{"id":2348,"date":"2013-01-13T10:10:26","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T00:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wildcard.gnubies.com\/?p=2348"},"modified":"2017-12-09T18:58:40","modified_gmt":"2017-12-09T08:58:40","slug":"the-fraud-of-frauds-gets-a-chance-to-vent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sams-blog.com\/?p=2348","title":{"rendered":"The fraud of frauds gets a chance to vent"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON JANUARY 17, US time, world sport’s worst serial cheat, Lance Armstrong, will make a confession of sorts to the world’s best known chat show host, Oprah Winfrey. Not surprisingly, both are Americans.<\/p>\n

Armstrong was indicted by the US Anti-Doping Administration and the level of proof that the agency gathered would have put anyone behind bars. It was a dream case, one where the evidence was so startling that even a serial liar and cheat like Armstrong kept silent.<\/p>\n

Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 onwards, with every possible chemical helping him to the podium.
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\nHe has bullied, threatened and bribed his way to the top and gained a massive financial fortune, not to say a reputation that is unmatched in sport worldwide.<\/p>\n

But he is a sad human being, a cheat, a liar, and a brazen one at that. He has ruined many lives, he has spoilt the sport of cycling forever, and he has made crooks out of many with his bribes.<\/p>\n

Winfrey is known for soft, weepy programmes; she has built up a reputation as someone who empathises with her guests and never puts them offside.<\/p>\n

She is no journalist.<\/p>\n

In her early days, Winfrey was tried out as a news reporter on TV stations<\/strong><\/a>. But her bosses noticed that she had a tendency to come down on the side of the underdog every time, even if that individual was a convicted child molester.<\/p>\n

She moved on to chat shows and there she found her real metier. A legend was born.<\/p>\n

Armstrong will not be put on any rack on Winfrey’s programme. He will be treated with kid gloves and it will be akin to the Boston strangler being given a back rub.<\/p>\n

Armstrong has already extracted about $US16 million from Winfrey for giving the interview – which will be very helpful in paying legal costs which are expected to mount when people start suing him for his lies, and sponsors start demanding their money back.<\/p>\n

Hence this is not anything to do with journalism. It is fraud from the word go, cash for comment. But it is a big story to be covered with all the cynicism and sarcasm it deserves.<\/p>\n

Armstrong is doing the interview because he wants to take part in sport again. Not cycling, other sports like athletics. <\/p>\n

But given the fact that his entire sporting life has been a lie, he does not deserve a second chance. This is one case where one must lock the door and throw away the key.
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