Head Fake

You know how basketball players complain after every call?  Do you think the reflexive lying and self-delusion becomes second nature, carrying over into day-to-day life?

 Ben Roethlisberger's got this move down.

You might say "its part of the game", or "all the other players do it", and that might excuse it in ethical terms, but they're still practiced in the act of dishonesty, and at some point it has to become easier.

If Bart were an adult, he wouldn't have that look of fear, instead it would be the holier-than-thou incredulity of the self-entitled American adult.

We assume that the constant sucking and fucking of a porn starlet somehow degrades her, makes her "easier" off-camera.  What she does is just "part of the show", and "all the other porn sluts do it", so we don't condemn her in moral terms, but we still assume she's going to be changed by it.

We also assume that an MMA fighter is changed by the violence he commits in the ring.  The other combatant has agreed to the fight, so its not like the beatings are evil, but we still assume that that guy is going to be a more brutal person in his day-to-day life.

I'm not trying to say basketball players are bad people.  Lying and self-delusion are the only way that most people can make it through the day, so in a way, being a basketball player might make you a better person.

45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"  - Harris Poll, March 2010.

 A knowing wink, or an impression of Dick Cheney.