SPIN DOCTORS
They influence chiefs of States, they handle information and disinformation, they shape the public opinion, they are SPIN DOCTORS.
Alistair Campbell, Peter Mendelson, Karl Rove ... you may have never heard these names, you probably have never seen their faces ... that's normal, for it is their job to act in the dark, and do the dirty job in politics unnoticed..
Yet these men not only carry out Presidents' orders : they also have a mighty power of their own.
1. WHAT IS A SPIN DOCTOR ?
"Spin doctor" is a typically Anglo-Saxon expression to name the Rasputins of democracy, they are "special advisors", expert in opinion "spinning", election shapers, and consensus makers.
2. EXAMPLES
Bush and Karl Rove : the Wilson case
÷ Joseph Wilson, ex-ambassador, accused the Bush administration of having manipulated information to exaggerate the Iraqi threat and he thus became the "bête noire" of Washington .
Wilson leaving Princeton, 10/19/15 (LOC)
Wilson at Princeton (LOC)
English: President George W. Bush applauds former ...÷ Then, at the beginning of October, a so-called leak(fuite) revealed to the press that the wife of Wilson was a CIA agent. Giving away this piece of information , and thus endangering this agent's life, is , according to American laws, a crime.
÷ George Bush showed out that he was furious, but for experts, there is no doubt this "leak" was organised by Karl Rove, the President's spin doctor. Indeed, Wilson's wife must now hide ...and after that, anyone in possession of serious elements to criticize the Bush policy concerning Iraq will surely keep his mouth shut.... Which is actually not so annoying for Bush Jr.
÷ But no risk is signature could be publicly revealed, because this man is a professional and leaves no hints. Besides, the minister of justice himself, John Ashcroft, did call for Rove to do some jobs forhim in the past.