Lies, Music, and Bathroom Sex
(Source: Joe Jaszewski, Idaho Statesman)
At what point does a lie become delusional? At what point should you just give up, and say, “You caught me.”? Two totally unrelated liars, caught in a web of clear evidence, seem awfully similar in their denials:
Jammie Thomas illegally downloaded music and is being sued by the music industry. The evidence (Star Tribune):
- She used the online name “Tereastarr,” which was implicated in the download and distribution (how many “Tereastarrs” can there be?)
- Her Internet IP Address was assigned to her computer at her home at the time of implication (someone must have broken into her house and used her computer to download music)
- She listened to the artists that were in question
- She wrote a college paper on Napster, but had never heard of Kazaa (it’s like Ford and Chevy of online file sharing)
- She said her hard drive was installed in January 2004, but Best Buy actually put a new one in March 2005, 2 months after coming under scrutiny
Senator Larry Craig (Republican from Idaho) was busted in a bathroom sex sting but denies everything. The evidence (Star Tribune 1, StarTribune 2):
- He entered a restroom, stood outside the door of a stall with an undercover police officer, and peered in
- Entered the adjascent stall and tapped his foot, slid it closer to the next stall, and moved it up and down slowly (he said it was because of a “wide stance”)
- Swiped his left palm under the stall, more than once, exposing more fingers each time (he said he was picking up a piece of paper…many times)
- The officer saw his wedding ring on his left hand, but Craig insists it was his right hand that “picked up the paper”
- When the officer placed his badge under the stall, Craig yelled “No!” (why would he care if he didn’t know what he was doing?)
- He didn’t flush the toilet and wouldn’t leave until told he was under arrest
- He asked the officer of soliciting him and said “Am I going to have to fight you in court?”
I absolutely agree that people lie and that human nature is to divert and lie when confronted. But when presented with overwhelming and public evidence, don’t make a fool of yourself, just admit it. Clinton lied. Bush II lies. (But Clinton never killed anyone.) Say your sorry and take your medicine.
I find it especially amusing that moral majority likes to throw stones, while they are doing the same things behind the scenes. I bet there’s a high correlation between the strength of one’s public moral fundamentalism and engaging in the exact activites you decry.
October 5, 2007 at 9:26 am
It seems there have been a lot of GOP politicians caught in this sort of thing, like Foley and that guy in Florida, and maybe one other. And don’t forget Ted Haggard. And that other guy David Visser? or somesuch.
October 11, 2007 at 10:01 am
Lyin’ liars and the music they listen to while having bathroom sex.
Muzak is the culprit here. If the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport played decent music - say Bob Marley or Beck - through their sound system, Larry Craig would have been too enchanted to do anything more in that stall than bop to the music. Nothing else would have happened though tapping his foot to the beat could have been problematic. Still, no need to lie. “I was just getting into the music, officer.” And Jammie Thomas? With a first name that screams of the need for Phish or The Grateful Dead what’s a girl to do? Free Muzak just doesn’t cut it.
But seriously, I’d agree that fessing up to what you’ve done is noble and in short supply. I don’t agree that it’s human nature to divert. That’s learned behavior. As far as moral fundamentalism is concerned, Shakespeare had it right, “The lady (and/or gentleman) doth protest too much.” Dedication to one’s beliefs is admirable but blind judgment serves no one well. Our increasingly fear based culture runs the risk of reducing issues to simple good/bad dichotomies. With no gray area, there is no room for discussion, understanding or compromise. So goes the Bush/Cheney legacy.
So, I say, Bush and Cheney have their own circle of hell reserved for them: Muzak versions of every protest ever written.
Okay, my ramble meter is starting to beep. Better go.
October 16, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Bravo bravo. //applause
I couldn’t agree more!