John McCain, lizard king: The tongue is the tell

Like the rest of us, presidential candidates are entitled to their weird tics.  However, John McCain’s periodic lingual spasms during the debate last week might rank among the strangest — and, in poker terms, most telling — in the age of electronic media. Casual observers might have assumed McCain had perhaps gobbled a mound of peanut butter before his confrontation with Obama; others might have assumed that the North Vietnamese extracted the former pilot’s salivary glands four decades ago, forcing him to bring a personal lip-moistener with him wherever he goes. Except to presidential debates, where space-age technology might be acceptable, but glistening 72-year-old man lips are … um … icky.

Other theories, of course, might suffice. Here, for example, is Sean Quinn from the indispensable FiveThirtyEight, quoting the work of a former FBI agent who has apparently joined the Can’t Make this Stuff Up club by writing a book about poker based on his work as an interrogator:

Tongue-jutting behavior is a gesture used by people who think they have gotten away with something or are “caught” doing something. I have seen this behavior in flea markets both in the United States and in Russia, among street vendors in Lower Manhattan, at poker tables in Las Vegas, and in business meetings. In each case, the person made the gesture – tongue between the teeth without touching the lips – at the conclusion of some sort of a deal or as a final nonverbal statement. This behavior has several meanings – depending on specific situations – but is usually associated with one of these: I got caught (taking candy from a drawer), gleeful excitement (look at what I just did, Mom), I got away with something (and I didn’t get caught), I did something foolish, or I am naughty.

Behold the moderately disturbing compilation video: