From Major Robert Rogers' 20 standing orders:
4. Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the Rangers, but don't never lie to a Ranger or officer.
Quite so.
Hmm, I don't get it. You are allowed to lie to them but not to us?
ReplyDelete"You can exaggerate all you want for your friends and neighbors... etc"
DeletePerhaps I'm also a little slow, but his statement is contradictory, given that "... but don't never lie..." contains a double negative. It seems to me that he's giving permission for Rangers to lie to fellow Rangers and officers, despite telling them to be honest about what they see and do.
DeleteWe are probably safe to assume that the double negative is a colloquialism on Major Rogers' part. We can just read "don't."
DeleteWithin a large organization, especially if the management's publicly-stated strategy is based on presumed research outcome which is unsupported by the first two laws of thermodynamics, I would choose a different quote, one that is more nuanced:
ReplyDelete“Handling truth is a touchy business also. You don’t have to tell everything you know — that would jam the comm line too. Tell an acceptable truth. " LRon Hubbard
Rule 21. Don't hate permanently. The enemy of today may be your ally in 20 years.
ReplyDelete