Liars Lie and Character Counts

This week U. S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte lost his sponsorship from Speedo, Ralph Lauren   Airweave and Gentle Hair Removal for lying. “We cannot condone the behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,” said a release from Gentle Hair Removal.  No sympathy from here. Actions have consequences. Lochte lost millions of dollars in sponsorships for lying.

I am often told, “Everybody lies.” That is a lie. Everyone doesn’t lie. I would agree everybody HAS lied but some have put lies behind them. There are a few people I trust completely. There are also a few that I know lie all of the time and some who lie some of the time.

The worst are the part-time liars. If someone admits to lying 10 percent of the time how am I supposed to know which is the 10 percent and which is the 90 percent? As a friend of mine once said regarding another longtime friend who was caught lying, “I am not upset about the lie. What upsets me is that now everything in a 30 year friendship is now suspect.” With the chronic liar everything is expected to be a lie. If some people say the sun is shining we all take an umbrella with us. If everything is a lie we can determine the truth by elimination.

I once worked for a man who believed it was alright to lie for business but not on personal issues. Another consistently lied to and cheated on his wife but claimed he was 100 percent honest in business. I quit working for both of them. If I can’t trust them I don’t want to be associated with them. If his own wife can’t trust him I certainly can’t.

So this brings us to our elected officials. If we expect honesty in our friends, children, spouses, business associates and Olympic athletes why do we condone lying from our politicians?

I’m not talking about honest mistakes. All of us including politicians make mistakes. Suppose a politician promises to support a bill but then learns of an unintended consequence of that bill. He or she should change his/her support based on the new facts, However if that support changes because of a campaign donation he/she is a liar.

I often laugh a Politic-fact. They class things as mostly true, partially false etc. If they want to be accurate they should label them as mostly correct etc. The knowledge and intent of the person making the statement is what makes it a lie or not.

The issue is clear. If someone knowingly presents false or incorrect information it is a lie. I will not list lies told by our two major party candidates for president. You all know what they are. They were not mistakes. Both knew the truth and lied.

So why are we supporting them?

Will the next campaign ad claim “Our liar lies less than their liar”?