Mike,

You are NOT a lunatic.  I believe that it takes years to build one's credibility and only seconds to lose it.

It's always puzzled me why someone would present information that's false in the interview process.  Aside from the obvious ethical reasons for telling the truth...there's also the pragmatic reason.  If you land the job and have "oversold" yourself, it will become clear in short order that you aren't who you said you are.  So everyone loses-- your employer doesn't get what they expected and most importantly, you've lost your credibility.

Seems like a bad deal all the way around.