Art mimics life, or vice versa

How can you tell a (fill in the blank- politician, lawyer, oil company executive, actor, professional athlete) is lying? His (her) lips are moving. If you read the cartoon 'Peanuts' enough times you will see on recurring situation. Lucy will encourage Charlie Brown to kick a football that she will hold for him. At the last moment, every time, she pulls the ball away and he swings at empty air and lands on his back with a "whump!". The next time, Lucy assures him she won't pull the ball away this time but, as sure as death and taxes, she does. Sound familiar? "I did not have sex with that woman". "I did not use performance enhancing drugs". "I will not raise taxes". "We did not cut corners in drilling for oil 1 mile below the ocean surface (which as far as modern technology is concerned, is as far away as the moon)". We have become so used to being lied to that a bald faced lie no longer elicits even a modest degree of indignation, much less surprise. How did we fall so far as a culture to get to this point? I have my own ideas but for whatever reason, here we are. The question is, how do we get out of here? If you aren't into Judeo/Christian ethics, you won't like or agree with the answer. We need to return to a culture where truth is the "default" position, where a "man's word" is his bond and you can take what someone says to the bank, so-to-speak; where liars are regarded as pariahs and lying is not only socially unacceptable, but carries real consequences and penalties. The legal profession has made lying in court, perjury, a criminal offense. This is a rare instance of lawyers getting something right. We need something like this in society as a whole. I don't have the answer to how to do this on a large scale. We all have seen the effectiveness of government trying to legislate morality. It worked great with prohibition and is working equally well with gay rights, abortion, prostitution, and any other societal issue which is primarily a moral one.
It will have to happen first with each individual taking honesty and integrity seriously, passing this on to their children, and using their vote to demand accountability from their elected representatives. It will be the work of not years, but generations. God help us if we don't do this. We deserve whatever cesspool of a culture we end up with............