No, I'm not talking about Newt's statement that he is still a viable presidential candidate despite his whole staff quitting. But that too.

From the Washington Post:

A Northern California youth baseball league has barred Barry Bonds’ former personal trainer from coaching his son’s team. The president of the Burlingame Youth Baseball Association says Greg Anderson is not a registered coach and is prohibited from being on the field during games.Anderson, who has coached for years, was told of the prohibition after a parent complained about the convicted steroids dealer’s participation….Anderson spent three weeks in prison this year for refusing to testify at Bonds’ trial on charges that he lied about steroids use. Anderson earlier pleaded guilty to steroids distribution.

Right. Anderson is being barred because he isn’t registered, not because he is a convicted steroid-pusher who has as much business coaching young baseball players as Anthony Weiner has coaching girl’s field hockey. Nobody, literally nobody, who knows anything about Anderson believes that. So why say it?

We see this kind of announcement all the time. Everyone knows why someone prominent has been fired, or resigns, or retires, and yet the organization that pushed them  puts out blatantly dishonest public announcements. If the league was afraid of some kind of liability for admitting that it is dumping Anderson because he’s a felon who also played a key role in destroying the integrity of Major League Baseball through  illicit drug use, and that allowing him to have contact with kids was about as irresponsible conduct as hiring a league hooker, then they should have just announced that he has been barred from coaching and let everyone come to the obvious, and true, conclusion.

What is the point of an obvious lie? It merely reinforces the growing impression that everyone, everywhere, is lying all the time, whether they have to or not and whether they think anyone will believe them or not. The young baseball players already know the adults that run their league have no problem with steroid cheats and felons; now they know that they endorse lying too.

[Thanks once again to Craig Calcaterra for the pointer.]