269. The art of the lie

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I posted previously on Trump’s staggering amount of lies during his presidency. The same could be said about Boris Johnson’s whole career, from his Brussels correspondent times, the halcyon days of straight bananas, short coffins and such outlandish flights of fancy, eagerly printed by his employers with complete disregard for truth. These are careers built on lies, subterfuge and cons, without political penalty. Electorates, at least a sufficient percentage of them, choose to believe them. This is because these characters have mastered the art of lying, consisting, from my observation, of two main elements. First, complete sincerity. The consummate liar convinces himself of the truth of his lie, in true Raspe’s Baron Munchausen fashion. Armed with that conviction, they lead others on (the preposition is critical here, lead on, not lead). Secondly, the lies must be outrageous and outrageously uttered, so that audiences believe nobody would make up such a thing, which must make it true

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Location: Hereford, UK

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