What is the difference between Wag the dog, false flag and red herring?

[Baitball Blogger]

Wag the dog came up during the Clinton administration. The Republicans accused him of creating a false alarm in order to take our attention away from the right-wing witch hunt. In that context, it sounds like wag the dog and red herring are the same thing.


False flag seems to be another take on the strategy. False flag sounds like an artificially created catalyst that will give the government the power to control the media and stifle dissent, through fear.

Did I miss something?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. "Wag the dog" and "false flag" are similar

A "red herring" is a logical fallacy or debating technique.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. It comes up in detective stories.

Essentially, a false clue.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. False flag refers to agents provocateurs, that is, fake enemies impersonating the real ones.

It's similar to planting "evidence", but now you're faking actions, and letting someone else take the blame.

A red herring is any distraction which leads you "off the trail". Originally it involved an actual red herring, whose strong odor could derail bloodhounds following a scent (according to old folklore, anyway).

"Wag the dog", of course comes from "the tail wagging the dog", in that you are letting little events dictate big events -- such as going to war over trivial reasons, which may even be exaggerated or falsified.