Top Prize For Political Spin

This note is taken from the wonderful newsletter "On Target" written by Martin Spring. This interesting and informative letter is free to Martin's worldwide circle of friends and can include you as well if you write to Martin at afrodyn@gmail.com and request to be put on his list. There is no charge and no advertising. 
This month Martin included the following note and I include it here to act as a reminder of what passes for truth in modern politics.

Embarrassing ancestry: Judy Rudd, when researching her family tree, discovered she had an ancestor in common with Kevin Rudd, who was until a few weeks ago Australia’s prime minister. His great-great-uncle, Remus Rudd, was jailed for two years, then hanged in 1889, for horse stealing and train robbery.

When she asked the politician for information about their common ancestor, his staff wrote back saying that Remus Rudd was “famous” in the late 1800s for building a business empire that included “acquisition of valuable equestrian assets” and “intimate dealings with the Melbourne-Geelong Railroad.”

After spending several years in “government service,” he resumed his “dealings with the railroad,” later becoming “a key player” in a police investigation.

“In 1889 Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honour, when the platform upon which he was standing, collapsed.”

That account gets my top prize for political spin.  (Taken from Martin Spring's On Target.)