>I'm sure these are all commonplaces for you, but I
>guess what I want to ask is how it is possible to lie
>so badly and get away with it, particularly when it's
>the liar who exposes his own fraud!
“It’s not enough to be able to lie with a straight face; anybody with enough gall to raise on a busted flush can do that. The first way to lie artistically is to tell the truth-—but not all of it. The second way involves telling the truth, too, but is harder: Tell the exact truth and maybe all of it, but tell it so unconvincingly that your listener is sure you are lying.”
Robert Heinlein, _Time Enough for Love_