Oh, don't get me wrong--the blame is squarely on us for our vote. I haven't even been in this business that long, but I realize when I'm being fed a statement that has nothing standing behind it other than one man's word. But that man represents the word of management, and is the company's non-binding word; he had no contractual basis to stand behind it. So, yes, you can attribute it to how the game is played, but the fact is the vast majority of his audience were pilots who don't play that game; pilots who deal with other pilots, and take a man at his word--not lawyers trying to get one over on our fellow Delta employee. So, yes, while I'm sure there were few if any who bet the farm on what SD had to say about hiring, most took it to be sincere, and not the word of a snake in the grass. But excusing it in any fashion, IMHO, only sets us up to be taken again in some other fashion in the future. Recognize it for what it is: a contorted statement by a man who realized he couldn't be held to account, but could find favor with his superiors for pushing the truth envelop. Don't forget; don't forgive. Otherwise learn to smile when you're lied to again and again, and then say, "They're not to blame--they're just doing what they have been taught to do." Too bad our MEC didn't put that disclaimer at the bottom of every piece of propaganda we were fed during the TA discussion. WARNING: Anything we regurgitate to you here is almost word for word what we were told by management to get you to vote YES, but you should realize they'll lie to you if given the chance and you're an idiot if you don't realize that. Delta's a family in as much as a bunch of back stabbing cousins trying to cut each out of great grandpa's will.