The man sat at the bar talking to
the bartender, a former college
cross-country runner, about
how the Speaker of the House

lied several years ago about
his marathon time. The bartender
said, “You never, ever lie about
your times. You live with your

times. You celebrate your times
and you let your times challenge
you for the next time. To lie about
your time is…” and then he just

shook his head in disgust. The
man thought about the fastest
10 K he ever ran — 46 minutes
and he thought about the fastest

5 K he ran four months after his
wife died — 19 minutes and 50
seconds — he was so angry
and he threw up at the finish line.

He never ran that fast again.
Those were his times. Those
aren’t record breaking times
but they are his personal bests.

He lives with them and he’s
proud of them. He wonders how
the Speaker of the House can
live with the time he lied about

and which everyone found out
about and which says something
very telling about the Speaker
especially when the Speaker speaks.