This was the week that was for prevaricators. Junior Seau's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL claiming it willfully hid the truth about the dangers of repeated blows to the head, like those sustained by NFL players. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o admitted he perpetuated lies about a fake girlfriend. Rastafarian leaders claimed rap musician Snoop Lion (formerly and perhaps one day to be known again as Snoop Dogg) lied about becoming a Rasta in order to sell more records and make a movie. The White House and singer Beyonce's handlers were pressed for details about why she faked singing The National Anthem at President Obama's inauguration by lip-singing, and avoided the subject. Lance Armstrong admitted to doping during cycling races and lying about it. And recently unveiled church records all but confirm Roman Catholic retired archbishop Cardinal Roger Mahony lied to cover for pedophilic priests.
Some fibbers uncovered in the media plead for you to understand the situational pressure upon them. Still, having lied you have to keep lying or risk exposing the deception. As Judge Judy often puts it when admonishing the litigants before her, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you said."
How to spot a lie is an interesting study. A lot of retired cops run seminars across the country teaching newer cops, business personnel and prosecutors to catch crooks in their imaginative stories. I took one of these classes for training years ago and look for the tell-tale signs whenever this week's Bernie Madoff or Kevin Trudeau are talking. Here's a representation of what the pros say to watch for:
And here's a more comprehensive newspaper article.
You were saying, Mr. Sandusky?
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