Ronaiah Tuioasosopo on Dr. Phil: Part 2
Having watched both episodes of Dr. Phil with Ronaiah Tuioasosopo, I am just flabberghasted at this story. There are so many lies flying around that it is absurd, and keeping them all straight is a real challenge–even for someone like me. Let me explain.
Some people are compulsive or pathological liars–that is when they talk they find it easier to lie than to tell the truth. It’s as if these people are compelled to lie, and that lying feels more natural to them than being honest.
If you’ve ever talked to a confessed compulsive liar, they will tell you that they don’t know why they do it. Even worse, they are often aware that they can tell the truth because there is no consequence for doing so, but they lie anyway– for no reason at all. Read about compulsive liars here.
I believe that Ronaiah is likely on of these people. For him, I suspect, it is equally as easy to lie as it is to tell the truth. Another person you may remember who clearly did this was Casey Anthony. She could lie as easily as she could tell the truth. There was no difference. If anything, there is a comfort in being deceptive for these people, which drops their clues to deception at times.
It doesn’t mean they don’t leak clues–both Casey Anthony and Ronaiah Tuioasosopo leak clues, but they won’t leak clues in every lie they tell, if that makes sense, because there is little pressure on them like normal people. It’s a completely different ball of wax, if you will.
With normal liars, its quite easy for me to pick out the truth and the lies and delineate them. With a compulsive liar, I can pick out many of the lies, but when I see compulsiveness, I am hesitate to trust what comes across as believable. Thankfully there are not a lot of compulsive liars.
Ronaiah is smooth as can be with Dr. Phil. I was amazed at how he turned around his perpetrator confrontation and managed to make himself out the victim. That’s quite an incredible feat, wouldn’t you say? The twists and turns in this story just do not support reality, no matter how you slice it and he keeps coming up with story after story, if you want my opinion.
Worse, did you catch what he leaked with his words? Dr. Phil asked if he had ever forgotten to use the Lennay voice with Manti?
Ronaiah said, “I’m not trying to be funny, but that’s a rookie mistake.”
Clearly, Ronaiah does not consider him to a be a rookie liar! Wow.
I think that says it all.
Dr. Phil even calls Ronaiah out on the senseless lies he told to him in the video above–where it served absolutely no purpose for Ronaiah to lie to Dr. Phil– think compulsion!
According to Dr. Phil, when Ronaiah met him, he told Dr. Phil that he had called him before and watched his show, which he later confessed was all nonsense. Dr. Phil has to remind him a second time! Go to the time 34:10 in the video above. Classic compulsion.
Even with all of this, I still do not trust Manti Te’o and his story. I do not believe Te’o is just a blind victim in this story. There is so much more that will hopefully come out in the coming months, if not years…
Last, while someone may be a compulsive liar, it by itself is not a diagnosis. You can read more here.
I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and perspective. Please give me a + 1 on Google if you did! Thanks!
No, I don’t trust Manti either. I get the sense that regardless of whether he believed Ronaiha was a real woman or not, Manti’s intentions were less than honorable. He was using the person on the other end of this and manipulating the situation. I *don’t* think it was to win a Heisman, I think he’s got something else scrambled up inside his head.
Awesome post eyes, thanks!
Another very insightful post, Eyes! Thanks again, keep up the great work!
It’s very interesting to get a look at a self-confessed “Mastermind” of lies, as he describes himself. I find it truly amazing how the facts and consistencies look compared to his story, and how important it is to check facts and consistencies – and trust the facts and consistences (or lack of) – in virtually any situation now. Thanks again for providing another example where this is on full display for everyone to see. Your analysis really sheds light on the truth behind all of this mess that he created.
FYI – the final part of the interview with Dr. Phil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu-b0po4b38
Right from the get-go. Dr. Phil says “You are Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.” and he’s like “Okay. Yeah.”
Does anyone but me believe that was a weird response?
Then, when asked if he assume the identity to try and get money, the furrowing of the brow looks like mock-disgust to me–like he’s trying too hard to convince us. It makes me wonder if the fact that he gained nothing was simply because Teo GAVE him nothing because really, Teo never had honorable intentions in the first place. If we could have been a fly on the wall, I’m sure we’d have seen at least a few mentions by Tuiasosopo of “Oh my gosh, I have no money for my phone bill this month! All my medical bills are stacking up. That means we won’t be able to talk to each other when my phone gets cut off!”
What Tuiasosopo wasn’t counting on was that Teo REALLY didn’t care about Lennay enough to volunteer to send money.
Eyes, you summed up the whole escapade in a great way. I don’t believe Ronaiah is one bit sorry for his part in all of this. He came across as a little proud and haughty when he spoke of someone being able to plan all of this elaborate plot and pull it off. I don’t think that this his first time at doing this sort of thing. He made the brag that forgetting and speaking to Manti in a male voice would be a rookie mistake. In other words, he is no rookie at this sort of thing. We haven’t heard the end of Ronaiah, yet. We will be hearing about him again, unless he really digs in and tries to get help. The only thing that seems to affect him is how he hurt his parents, but I think his feelings for his dad are probably a mixture of resentment and love. His dad wasn’t there for him in his early years, Most often, children resent a change of rules when the absent parent comes home. Then,when he did reconnect with the family, he became a preacher. That is a whole new change of rules and goals to live by. I would say Ronaiah had a roller coaster ride during his growing up years.
Another thing, I don’t buy is why Roniah had to hide behind a screen to do the female voice. I wonder if anyone checked him out for a tape player or some other gimmick. Hiding behind a curtain just speaks of a lack of total disclosure. I can’t help wondering why he thought people would laugh at him if they watched him and heard him, more than if they just heard him.
Someone on the Dr. Phil show said there was a family connection between Manti and Roniaih,. It was quickly explained away as distant, but I don’t remember, exactly, how distant, now. I believe these two knew each other, at least somewhat. Dr. Phil, also, said these talks included a lot of sexual talk. I can’t imagine a heterosexual man talking sex talk with another man, not even trying to help them. This is just weird.
I think there is a lot more here than meets the eye. The therapist that Dr. Phil asked to work with Ronaiah wasn’t totally optimistic. He said, if Ronaiah was willing to dig in and work thru his problems, he could have a positive outcome. This is a strange case with the timing coming out when it did and unclear motives, but Dr. Phil is always saying people don’t keep doing something unless there is a payoff of some kind. I have to wonder if this is the way that Ronaiah’s way of coming out to his parents and everybody he knows.
Rookie mistake. Classic.
“Mastermind” was a good one, too – considering what a lunkhead it came from!
Do you only post comments from people who agree with you?
No. I allow for differences of opinion. I welcome it! But I do ask that people are respectful, Nothing good comes from conversations where there is name calling or rude behavior. But respectful disagreement is encouraged and welcome! Always.