Writing of Russia's Putin for Bloomberg View, Leonid Bershidsky says the former KGB officer describes the economic and geopolitical world Russia inhabits as though it conformed to his wishes, rather than as it exists. In this behavior he resembles President Obama who likewise inhabits an seeming dreamworld.
People refer to this behavior as "spin" as though that label excused a blithe refusal to confront reality. It isn't and it doesn't.
Speaking selectively chosen truth is spin, avoiding uttering unpleasant truths is spin. Stating as fact what you know, or should know, to be false is not spin; that is either lying or self-delusion. Neither alternative is particularly attractive in public figures who control nuclear weapons, as both men do.
