Yes, how the players "spin" their actions matters to some, but many of us understand that having to spin things at all
Jaden, you are one of the very best posters on our forum, and I'm not disagreeing with your suggestion that the political aftermath of these flip-flops in decision making could have been and should have been handled differently.
You, quite clearly, have high principles and I admire that, but as esteemed AZB poster Lou Figueroa (who has professional experience in media training) has so often pointed out, pool players lack the media training they need to effectively deal with their public and something needs to be done about it if pool's best interests are to be served. I hope and believe that pool's recent growth will soon make this possible.
As you suggest, the ugly politics of pool have placed pro players in a compromising situation, and some have handled it better than others.