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Why? First, the very notion of spin implies a kind of moral neutrality in which any issue is subject to a variety of interpretations, all of equal legitimacy. My spin is that two plus two is four; your spin is that two plus two is five. After this break, we'll be joined by a woman who says that two plus two is three. Second, like drug addiction it gets worse over time because we build up a tolerance. Artifice that seemed outrageous during the Carter Administration seems routine today--not because the Clinton folks are inherently less honest, but just because it's 20 years later. Third, the celebrity culture imposes its own moral neutrality: a famous liar is famous, which is what counts.
Journalists' shameful secret is that we love being spun. The networks vie for the privilege of having the next round of lies uttered on their particular Sunday talk show. It's called "advancing the story." Correspondents, only human, are flattered to be leaked upon by important people. Spinning gives journalists something to interpret. If politicos ever started saying it straight, reporters would have nothing to be knowing about.
Often these days, the spin is the story. This is especially true of an episode like Monicagate, in which the story's importance must be indicated by vast quantities of reportage even though most days almost nothing has actually happened. There have been big headlines in recent weeks about prospective spin, about alternative spins, even about rejected spin. The premise--that political actors may choose freely among different versions of reality--is so ingrained that it isn't even questioned.
The institutionalization of spin is one reason some journalists have qualms about government officials' passing through the revolving door into our profession. These qualms are too hoity-toity. Journalism should be a game anyone is allowed to play. But when folks show up claiming to be reformed spinners, they ought to confess their own past spins before they start denouncing others'. Let the person without spin cast the first stone.