[tzaman]

I have an employee from the US (I'm otherwise from Europe) and while visiting through the conversation/personal stories he explained the most interesting part of relationship between US authorities and citizens: You're less likely to be "harassed" if you lie to them, because they can turn pretty much anything you say against you and dig so deep to finally find an excuse to bully you, or charge you with something.

That is quite a sad state for the society to be in, being always afraid of the authorities, rather than knowing their primary goal is to protect and serve.