If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.

-- Carl Sagan

I once covered a kidnapping trial in south Georgia.

One set of witnesses -- and there was more than one -- took the stand, swore their oath, then told the crowded courtroom that the defendant had been with them on the day the kidnapping took place. They were watching a ball game, and they even recalled the score.

Later, a second set of witnesses repeated the procedures. Under oath, they swore the defendant had shown up at an outdoor family gathering, swooped up an unwilling young woman whom he knew well and took her off against her will.

It was in broad daylight, and everyone testifying said they saw him do it.

When I phoned my story back into the newsroom, the city editor asked me what I thought.

"I think," I said, "that someone is lying."

Someone, it seems, usually is.

I started considering such truths and their consequences because of all the political ads on TV these recent weeks.

The candidates stride before us. They strut and fret; they weep and wave; and it doesn't seem real.

What, after all, does campaigning to crowds or posing in the soft light before a gently furling flag have to do with getting things done?

To tell the truth, I'm not sure. I just know it's been this way a long time.

I'm also uncertain which is worse: the person whose actions are being judged, or those who mislead us on his or her behalf.

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PANTS ON FIRE: Speaking of falsehoods, do you know the quick way to tell if someone's lying to you?

Dr. Gail Saltz, a psychiatrist whose work has been featured widely, including on the Today show, offers these four clues:

- Avoiding eye contact.

- Change in voice.

- Body language.

- Frequent contradictions.

Of course, maybe you're just talking to a teenager.

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TODAY'S JOKE: Billy Cooper, of North Augusta, joined many of you in sharing this one:

The graveside service had barely finished when there was massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance.

The little old man looked at the pastor and calmly said, "Well, she's there."