A Lie Is As Good As A Confession

Regarding what may or may not ail Joe, I'm not qualified to say, except that the media has suddenly taken a lot of interest in the question. What intrigues me is the evasiveness of the White House's attempts to answer the questions from the press. I know almost nothing about Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, but as a truie crime fan who reads and watches the insights of detectives about interrogation, I've learned a few things about lying -- and in particular, the truism that a lie is as good as a confession.

In other words, if you can catch someone in a definite lie, you're starting to get a road map to just what it is they're trying to cover up. It's hard to avoid thinking that Press Secretary Jean-Pierre is displaying signs of lying in her answers to a couple of the questions she was asked in her press briefing yesterday. The relevant sequence starts at about 38:00

Q: When you were here last Tuesday, you were asked if the president had had any medical examinations [unintelligible] including the time period after the debate, and you said flately, "no". A few days later, you admitted the president had had a short checkin thereafter. Those are two very different. . .

KJP: . . . To answeer your point, he did not have a medical exam, he did not have a physical, he did like a verbal checkin with his doctor a couple days after the debate, and it was very quick, it was a couple of words that were spoken to each other, and that's how we were able to give you that answer, he did not haver a medical exam, he did not have a physical. . . I did not mean to steer anybody wrong, I was still thinking about the physical, that's how I answered the question, . . . and that's when we went back and asked the medical doctor, and he said they had a verbal checkin.

Q: [Regarding the frequent visits of a Parkinson's specialist over the past several months,] Could you state very clearly, yes or no, was that expert here to participate in anything surrounding the care of the President of the United States?

KJP: So let me just say a couple things. We have had a comprehensive -- I just want to take another step back, a comprehensive physical examination, the president has had that, we've given a comprehensive report, we've shared that the past three years, every year that he has, every year that he has had this exam, he sees a neurologist, and, uh, just to give you a quote from that, the report most recently in February, an extremely detailed neurological exam was again reassuring in that there were no findings which wokuld be consistgent with any cerebellar or central neurologicsl disorders such as a stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons's, ascending lateral sclerosis, end quote, so that came from, in February, that comprehensive report trhat was prepared by the president's doctor, that I shared with all of you, so anybody who is watching can certainly go to our website.

Several things pop out at me, and they're covered in typical "how to tell if someone is lying" sites, for instance this one:

Liars will often repeat themselves ad nauseam when telling a half-truth or a complete falsehood. This is done for three reasons. First, they will repeat a lie over and over in order to solidify the ‘facts’ in their mind, so they can stick to their story. Secondly, they’re trying to convince you that they’re telling the truth by solidifying their words in your mind. Lastly, they repeat themselves in order to buy time to come up with the next part of their story. If they were telling the truth, they’d be able to recall everything without thinking about it.

. . . When a person gives too much information when questioned, it’s because they have rehearsed in their head exactly what to say, and exactly how to say it. They also feel that if they’re able to give a full story, they’re more likely to be believed. However, this often just shows they’ve anticipated what the other person will say next, and jump right into answering subsequent questions before the questions have even been asked. If someone seems to immediately have every answer for all the questions you have for them, they’ve most likely constructed a huge lie in their head and are ready to stick to it no matter what.

This is a useful observation:

The research conducted at the University of Michigan found “speaking with more vocal fill” to be a common indicator of deception. Glass says that people tend to use these words more when they’re trying to buy time to figure out what they’re going to say next.

This is a big tell:

When someone is lying, they might avoid answering your question directly. Instead, they might try to change the subject or deflect the conversation away from themselves.

This is one of the tested and most common signs of lying. If you notice someone doing this, it’s a good sign that they’re not being truthful with you. They will slowly try to shift the conversation to another topic to take the focus off of themselves.

It’s just what most people call “red handed.” It’s not usual to see a person try so hard to avoid a certain topic, so if you sense this, then it’s a positive sight that they are lying.

In the press briefing, Ms Jean-Pierre was directly asked a yes-or-no question, which she promptly evaded by providing too much information and never answering yes or no. I have no idea what the truth is that she was trying to conceal, but the pattern of her answers suggests she's trying to conceal something.

Beyond that, who knows?