LIAR
LIAR…By Bob “Sully” Sullivan,
Host of “THE COALITION” on
NEWSRADIO – 600 KOGO

Surrounded by about 10 close friends
and advisers, Lance
Armstrong admitted to using performance enhancing during his widely
anticipated sit-down with Oprah
Winfrey Monday afternoon.

In what
was described by the Associated Press as an interview that was "emotional at
times," Armstrong told Winfrey he used PEDs to win the Tour de France, but the
extent of his admission was unclear.

Does it change anything or
everything?

Will it change your opinion of
him?

This is the one story of alleged
cheating where many don’t want to hear about it and/or don’t even care he did
it.

Because
he’s both a fraud and a hero.

WOULD YOU BE
ABLE TO KEEP A LIE TO YOURSELF IF NOT DOING SO MEANT THAT YOU WOULD RUIN YOUR
LIFE, YOUR FAMILY’S LIFE AND DRAMATICALLY AFFECT THE LIVES OF YOUR COLLEAGUES,
MENTORS AND SUBJECTS?

At what
point does the guilt get to you?

It’s the
Bernie Madoff mentality…It’s Machiavellian…It’s a means to an end – I STOLE all
of your money, but look at all the good I did with it!

For
Madoff, it was Jewish charities, for Armstrong, it was LIVESTRONG.

There are
liars, and then there are LIARS

Everybody
lies.  It may only be “white” lies, but everyone tells lies or “omits the truth”
sometimes.

AT WHAT PRICE DO
YOU LIE?

We start
lying at around age 4 to 5 when children gain an awareness of the use and power
of language. 

This
first lying is not malicious, but rather to find out, or test, what can
manipulated in a child’s environment. 

Eventually children begin to use
lying to get out of trouble or get something they want.

White
lies, those concocted to protect someone’s feelings, are not a big deal at all.
The person, however, who seems to feel compelled to lie about both the small and
large stuff has a problem.

We often
call these folks pathological liars (which is a description, not a diagnosis).
They lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and
avoid punishment.

Quite
often the person who has been deceived knows that this type of liar has to a
certain extent deluded him or herself and is therefore to be somewhat
pitied.

A much
more troubling group is those who lie a lot — and knowingly — for personal
gain.

WHAT IS THE
BIGGEST LIE YOU EVER TOLD?

PANTS
ON FIRE

“Pants on
fire” isn’t the only problem liars face. New research from the University of
Notre Dame shows that when people managed to reduce their lies in given weeks
across a 10-week study, they reported significantly improved physical and mental
health in those same weeks.

They
found that the participants could purposefully and dramatically reduce their
everyday lies, and that in turn was associated with significantly improved
health.

6 QUESTIONS LANCE
REALLY NEEDS TO ANSWER PER NBC

Did Armstrong dope
before he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996? If so, did he tell his
doctors? Betsy Andreu, the
wife of a former teammate, testified in 2006 that she heard Armstrong admit to
his doctors that he had used human growth hormone, steroids, and other
chemicals. He denied it and tried to discredit Abreu by claiming she was
"vindictive and vengeful."

2. Does Armstrong
have anything to say to whistle-blowers he reportedly denounced and bullied over
the years? A report by the U.S.
Anti-Doping Agency alleged Armstrong berated a loose-lipped competitor during
the 18th stage of the 2004 Tour de France, tried to get an anti-doping doctor
fired in 2005, and told an ex-teammate who testified two years ago, "I’m going
to make your life a living…hell."

3. Was Armstrong, as
the USADA report found, a mastermind of a sophisticated doping program who
strong-armed other riders on the U.S. Postal Service team into
juicing? In July 2010,
Armstrong bristled at the suggestion he was a pusher. "There was absolutely no
way I forced people, encouraged people, told people, helped people,
facilitated," he said. "Absolutely not."

4. Will Armstrong
give authorities any information he might have about others involved with
doping? His friend, the
Italian doctor Michele Ferrari, who has been banned by the USADA for life,
claimed as recently as last month that he never saw Armstrong dope. Last week,
the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory denied the agency’s claims of
helping Armstrong.  And there is an active investigation into Armstrong’s
payments to the International Cycling Union, the sport’s governing
body.

5. Will Armstrong
pay the price? The cyclist won
more than $3 million in prize money with his seven Tour de France wins, plus
$7.5 million in bonuses from the owner of the team. He's been asked to return
both. The Sunday Times of London is suing him for $1.5 million over a libel
settlement he scored in 2004.

6. Why now?
Armstrong has never
been anything but belligerent when faced with evidence of doping. Even after he
was stripped of his Tour de France titles, he tweeted a photo of himself
relaxing on a sofa below the framed yellow jerseys from those wins --
interpreted by many as a defiant and arrogant gesture. So if he reverses course
now, what does he hope to gain? Is he bucking for reinstatement one day,
preparing to launch a new athletic career, or is he actually sorry?

Giddy up!