It’s not so much the facts as how you spin ‘em, after all.
There was an old Soviet-era joke about the then-”official” propaganda newspaper, Pravda, or “Truth.” It goes like this:
The Soviet and USA track teams competed in a dual meet. The USA team beats the USSR track team. The next day in Pravda, the headline reads:
GLORIOUS SOVIET ATHLETES COME IN SECOND; CAPITALIST IMPERIALIST AMERICANS COME IN NEXT TO LAST.
And why does this seem important?
Check this out from today:
- Frank Newport / Gallup: Mitt Romney’s Wealth Costs Him With One in Five Voters
And, underneath it, this Soviet era Pravda-style headline:
- Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite: Poll: 75% Of Voters Indifferent To Romney’s Wealth
Containing THIS hilarious spin (Meenal was caught racially spinning a couple days ago in this blog, BTW):
Much has been made of Mitt Romney‘s wealth and “out of touch” image during his election cycle. So how much is it actually affecting voters? According to a new Gallup poll, one in five independent voters said they are less likely to vote for Romney as a result of his wealth, leaving the majority — 76 percent of independents, 75 percent overall — who said it makes no difference…
So, is the glass 25% empty, or 75% full? Well, if you’re Pravda, the answer is clear. The Soviets came in SECOND! Hooray! (That’s not to say that Gallup doesn’t put their OWN suspiciously Time/Warner/Corporate spin on the numbers. They do. But Gallup is easy to filter since they became part of the CNN “news” family.)
If you will check the entire rest of the page, you will note that the Romney campaign has adopted a parallel tack. Once more Mitt has engaged in prima facie felonious behavior. Wonder if this will last longer than 24 hours?
Mediaite’s “truthiness”
USSR Pravda = “Truth.”
USA Mitt Campaign = “Truth.”
At least Pravda‘s cleaned up its act in the interim.
Courage.
UPDATE: Two more of the “usual suspects” have jumped on the same talking point. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear they were all taking the same marching orders from the same source. Nothing Soviet about THAT.
UPDATE 1:05 PM PDT: Make that THREE of the usual suspects “independently” coming up with that same ol’ spin.
