[March 11, 2020] Back in November last year, U.S. Presidential candidate Joe Biden called a woman in his audience a lying dog-faced pony soldier.1 Darn it; I wish he had called me that name. If he had, I would be the envy among my combat veteran peers. I like the expression, and I thank Joe Biden for saying it.
Well, this article is not about Joe Biden. Nor is today’s column about any of the candidates, but it is about lying. I’m writing today about lying because I see it being encouraged, not discouraged, as common sense would dictate.
Yesterday several friends of mine were out to dinner when the waitress asked what they wanted. They gave her their order. A few minutes later, out comes their dinner (on time and professionally set on the table). The problem was that their dinner was not what they ordered, and the waitress insisted she had gotten the order correct, and “that was that.” End of story? Not quite. Joel, the bigger man of the group, had inadvertently recorded the waitress taking the order. Once the video came out, all these problems went away.
You would think by now that a waitress taking an order wouldn’t give that much pushback on a small dinner order. Simply put, the waitress was lying because she didn’t want to get into more trouble with his boss (who was a jerk, go figure). Now the waiter complains to her boss (the jerk) that my friend Joey was “harassing” her. What a shit storm this created. The restaurant owner comes into the dining area and throws all my friends out. Nothing said, no explanation, nothing.
In this case, lying to her boss paid off as a social tactic. The waitress didn’t get into trouble but applauded for doing such a respectable, courageous job in a difficult scenario.
Lying is a corrupting influence on people. Our brains are not hardwired to lie, cheat, or steal. We learn to resist these temptations when we are small children or when we enter public school. Lying prevents us from adopting greater responsibilities. Adopting responsibilities boosts our self-confidence and our overall sense of worth.
By telling the truth, or at least by not lying, and by consciously adopting more significant and reasonable responsibilities, we become better people. We are less corrupt, more credible, and happier. When we take these responsibilities and not lie, we are more trustworthy, helpful, and loyal to those around us.
Thanks Joe Biden for bringing up the lying dog-faced pony soldier mantra. What salad mouthful of words that best describes what I like about these presidential debates. It’s a never ending source of entertainment.
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Telling the truth, what a novel concept. This has been one of the strongest themes of Gen. Satterfield and his blog over the past few years and not without impact. I know that I repeat this among my friends and family and insist they also be blunt with it when called for. Great article and we should all listen to it carefully.
Max, so very true. As well we should learn to adopt a bit of responsibility. You can always tell when people have zero responsibilities because they are always whining and complaining about something trivial.
Readers of all stripes, let’s not forget the main point Gen. Satterfield is making. Here it is in a nutshell. A one-liner from his article: “By telling the truth, or at least by not lying, and by consciously adopting more significant and reasonable responsibilities, we become better people.”
Hi Mr. EMKIII. You’re back. Oh how great it would be for another one of your fabulous articles. Love your wit and humor.
For all my readers, I want to let you know that Mr. Kennedy will soon have an article for you. Enjoy!
Wonderful news. I’m a long time fan of Mr. K and, of course, this leadership website. Hearing again from you Mr. K, will make my day. I hope you are well and the bad guys didn’t get you down. Likely, however, is that you gave them a run for the money.
Now, here is a dog-faced lying pony soldier (although an insult to all real soldiers):
“STARK RAVING HILLARY”
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/03/stark-raving-hillary.php
Read the whole article, short in length but well worth a few seconds. I like it. Made my day. Great example of one of the biggest liars in modern history.
Gen. Satterfield, excellent article. I’ll be telling my kids about the story told of your friends in the restaurant. I’ll also tell them about how to act properly.
.. and that they should not record the conversation but to act properly by telling the truth and refusing to compromise their integrity.
Good points, Gen Satterfield. By connecting ‘telling the truth’ with ‘adopting reasonable responsibility’ you have made the ultimate argument for how to be a good human being in your family, community, and nation.
Today in Gen. Satterfield’s ‘daily favorites’ he has two articles about Joe Biden. I recommend to everyone that you read these articles. What some of the recent news has about Biden is that he is gaff prone. No big deal in my book but it is his LIES that are most disturbing. Either he is a big-ass liar or he is mentally deranged. I can’t figure it out at this point.
Hi Jerome. I’m not going to jump too much into politics today but will add that if anyone plans to vote in this upcoming election, then take a look at the results of what each of the candidates has done or not done. Biden and now Trump have a record. Which one has the best track record?
IMO, someone needs to kick Biden in the butt for his great distortions of reality and outright lies. But his track record is dismal at best and dramatically harmful at worse.
You are spot-on with your comment old warrior. I’m liking this electioneering in the US so far because it pits communists against capitalist. Which system will win? I think the latter. The young, impressionable, and ignorant voters will not go to the polls when their communist hero Sanders is beaten by old, feeble white dude Biden.
Good, on-point story about how lying paid off in this case. But I will argue that this story doesn’t end there. First, your friends will likely not go back to that restaurant and if they do will not use that waitress. Second, the waitress learned the wrong lesson from it. She thinks lying works but it doesn’t because she will do it again and eventually be caught and most probably fired.
Eric, thanks for making an important point. Lying does not work. Period. If you lie, you have to keep it up and try to remember what you lied about. Too much stress. But, alas, we are encouraged to lie in our society.
I absolutely love this expression and I’m going to use it when I can. Ha Ha Ha. Justice is finally getting here!
Right and I am with you on this Eva. But don’t use the words around your kids or they might repeat them in school.
Darling, my kids are grown and have kids of their own. But thanks honey for the encouragement.
Too funny ….
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Eva and ZB, you made my day.