Walking It Back: Deceive, Deflect, Delay--A Primer

So this is how it's done: walking it back.

When something wow-wee happens, you put it out there as stone fact. No frills, no perspective. It happened. So there.

You haven't told the whole story yet. Not close to it. That would take waiting a few days, and in that time, the pesky press would have the story and beat you to it. Rule 1 of news control: Get the basic story out there first. Don't be the ones to have to explain it. Let someone else do that.

Then, when the public has had a chance to absorb the shock of it, you gauge the shock. If the shock appears to last, then begin to explain.

If the explanation seems strong, so be it: People will likely accept it. But you still have the press to deal with, and their fact-finding is coming. Thus:

Step 1 of the Suleimani assassination: He was a bad guy. We killed him.

Step 2: He had bad plans for us. He was about to hatch them ("imminent").

Step 3: Let others ask how imminent they were. You say, "real, real imminent. We can't tell you how much because other things might be revealed. Secret stuff, you know."

And everyone goes, 'Sure. Makes sense. Cloak and dagger. Well, we got him anyhow.'

But then the rascals of the press reveal that you've had him marked for death since last August. That brings us to Step 4: Say it really doesn't matter how imminent it was. See Step One: He was a bad guy. He always was.

Nobody has specifically connected the what with the when. Why did 45 choose to go after him now? Because he wasn't actually in Iran so an invasion of their space couldn't be broached? Like, he hadn't been a at any other time?

Ridiculous. He did it to swerve attention away from the results of his other, numerous, incredible lies about Ukraine, for which he's been impeached and is now standing a show trial at which justice doesn't have a smudge of being served.

This is Iraq Revisited. Remember those awful Weapons of Mass Destruction? The threat of them? All that had to happen was the threat. That's all it should have taken. Anyone questioning it was called unpatriotic, as Cheney kept doing. The press dutifully reported it. No one knew the real truth, because it's far more difficult to prove that something isn't there because you can't prove what's in empty space because it's, well, empty. So the accusations remain, the press becomes mousey, and nobody gets to the bottom of it all.

Which is to say: There never were WMDs. In his speech to the nation announcing the start of the war (the night the bombing began), Bush-43 didn't mention the WMDs once. He just said Saddam Hussein was a bad guy.

Reason enough, I guess. And he was a bad guy. He tried to kill 43's dad. Since the UN had already tried to find the WMDs and had come up empty, there was nothing left.

It was time for Step 4, then: It didn't really matter whether there actually were WMDs or not. And for Corollary 1: If there are unsubstantiated rumors that support your non-factual claims but get you to where you're going, by all means don't quash them. Thus: Saddam had something to do with 9-11. We have no proof to give you, but he's a bad guy so it might be true.

So, too, with casualties. Report right away that the Iranian missile counterattack resulted in zero American casualties, as the Pentagon did. Report it after a reasonable wait, after which the average person wouldn't start asking if that hadn't been a bit premature. Lies are far more effective if told with excellent timing; that takes away vital questions. Maybe people will forget about it.

Turns out eleven Americans were hurt. Turns out they have concussions, at least. "Several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast(s) and are still being assessed," said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesperson for the U.S. Central Command, in a statement yesterday.

Still being assessed: That means they could be hurt worse than just a concussion. A concussion is a brain injury. Some are as simple as that and with aspirin and a couple of days rest, they'll be fine, and let's hope so. But some are not.

"When deemed fit for duty, the service members are expected to return to Iraq," Urban continued. Well, yes. If they're all right, they're all right. Whenever. If. Maybe. But to suggest that they'll be right back where they were suggests that all will be well. You can look away now. Nothing to see here.

"All personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury and if deemed appropriate are transported to a higher level of care," he said. Well, duh. If they're hurt worse, they get more treatment. That's there to suggest a just-in-case-we-have-to-tell-you-something-worse. It may also be there because things are worse, they know they're worse, and it's now up to the Wait Machine to release that information, which may or may not get speeded up depending upon the awful, terrible press that might be asking someone else very relevant questions.

Are there lies inside that statement? No. Is there complete truth? Uh-uh.

With the military, it's a bit different. If something worse has happened, the Pentagon has 24 hours to find the next of kin and report it. That's sacrosanct. And if it knows, the press will back away until next of kin are notified. It's accepted practice.

But the original lie stands: No one injured. And here they've walked it back. Uh, we found some injured people now. We misspoke. We don't know how bad, but we think it's just concussions.

Eleven people, and they all have just concussions? Well, maybe worse. But let's not think about that right now.

And time passes. And other things happen, usually outrageous, and cause us to look away. And the emotionality of the potential loss fades. And we don't think it's so bad that 45 lied to us again.

Deceive, deflect, delay: repeat. It's how you walk things back. Whatever big-time news you hear from 45's people from now on, count on these three steps. They can do it in their sleep now. And they know that, as long as questions aren't asked by loyalists, they can count on their sleepwalking through it.

Be well. Be careful. I'll see you down the road.


Mister Mark