My SPIN on "spin"

Truth has always been under attack, but now has been elevated to a new art form that is both “recognized” and “idolized” by the media. Now it is called “spin”, and those journalists that previously exposed outright lies, now marvel instead at the ability of leaders to “spin” what has been said. That which is patently false is transformed into something that is acceptable.

We have forgotten that in stressful moments, we often “slip up” and say what we really think, not unlike the guilty person confessing their crime under the skilled cross-examination of Ben Matlock or Perry Mason. And now with our technology, the statement can be replayed immediately in audio or video format. It’s hard to deny “what we said”, so we hire people skilled in the art of SPIN to deny “what we meant.”

Of course, like Arthur Fonzarelli (the Fonz from “Happy Days”), our leaders would never stoop to say, “I was wrong”, so they have to say, “You were wrong in what you heard.”

SPIN is an attempt to deceive the hearers. An attempt to deceive the hearers is a lie. Therefore, SPIN is a lie, pure and simple.

As we used to say in geometry, Quod erat demonstrandum. No, we didn’t actually say it. We used the initials Q.E.D. Case closed – we have proven our point.