There was a moment in the presidential election of 2000 where, after a debate, we followed the CNN camera directly into the "Spin Room". Isn't "spin" a close relative of lie? Yes, but that relationship is the very reason why we can never bring the mendacious to justice. Is it a lie to say that Bush won the first debate? Ok, well if not, it must be a lie to say Gore won? No, that's not clear either. In the spin room that day, as the camera shifted from one high-ranking spinner to the next, the proximity of the clashing points of view was so extreme that I was left with a feeling of deep cynicism. I now believe that the truth is just an inconvenient interruption to the aggressive propagandizing that dominates public dialog.

Sorry that I can't shatter the confusion myself, I can only rant. But the existence of the spin room is an outright admission of American culture's inability to call a liar a liar. No matter how baldfaced, someone will insist he's telling the truth and democratically speaking, apparently that's enough.