Years ago I had to go through a metal detector to enter a courthouse. I was reporting for jury duty (I was never empaneled, which was a bit disappointing). I emptied my pockets and the guards confiscated one of those little nail clippers I had in my pocket. I asked why and they claimed that it was a weapon, and that an unnamed official, in an unnamed location, at an uncertain time, had been attacked and injured with just such a nail clipper. They repeated this with what they believed was stern seriousness. They were lying.
Lying routinely seems to be almost reflexive among a certain strata of individuals entrusted with official positions. I don’t know why this is, but I’ve read that law enforcement organizations will even teach their members how to lie and what to lie about.
I’m sure that there are some members of those organizations that take their positions seriously enough to decline the opportunity to “control situations” by lying. I’m equally sure that there are others who participate.
There should be a Law of Officialdom that states something like this: whenever an official representative won’t offer any evidence of something they claim has occurred to “make them” take some action, they are lying.
Here’s a recent example: a new policy at the Kansas Department of Corrections “to protect residents and employees from dangerous contraband.” The contraband in question is newspapers. A spokesman for the department, David Thompson, explained via email to a reporter: “The impetus for this policy is an increase in drug-soaked material, such as books and newspapers, being transmitted to residents through the USPS.“
That’s right, Thompson is claiming that publishers identify specifically which of their issues is destined for an inmate in Kansas, grab those issues before they’re sent, and soak them in some sort of (unidentified) drug in some (unidentified) way that doesn’t change the physical appearance of the paper, then send them. And they’re going this because…um…reasons, okay?
Oh, and Kansas inmates can still receive newspapers and books in the mail. The new policy only cancels subscriptions paid for by friends or family of the inmates. If an inmate makes the purchase on their own, that’s okay.
Lies are a lot harder than truth because you have to be smart enough to make your lie hang together enough to convince at least somebody. But some people entrusted with official positions just assume the authority accompanying their position (not their person) will be enough. But when your lies are such bumbling nonsense, what you’re doing is corroding that authority. Not just yours, the authority of your position and institution.
And people wonder why institutions in the US aren’t trusted or respected so much any more. It’s the people in them, at low and high levels.
