Lies lies lies!

Lying is nothing new to us humans. Remember all those guys claiming to be Spartacus? Well, all except one of them was lying. However, in recent years we've seemed to embrace outright dishonesty with a renewed fervor. OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson and Larry Craig maintain their innocence in spite of mountains of evidence and mountain ranges of public opinion to the contrary. Well, why not? At this point, there's literally nothing to be gained from admitting otherwise. In a way, such commitment is almost admirable. That way being a very sad and sick way. Of course, 2008 is an election year and most of us are already resigned to the fact that we're going to be spoon fed a heapin' helping of lies between now and November. But lying isn't just for celebrities and politicians. Here are a couple of heartwarming stories that have broken over the last couple of days:

• A woman in Texas made up a story about her daughter's father being killed in Iraq so she could win tickets to a Hannah Montana concert. She went on the Today show yesterday to apologize but in the tradition of all great liars, pulled up just short of actually owning it. When asked what she told the 6-year-old after she got busted, she said "I told my daughter the truth. I told her we wrote an essay and they said it was a lie." I'm guessing she didn't go on to explain that "they" said that because it was. If liars have a toolbox, blaming "them" would be the 24-piece socket wrench set. Well, I guess offering up some sort of one possible partial version of the truth is better than nothing.
• Locally this week, we've been treated to the unraveling of the Ben Moffitt saga. Moffitt, a linebacker for USF who is married with two children, has been heralded for being a devoted family man working towards a college degree while playing football at a stellar level. Well, one out of three ain't bad. As it turns out, Ben left his wife and kids about two months ago and the estranged Mrs. Moffitt now claims she actually took his online classes, wrote his papers and took his tests for him. She was served with divorce papers four days after USF's season, and Moffitt's college career, concluded with a 56-21 loss to Oregon in the Sun Bowl.