Bill Clinton was walking down a street in Washington when he came upon a
group of about a dozen boys, all of them between 10 and 12 years of age.
The group had surrounded a dog. Concerned lest the boys were hurting the
dog, he went over and asked, “What are you doing with that dog?”
One of the boys replied, “This dog is just an old
neighborhood stray. We all want him, but only one of us can take him
home. So we’ve decided that whichever one of us can tell the biggest lie
will get to keep the dog.”
Of course, the president was taken aback. “You boys
shouldn’t be having a contest telling lies!” he exclaimed. He then
launched into a ten minute sermon against lying, beginning, “Don’t you
boys know it’s a sin to lie,” and ending with, “Why, when I was your
age, I never told a lie.”
There was dead silence for about a minute. Just as the
president was beginning to think he’d gotten through to them, the
smallest boy gave a deep sigh and said, “All right, give him the dog.”