Opinion: Seems some of us don't value honesty

This nation has been divided over the “facts” for some time now, but does that mean we’re divided over telling the truth, too?

Used to be, Americans valued honesty, even if we didn’t always practice it so well. We said things like, “Honesty is the best policy,” “A man’s word is his bond,” and “If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.”

But that was then, and this is now.

Used to be, politicians and used car salesmen were among the least respected professions, because of their perceived lack of honesty. Now, deception itself is a profession — that is, if you can call phishing and spamming a profession.

Years ago, when I was an independent (under-employed) journalist, I signed up to receive state Democratic and Republican party emails, hoping to get their press releases and stay apprised of the latest happenings from within both parties.

I got what I wanted from the Democrats, sort of, with the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) and then the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) supplying me with emails designed to inform and arouse my liberal tendencies.

For example, the last DPNM email I got released a video that attacks New Mexico’s most prominent Republicans for how they’ve “failed our education system.” It’s hyperbole, based on pieces of the truth but not all of it. It’s what I’d consider less than honest because it’s trying to invoke an emotional response from its viewers, which is a form of manipulation. But is it an outright lie? No. It’s opinion based on cherry-picked facts, which is what most attack ads are.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party of New Mexico dropped me from their email list in 2019 (I just realized this while reviewing my past emails for this column; so I asked to be placed on their list for receiving news releases again). However, they didn’t drop me before apparently handing off my email address to other party loyalists; I get a barrage of emails every day from conservativeintel.com and others who do little more than fund-raise for Donald Trump and GOP candidates running with his support.

This is where hyperbole and opinion turn into full-blown lies. Here’s an example:

“Friend, You’ll never believe this,” begins the emailed message to me from Donald Trump Jr. “I was going through our confidential donor files and YOU were identified as one of my father’s TOP supporters in 2021. Whenever we’ve needed you to help us protect my father’s America First agenda, you never failed to step up.”

It goes on to use animated graphics to list me as a “top supporter” of the former president and provide a running list of “donors” with their names and the amount they gave before making one more pitch for money — adding toward the end that if I want my donation to have a “700% impact” I’d better donate today, because the offer is “only valid for 1 DAY, Friend. After that, it could permanently expire.”

Just so we’re clear, I’ve never given a dime to Trump and his perpetual campaign, nor have I ever misrepresented myself to get these emails. That means the email starts with a blatant lie and continues from there.

Now, I realize most Trump supporters would call this fake news as if I’m making it all up, so I’m saving that piece of spam just for them. Let me know if you want proof and I’ll send it straight over to you. If that’s not enough for you to say that, yes, they’re lying, then I don’t know what will.

Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:

[email protected]