I have reached the age where my New Year’s resolutions arrive pre-broken. I know which ones will fail, roughly when they will fail, and what excuses I will make afterward. I will not lose the weight, I will not get up early, I will not meditate in the morning, I will not file columns on time. And I will not — this I know with particular certainty — stop telling small white lies to get out of social obligations I don’t want to keep. A person with real integrity would resolve to stop doing that in 2026. I am not that person.

I am, however, a person with a skill. That skill is inventing plausible excuses at short notice. So instead of resolving to stop lying — a resolution destined for the same quiet failure as all the others — I’m resolving to lie better. To put some elbow into it. To invest a few actual brain cycles in coming up with untruths that are believable, memorable, and internally consistent. Look, if I’m going to remain a liar in 2026 —........

© Washington Examiner