American feminist Gloria Steinem once said, “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”
She wasn’t kidding.
That’s how I felt watching snippets of the interview between disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong and Oprah (yes, she’s still around!) Winfrey today.
It was uncomfortable to watch, it was horrific to hear, and it almost sad to see the man who beat testicular cancer, who won an unprecedented Tour de France races, who made the world believe he had won those titles clean, admitted to taking banned drugs and blood transfusions.
It was all “one big lie,” he said.
It was interesting to see him confess to these sins — ones that he actually sued people for revealing, by the way — and I found myself feeling incredibly sorry for him.
Wait, let me explain.
I realize there’s more to this story. I saw the interviews with people who were bullied, threatened and sued by him. I know he brought this upon himself.
But have you ever told a lie, a huge lie that spiraled out of control? It’s hard. It’s not easy to come back from that. And I felt badly for him. This isn’t something that he can sleep off or feel better about after a long run. His whole reputation is in the proverbial toilet. People won’t trust him. People won’t like him. That sucks.
I hope this is a lesson for everyone: lying and cheating and living an inauthentic life aren’t terribly smart choices.
What have you got to lose by telling the truth? Because there’s certainly nothing to gain by lying.
8 Comments
Hello Cat!
Loser!
CAT: Truth be told, I am…old, fat, and poor!
let’s pray this changes things, but I suspect it never will.
Good Morning Cat,
To me, what is sad is that with all the bravado & arrogance that he showed when these charges were made, he failed to understand that Americans are a very forgiving people as long as the “mea culpa” is humble & sincere.
Hasn’t been awhile since our cynicism towards public figures been justified?
A couple of my favorite quotes about truth are from Mark Twain. “When in doubt, tell the truth.” “Be careful before you tell a lie; it’s a really good lie, you may need to save it to use later.”
I never knew that much about Lance Armstrong, other than that he won an impossible number of Tour de France events over a long period and involving comebacks, and he’d been accused for about a decade of doping. I probably wouldn’t have recognized him if I passed him on the street. So, I’ve heard quite a bit about him over the past two weeks, thanks to Oprah, and I still wouldn’t recognize him if I passed him on the street. I’d like, at this point, for him to fade from public view and discussion and for me to never hear his name again once the current buzz dies down.
It better to never lied of things to begin with for it will build up with more lies. Now hope he showed remorse but it up to public to forgive him and hope he learned of his mistakes.
If he were in the Congress, this would be a resume enhancement!
He gained upwards of 100 million dollars by cheating and lying (as a cycling fan, I can assure you that everyone in that era was dirty too though). And when he writes his tell all book, which will include all the things he wouldn’t talk about in the interview, he’ll land a #1 NYTimes best seller and millions more. The guy is a douche and always has been. Read Walsh’s book on him, as well as the way Lance thrashed Walsh in the press. Do NOT feel sorry for Lance.