>The most vile crime in the univese is the distortion of the truth.

More than tad over-the-top. If you can't come up with < pick a very high number > of crimes worse that distorting the truth you are not trying very hard.

>Bill was good at that. He lied and therefore can never be taken at his word again.

Indeed he was. But if we ignore the past when I was young and naive (say 45 years ago), the next politician that I take at his/her word for ANYTHING will be the first. This applies to all from Republican/Facist to Democrat/Communist.