of special or personal interests, our mantra was “the truth is the ceiling above which we cannot rise.” At the end of the day, telling the truth always served the best interests of our organization.
A Fact Checker analysis in The Washington Post claimed that “As of Jan. 19, his 1,095th day in office, (President) Trump had made 16,241 false or misleading claims.”
That was two months ago. Currently, we witness daily Donald Trump’s changing perceptions, declarations and self-serving claims about how he’s got the COVID-19 pandemic all under control. He does this in plain sight of our real-time experiences with crippled health care facilities trying to do their jobs without full process plans, equipment or supplies.
Yet, we are surrounded by friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors and community leaders – hardworking, honest, family-centered people – who still plan to vote to re-elect this guy and all his people in November. Why?
Because Trump cannot tell the truth. He “spins.”
I believe we can restore hope that our personal values of honesty and decency still count. Support only political candidates who live and speak the fact-checked truth. The truth is the ceiling above which we cannot rise.
Jan OwenDurango
