1 Boring Old Man

Can anyone do Spin? Sure. First, take anything that your opponent says. Careful picking isn’t required, but it does help. On a piece of paper, write down the most outlandish misinterpretation of what they said. Then think of other things they might have said in the past that seem to contradict what they just said. Finally, look for some worst case scenario that might result from any meaning of what they said [in this part, you’re allowed to use the misinterpretation and the counter example]. Publish that, then wait for the rebuttal. Repeat the process on the rebuttal. Publish that. Then, wait for the next rebuttal.

Actually, I’m not joking. I’m suggesting you try it. It’s pretty interesting how easy it is. While Obama was giving his speech on race, I had this formula on the side of my mind. To my utter amazement, he undercut each of these kinds of criticism in the text of his speech. I don’t know if that was by design, or if he’s a "natural," or if he just got lucky. After the speech, his critics had to drop back for a couple of days to other tried and true methods: "He’s a Liberal." "He didn’t renounce Wright." "He’s trying to be a race candidate." Such criticism is only effective on true believers or someone who didn’t hear the speech. But they were undaunted. By the next day, they grabbed "typical white person" comment like pit bulls. At last, something we can sink our teeth into! Fox and Friends ran it so far into the ground that their own commentators got disgusted with them, including Chris Wallace. But things move so fast these days! This amazing thing appeared in my spam filter today:

Fox et al were playing it for a racist comment – a Black man saying "All White People are afraid of All Black People on the streets [because they’re racists]". The distortions are obvious. "Typical" doesn’t mean "all." What Obama said is largely true. The example was of his devoted Grandmother, a major positive force in his life. et cetera, et cetera. But rebuttal is fraught with shoals. Making a rebuttal looks like some kind of cover-up. Kerry died on that vine, rebuttal after rebuttal. Notice that Bush and Cheney almost never rebutt anything. They let Dana take the hits and move on.