Tuesday August 23, 2005

Excellent Spin

It is almost amazing how good politicians are at spinning the new and speeches they give. In today's news, in reference to the Cindy Sheehan protests, President Bush is quoted as saying "I've met with a lot of families, she doesn't represent the view of a lot of families I have met with." But if you pay attention to the various public events or town halls that the does attend, they are almost exclusively filled with pro-Bush supporters.

In fact, during the 2004 campaign people wearing anti-Bush T-shirts were denied admission, thrown out, or arrested. In fairness, the Kerry camp was also not welcoming, but not nearly as heavy handed.

Another great example of spin is to tie two important but not necessarily related things together. From the speech to the VFW in Utah:
"We will finish the task that they gave their lives for. We will honor their sacrifice by staying on the offensive against the terrorists."
It is very difficult for anyone to put together a rational reason not to honor the soldiers that have lost their lives in the US armed forces. As much as you may disagree with the policy, the troops in the trenches are willingly putting their lives on the line without regard to that policy. That is admirable! But the false implication is that if you don't support the policy, you are not honoring the fallen. Their honor comes from what they have already done, not from what the future policy will be. It is completely logical to oppose staying in Iraq and to also honor the troops.

The point is that politicians, and political parties, are spinning things so heavily to support their positions that the logical flaws are now blatant. Personally, I believe leaving Iraq now will cause more harm than good, and that has nothing to do with the arguments for or against invading Iraq in the first place. You break it, you buy it.

( Aug 23 2005, 05:58:12 PM CDT ) Permalink Comments [1]