One of the most important, yet painful, responsibilities for any professor is the identification and prosecution of instances of academic misconduct by a student.  During my nine year tenure at Miami University, I felt it necessary to take action in seven instances, realizing a student’s reputation and future career prospects were at stake.  It was a responsibility not taken lightly.

What bothered me as much as the students’ behavior was being questioned by colleagues about the time and effort required to judiciously prosecute a charge.  Or, in one specific case, where a dean asked, “Is this really worth it?” in a situation involving the offspring of a prominent alumnus and donor.  My response?  If a student believes he or she can get away with the little things, we might as well start reserving the jail cell next to Bernie Madoff.  One of my colleagues, a professor of business ethics, always explained it this way to his students.  Honesty and integrity is a skill which becomes second nature when you develop muscle memory where every decision is an opportunity to self-reinforce one’s training.

I was reminded of this by a September 5 article on CNN.COM about Donald Trump’s denial of reports about his 2018 decision not to visit a French World War I cemetery.  In his own defense, Trump claimed he “…called home, I spoke to my wife and I said ‘I hate this. I came here to go to that ceremony.’ And to the one that was the following day which I did go to. I said I feel terribly. And that was the end of it.”

However, as CNN points out, “Melania Trump was on the same trip with the President and was scheduled to attend the cemetery visit. She was not in the US.”  CNN’s account is confirmed by a press release issued by Melania Trump’s own press office, “Due to inclement weather, the First Lady and President were unable to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial in Belleau, France.”

In other words, muscle memory works both ways.  Trump’s big lies are well documented.

• He had solid evidence Barack Obama was not born in the United States.  NOT
• He did not pay hush money to Stormy Daniels.  NOT
• He was not pursuing Trump Tower Moscow during the 2016 election.  NOT
• He has created the best U.S. economy in history.  NOT
• The Chinese are paying for his tariffs.  NOT
• He is protecting health care for people with pre-existing conditions.  NOT
• He has build 300 miles of new wall on the Mexican border.  NOT
• Under his leadership, America leads the world in its response to COVID-19.  NOT NOT NOT

However, we now recognize that someone who makes a habit of telling major falsehoods becomes so conditioned to the untruth it is his “go to” default position.  How hard would it have been for Trump to say, “Melania and I were preparing to leave for the cemetery when the Secret Service informed us it would be unsafe to take the helicopter.  I turned to her and said, ‘I hate this.’  Visiting the cemetery was why we came here.”  Still not true, but at least it was not immediately disprovable.

There lies the difference between my students and Donald Trump.  When I confronted a student about possible academic misconduct, my first inclination was to use the opportunity to have a conversation about situational ethics.  I would tell them I understood they were under pressure and felt they had no other course of action.  But those pressures increase, not decrease, as you go through life.  And you always have a choice.

In Trump’s case, I honesty believe he does not have that choice.  An individual who must lie about whether his wife is in the White House or the same hotel, a matter of absolutely no consequence, is more than dishonest.  It is symptomatic of a sociopath. Lies about the availability of personal protective equipment or voter fraud roll of his tongue as easily as how many times people have to flush a low-volume toilet.  And when there is no differentiation between big and little lies, the potential repercussions can be disastrous.

Just ask the almost 200,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP