"Wagging the Puppy" -- and Unleashing the Deadly Dogs of War
Norman Solomon


Midway through this month, the Karl Rove scandal was dominating the national news -- until the sudden announcement of a Supreme Court nominee interrupted the accelerating momentum of the Rove story. Since then, some anti-Bush groups and progressive pundits have complained that the White House manipulated the media agenda. But when it comes to deploying weapons of mass distraction, the worst is yet to come.

Changing the subject is, of course, a key aspect of political damage control. Media spin is often most effective when it displaces one storyline with another.