Lynn Rudmin Chong: Honor is not a thing with president and his appointees

To The Daily Sun,

Donald Trump's State of the Union address has me thinking of the Girl Scout Pledge I learned in grade school, first as a Brownie Scout and then, "flown up" with ceremony, a Girl Scout. Sisters Norma and Susan, too ― Girl Scouts. Brothers were Boy Scouts, first Cubs then full-fledged. Mother was a Den Mother. Brother Joe became an Eagle Scout. The pledge for girls, hands over hearts, "On my honor, I will try ..." Boy Scouts similarly pledged ― "On my honor, I will do ..."

In a Wyoming-setting story I read of a rugged old-timer saying, "Truth and honor used to be the norm." A goodness waning. To the detriment of our country's aim for freedoms and rule of law, government for and by the people, we do not have leadership guided by the old norm. Honor is not a thing with our president or with his appointees. We've gone from President Trump's first-term, cheeky White House advisor Kellyanne Conway's "alternative facts," explaining words out of her mouth and his, to everyday White House lies. Wild applause, Tuesday night, from presidential appointees and those Republicans in D.C. office coveting approval from their boss, testifies to the new norm of lying, facts-distortion.

Lynn Rudmin Chong

Sanbornton