Those of us who came of age around the time of the Watergate scandal got about the best lesson you can learn in life: Attempting to cover up something you’ve done wrong often thrusts you into a deeper stew than the deed itself.
The Watergate story should be taught starting in elementary school and carrying right into high school, and it should be taught at least every other year.
I doubt that U.S. Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz ever got the lesson, or they wouldn’t have made up the story — even in their drunken state — about getting pulled over in Rio and robbed at gunpoint by people posing as police.
Unfortunately for us Americans, this story reverberates well beyond these four guys. When it first came out, it seemed to confirm the reports that Rio was a wild and dangerous place and that your head better be moving on its swivel when you were out on the streets.
But as the story that Lochte and Feigen told police unraveled — turns out they fabricated it to cover up their destructive antics at a gas station — the backwash accelerated, and now many people around the world must be thinking, “Ugly Americans.”
A woman named Judy, from Canada, placed this comment on a story in today’s New York Times:
This, if it is true, is an unfortunate example of why some Americans are such bad ambassadors for their country abroad. They bring an attitude of arrogance and entitlement along with them. In this incident we have added to that the free pass that male athletes get in American culture. It is time that people who have so many privileges learn to respect others and act with a little humility in other countries and cultures.
Imagine how we in the States would react if Russian athletes were at the center of this caper. We’d be saying, “You can’t trust those Ruskies. Not only is the government systematically drugging the athletes, the athletes are liars.”
Instead, it’s Americans getting drubbed in the press. The headline in today’s Daily Mail, a British tabloid, screams “LYIN’ RYAN.” The paper quoted one Brazilian official as saying, “The only truth they told was they were drunk.”
Boy, that hurts. These guys have not only painted themselves as liars but they have embarrassed their country. One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was thank goodness Michael Phelps beat Lochte in their big showdown early in the Games.
Ryan Lochte got out of Rio before Brazilian authorities could question him about his made-up story of being robbed by men posing as police. Safely back in the U.S., he posed with a flight attendant in Charlotte, NC, on Wednesday.
One of the most surprising elements of this story is the ages of the two guys who concocted the phony story. Lochte, the group leader, is 32. Feigen, the only other one to give a statement to police before yesterday, is 26. The other guys — Conger and Bentz, are 21 and 20 respectively. (The truth came out after Brazilian officials pulled Conger and Bentz off a plane last night and interviewed them.)
Had all four been 19 or 20, I could have understood better the rush to the lie. But 32 and 26? Lochte and Feigen — like Richard Nixon and his pals who tried to cover up the Watergate burglary — are just stupid.
It’s too bad that this sorry episode will end up overshadowing some of the great athletic feats that U.S. Olympians have recorded in Rio. Not all, but some. At any rate, the story is going to be remembered for a long time.
Another New York Times commenter, John Calderhead of Denver, succinctly explained exactly why it is going to endure:
“It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.”
Let’s start teaching Watergate early and keep teaching it often.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Devastating that the U.S. has to be disgraced by young men we admired and applauded. What in the world were they thinking? Obviously they weren’t thinking. This black cloud will follow them the rest of their lives. Good thing Michael Phelps wasn’t with them, but maybe he could have stopped them.
Good idea, Jim, to teach the lesson of Watergate very early on.
Laura
Michael has made plenty of mistakes of his own, as you probably know, Laura, and has learned a lot. It was great to watch not only him, when he was swimming events, but his mother and his fiancee watching and cheering, with his fiancee holding their infant son. I don’t think we have to worry about Michael any more; he’s going to be on his best behavior from here on out.
Yeah, or Mama’s gonna whoop him up side of the head!!
JimmyC:
I had to laugh out loud while reading your “Olympic-sized” liars post. And not because of the ridiculous, alcohol-fueled and chlorine-bathed Rio caper — breaking into a gas station loo. No, the funny part was your reference and tie to Watergate and those Washington-sized Watergate liars.
That is so over. You need to let it go.
You passed completely over a more relevant and current example.
Didn’t Mrs. Clinton lie over and over again about the use of a private server to receive and transmit national security information along with recipes for chocolate chip cookies and baby showers? And didn’t she exhibit a total disregard for established systems and protocols pertaining to her highly sensitive job duties as Secretary of State? It was almost like the rules were made for “those people” — certainly not her.
It didn’t end well for the Watergate boys, but it looks like the goofy Olympic aqua snots will be punished as severely as Mrs. Clinton.
And that’s pathetic on way too many levels.
I wish I would have thought of the — “aqua snots.”
Hasn’t the fair-haired (thanks to Lady Clairol) Lochte always been kind of a d*ck? So, no big surprise here. Some people never fail to disappoint.
I like your use of the asterisk.
Goggle Lochte from the last Olympics and he was a joke back then because he was so stupid. People who interviewed him couldn’t keep a straight face because he was such a dimwit.
That said, you danced (gimped) very close to a reality about American society and its entitlement culture with its awards for participation and slaps on the wrist for misconduct. We’ve become a culture of slobs. We act like slobs, we drink like slobs, we dress like slobs and always there’s the 2nd (or 102nd) chance for redemption.
Rioters are given enough “space” to riot while colleges, once places for independent thought, are such nursery schools for indoctrinated morons that the little snowflakes have to be consoled with a safe place every time they hear an opposing thought.
Clinton and Trump are both symptomatic of the cultural rot. Trump should have been given the heave ho the first time he said something so grossly stupid and Clinton should be in jail. that either of them are candidates for the highest office in the land is a direct reflection of the caliber of the electorate who put them there. We’ve become a nation of disgusting, irresponsible pigs and now we have the representation (and sports heros) to match.
As a footnote to your story.
Darren Sharper: Former NFL Player Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Rape
Sharper was convicted of drugging and raping up to 16 women in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada, multiple outlets reported. He must also pay a $20,000 fine.
And
Donald Trump Statue: Naked Portrayal of Republican Presidential Candidate Appears in Several US Cities
Activist group Indecline reportedly placed the life-size statue of Trump with no clothes for its “The Emperor Has No Balls” project in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Cleveland and Seattle.
It’s a great time to be old.
That last line appears to be Mr. Altevogt’s new mantra. :-)
We don’t have time around here for people blubbering about the joys of being old…And you know a guy is old when he’s “Goggling” Ryan Lochte.
Ryan’s girlfriend.
http://bluelivesmatter.blue/zarna-joshi-police-im-sexually-harassed/
If the copy editor around here wasn’t so damned lazy my posts wouldn’t have blunders like “goggle” in them and you also missed the cap at the beginning of the sentence that starts right after we throw Hillary in jail. Jeez, so hard to get good help these days.
Sometimes the staff gets a chuckle out of letting the commenters go their merry ways…
Sadist that you are …
It’s because of people like Ryan Lochte that I have stopped caring about the Olympics. Also, I hope the people who were outraged by Gabby Douglas not holding her hand to her chest during the National Anthem are just as pissed off over these aqua snots (I like that reference too).
The lesson of Watergate is not “It’s not the crime, it’s the cover-up.” The lesson of Watergate is “It’s both the crime and the cover-up.” It’s simple: Don’t commit the crime in the first place. If you do commit the crime, don’t try to cover it up. You’re only adding to your criminality.