Writes Paul Krugman, so sound when not talking about economics:
An administration hypes the threat posed by a foreign power. It talks of links to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism; it warns about a nuclear weapons program. The news media play along, and the country is swept up in war fever. The war drives everything else — including scandals involving administration officials — from the public’s consciousness.
The 1997 movie “Wag the Dog” had quite a plot.
