You will know when the strategy has backfired when you are being attacked for lying but those who were spreading the lies to which you were attempting to respond are not. Differential power is your enemy here. Parody and satire offer some legal protection, but the temptation to use their techniques back against them is high, if, perhaps, ultimately unwise.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."