If you ask me about myself, I’m likely to first talk about being a father and a husband, as those are the most important things I’ve done in my life. But probe a bit further and the first non-family thing I’m probably going to say about myself is that I am a retired career military officer, with over 25 years of active duty behind me. I don’t think I’d brag much about being a columnist (Ed: oh?), nor will I boast about my woodworking or astronomy interests. I am likely, however, to drone on about my decades in uniform. While my parents initially instilled my set of ethics and morals, my time serving in the Air Force helped codify my sense of honor and honesty. 

I began my military career as a “finger on the button” ICBM launch officer up in Wyoming. I carried a TS-ESI clearance (Top Secret – Extremely Sensitive Information) and I knew where and how my missiles would operate. I had access to the entire Single Integrated Operations Plan (SIOP) of our nuclear warfare plans, and to this day, I’ve never breathed a single word about that highly classified information. I was then, and remain today, a person who believes deeply in honesty and honor.

Which, of course, brings us once again back to the dishonesty and dishonor of our supposed leader, Donald Trump.

Of the many, many troubling things Trump has done in the past three and a half years, to me the most troubling has been what might be called the “normalization of dishonesty.” By that I mean that Trump has told so many lies — over 20,000, all documented clearly — that we as a nation (including the news media) have just, well, gotten used to it. And as a result, we now devalue the importance of honesty. While I’m tempted to ask my Trump-supporting readers if they would be equally sanguine with, say, a President Hillary Clinton telling that many lies, I will rather ask you if you would be ok with that level of dishonesty in an ICBM launch officer?

The particular lie that triggered this column was Trump’s 150th repetition of a lie about him getting the Veterans Choice Act passed. He has repeatedly stated that “they’ve been trying to get that passed for decades and decades and decades and no president’s ever been able to do it…”

Here’s the thing: Trump didn’t get it passed. It was passed and signed into law by Barack Obama in 2014. 

Trump did in fact sign a new law in 2018 called the VA Mission Act, which modified and expanded the previous law. That was a good thing, and it would be entirely appropriate and politically savvy for Trump to brag about that. But for some reason, apparently deeply etched in his soul, he can’t. Instead, he keeps claiming credit for the Obama law, and has done so over 150 times. Recently when asked why he does that, he walked out of his own press conference.

Back when I was teaching at the Air Force Academy, I served from time to time as the officer representative to cadet honor boards, investigating alleged violations of the Academy’s famous honor code — “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.” I recall one case where a cadet had quibbled, as it is called, about whether he had turned in an assignment on time. He allowed a false impression to exist that he had turned the paper in on time, when in fact, he had not. That violation, in which no specific lie was even told, ultimately cost that young man his place at the Academy and his career in the Air Force. I can’t help but wonder how he feels today when he looks to a White House occupied by a man who simply can’t tell the truth, and who has created a media environment in which dishonesty is not even seen as that big a deal anymore.

At least here in Colorado we are watching an advertising battle in our Senate campaign in which the honesty of the candidates seems to matter and is being questioned. Your own partisanship will help you decide who is honest and who is not but note that at least here in Colorado, honesty is still an issue. For the Republicans in D.C., that is no longer the case. 

Trump can’t seem to help himself. While lies about major things like, say, the economy might make at least some sense from a Machiavellian political point of view, Trump lies about things that are so trivial as to make one wonder why he even bothers. He lied about being asked to toss out the first pitch of a major league baseball game recently. He lies about things that are easily checked and debunked, and he lies about major policy issues. The Founders assumed that such dishonesty would be confronted by other leaders in power, but we see no willingness from any D.C. Republicans (save perhaps Mitt Romney). And Trump’s voting base seems equally comfortable with a level of deceit I have difficulty believing they would accept from a Hillary Clinton administration. 

If we expect — or even demand — basic honesty from young Second Lieutenants sitting nuclear alert, why do we accept less from a president?