Spin and Lies

[Stinky The Clown]

How do you see these two terms?

We always hear that there's 'spin' out there.

We never hear that there are 'lies' out there.

The two words have different meanings. Eschewing the dictionary for a moment, spin is the slanting of a story to fit with one's world view. It almost always involves truth, and is a matter of emphasis and follow up as much as it is talking about facts.

For example: Joe Dokes said 'X'. That would be a fact.

To say "When Joe Dokes said 'X', he meant 'X+A+B+C'." is spin.

Lies are statements that are not true.

Using the above from and about Mr. Dokes, to say "Joe Dokes said 'Y'." when, in fact, he said 'X' is a lie. Every statement or explanation following that premise would also be a lie.

Why do I mention this?

Because 'spin' is a warm, fuzzy term. No one is upset by it. 'Everybody does it'.

Lies are lies. To call a statement a lie is harsh.

Let's start to use the terms correctly.

Many on the left 'spin' things. We do it right here every day. Righties spin, too. There's no reason at all to hide from that.

But I don't honestly recall much in the way of lies coming from the left.

The right, on the other hand, has made an industry and art form of lies.

Spin and Lies.

Know your terminology.

[uppityperson]

1. here is my take on these terms

Lies:
Wrong facts
partial omission leading to inaccurate conclusion
overly state truth to make it look like you are lying
Harsher term since it can be outright wrong facts

Spin: decieve by omission, over stating, etc
Softer term since (supposedly) not outright wrong facts

[welshTerrier2]

2. facts are often used to lie ...

when facts are presented, it's important not to evaluate their truthfulness in a vacuum ... what must be measured is the intent of the presenter ... are they painted a truthful picture by presenting certain facts or, even if the individual facts are "true", have they been provided to essentially lie (or spin) ...

for example, we recently had some economic news released that the income of the average American has risen ... well, in isolation, the "fact" is absolutely true ... but that "truth" is quickly annihilated with the simple anecdote: "yeah, Bill Gates walks into a bar and the "average income" of everyone in the bar rises" ...

when the focus is properly placed on the deception of using "economic averages", the person presenting the fact that average income has risen is not presenting a true picture ...

there was some famous testimony that emerged from the Chicago 7 (or 8 if you prefer) Conspiracy Trial ... Norman Mailer was testifying and the judge became imppatient with his extensive commentary and analysis ... the judge told Mailer to "stick to the facts" ... Mailer responded: "facts are nothing without their nuance, sir!"

facts are little things; ideas and concepts and meaning are big things ...