Steve Mensing, Editor
♦Sometimes we prematurely trust folks and elect them to office. And soon afterwards we discover they support positions quite in opposition to their pre-election stances. They may scamper around the truth by omitting it, fibbing about it, or flat-out lying. In hindsight we wish we were better at discerning character-flawed individuals and their ability to twist the truth. A fact of life, we best acknowledge, is that politics does not always attract honest men and women.
Okay, how can we know if an elected or public official is lying short of giving them a polygraph test or interrogating them with a seasoned forensic psychologist in the room? It’s somewhat difficult unless we are aware of some of the truth discerning rules utilized by law enforcement interrogators and forensic psychologists. To spot lying they often pay attention to a number of common clues appearing in combination. Here are the more prevalent signs an elected or public official is straying from the truth:
• There’s a public record of the politician or public official’s previous statements and those statements don’t jibe with more recent statements.
• Their stories are ever changing.
• Some liars may appear edgy, evasive, defensive, or flare up when probed.
• They may change the subject or refuse to speak about the subject–getting huffy in the process.
• Sometimes their emotions don’t appear to fit with their facial expressions.
• May talk swiftly and provide too many details.
•Too much eye contact or too little may betray lying.
• Ill-logic in accounts and lack of convincing detail.
• Inappropriate laughter.
• Numerous mispronunciations.
• Disorganized chronology in the recounting of an incident.
• Does not remember.
• Is what they are saying in line with actual facts?
• Tense smiles.
• Facial tics.
• Stammering, throat clearing, and alteration in voice pitch.
• Fidgeting, nose rubbing, blushing, and foot tapping.
• Contradictions and inconsistencies.
• Omitting important information.
• Nose and face touching. Lip licking.
• Uses sarcasm to change the subject.
The more of these clues present, the higher the probability we are not hearing the truth.
