"Was a politician," Cal corrects firmly. This is an important distinction. "And I'm not a bad liar. I'm just out of practice." And the people he lied to be before either didn't give a shit or were far less perceptive than your average Milliways patron.

And being out of practice is kind of a side effect of making a conscious effort to stop lying all the time. So that second objection isn't as strong as it might be.