1. a term reflecting the frequent tendency of government officials to suddenly disappear from public view when the spotlight of criticism shines on them, typically for a period of 1-2 days or until someone else's boneheaded antics capture the headlines

2. An instinctive and defensive reaction of an elected official to avoid a "whack-a-mole" reaction by their constituents

1. A term reflecting the excessive amount of spin, misdirection, butt-covering, and massaged statistics that come from our elected officials. Recognized by the fact that a spinmeister must "clarify" what a politician meant whenever he sticks his foot deep into his mouth.