Sorry, my ass!

New rule # 19: An intentional  sustained pattern of  bad behavior simply cannot in any sane context be rationalized as simply being "a mistake."

          Recently we have been inundated with celebrities, "sellebrities" and regular folks all engaging in the great American pastime of rationalizing bad actions as if  they were failed attempts to actually do the right thing that just sort of misfired. The most recent, Lance Armstrong has looked right into the camera numerous times and lied directly to Americans, many of whom have idolized him, and sworn that he has never used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). When the overwhelming number of his teammates confess and implicate him as an instigator and heavy doper, he finally makes a media event of announcing his "mistake." Mistake my ass, tripping and falling, misdialing, deciding in haste to take a chance and failing, all are mistakes. Lance Armstrong's transgressions constitute a prolonged pattern of deceit and covering for his and others illegal actions.               Now, however we are to forgive him, because, 1: he admitted his scumbaggery,  2: everyone else did it too, and  3: so he can compete again.....really?

          In like fashion, sometimes it's not PEDs but "IEDs" (image enhancing drugs) we are victimized by. Case in point: Manti Te'o. all throughout the football season and Heisman hype we were  told of the young  Samoan Notre Dame star linebacker who wrote to a little girl with leukemia because it reminded him of his own girlfriend who had died of cancer. He even told a sportswriter he cried while writing , because of the emotional similarity to his own situation.  One problem, there is no girlfriend, with or without cancer, and  fortunately, no use bullshitting the Heisman voters either.  At least Te'o can write, because after seeing the Alabama  game there is some question as to whether he can tackle.

          It isn't just athletes either. Remember Janet Cooke? Of course you don't, but in  1981, she impressed the Pulitzer Prize selection committee enough to win the Pulitzer for feature news writing with her story: "Jimmy's World."  The touching and riveting story of an eight year old heroin addict had one flaw, however, and it was a big one. Jimmy and his story were fiction. Never existed, never happened. What did happen is the $1.5 million dollars she got for the story rights. Liar, liar, pants etc.....!  And then, of course, there's Bernie Maddoff, and the human wreckage he left behind.

          Athletes, however do seem to be more susceptible to the temptation to cheat in ways which seem almost unfathomable: Rosie Ruiz, entering  the 1980 Boston  York marathon but only running  about the last half mile of it and claiming a new record pace for women.  Danny Almonte - the 14 year old Puerto Rican pitcher with the twelve year old birth certificate and the 72 mph fastball (over Little League distance, like a 95 mph fastball in the majors!) throwing the only perfect game in LLWS history.  And of course no list of dirty jocks would be complete without the last group of Hall of Fame rejects - Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa.

           Ok, so we all know about these people, why bring it up again? Well, because when people in the news, and adults whom many admire cheat it seems to impressionable kids to semi-legitimize it; and believe me, youngsters don't need any more incentive to cheat, let alone examples of it. The common thread here, however is not just the dishonesty involved, but the response that includes the word "mistake."  A mistake is when you attempted to do the right thing and it didn't work out. Cheating is when you had no intention of doing the right thing in the first place. It involves giving away something  with which you were born  and which one can never loose involuntarily, but which many give away  with little thought - one's personal integrity. Personal integrity can be defined as "What you do when no one's watching." Far too often these  days there seem to be no limits.  

          So remember, when you see Lance Armstrong finally admitting his transgressions and  seeming to be sincere and believable about his remorse and repentance, just remember how sincere he seemed through all the years he was looking right into the camera and denying the very deeds he is now confessing, not once or twice, but numerous times, and seeming just as believable. You see, All Mr Armstrong is really sorry for is the part where he got caught!