What to do with Ryan Lochte

Why is it that every debate has become either black or white? You need to be on one end of the spectrum or the other to get noticed. This is once again shown perfectly with the Ryan Lochte “situation.” Either he is a liar and a criminal. Or the Brazilian authorities are liars and corrupt. But in reality, can’t it be both?

Let’s start with what we know isn’t quite true. For starters, Ryan Lochte and the swimmers were not pulled over. There was no gun cocked and placed to the forehead of Lochte, we think. We also know that there was a cause for the disapproval of the Brazilian security guards because of the alleged destruction of a gas station bathroom.

We also know that prior to the Olympics in Rio, there were three main concerns for many who were travelling to the games. They were: Zika, street crime, and polluted water. Over the two weeks of the games, Rio has shown Zika wasn’t that big a deal (we think), there hasn’t been much made about the polluted water, and up until Lochte we hadn’t even heard much by way of street crime.

But now this potential lie threw all that into doubt. All of a sudden, there was a street crime problem. And it wasn’t just any Olympian or journalist who was suggesting it. It was one of the most decorated Olympians ever and especially of his generation. To say this has become about more than a potential robbery is an understatement, this is about a country preserving the image that it could put on an Olympics without legitimate concerns coming to fruition.

Back to Lochte however, take a look at the security video from the gas station. Watch that while thinking about what Lochte said or while thinking about the report from Matt Lauer the other night on NBC. If you do that, you’ll see that the video matches up fairly well with what he says. Not 100% on point, but it is pretty close. Of course, Lochte said nothing of the potential bathroom vandalism.

Lochte did talk about fake police officers, or people posing as police officers. To that I say this, if you were drunk, couldn’t you mistake security guards for “fake police officers”? Isn’t it possible that is what had happened?

Look, I’m not looking to make Lochte some innocent guy, he and the other American swimmers obviously did something. But why is it widely assumed that he was definitely wrong? Why are so many giving the Brazilian police the benefit of the doubt rather than the American athlete? Brazilian police who have had problems of their own over the last few months, including not wanting to show up and work because they weren’t being paid. It’s not like this is the most trustworthy organization either.

I’m willing to meet both sides half way. Brazil is doing PR work here, trying to show that they aren’t this dangerous third world country. And Lochte and his buddies were a bit drunk and got some details wrong.

This isn’t black and white. In fact, this is the furthest thing from black and white. Lochte and his teammates lied about some stuff, Brazil is probably lying about some details themselves.