The Ultimate Distraction – Man Landing On The Moon!

Consider the movie Wag the Dog, a 1997 black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson starring Dustin Hoofman and Robert DiNero.  The screenplay concerns a media expert and spin doctor along with a Hollywood producer who fabricate a war to distract voters from a presidential sex scandal.

It doesn't always have to be a war but military action seems to work. (ask Bill Clinton)  But if it's political cover you're looking for, how about a first of it's kind world wide event as cover?  It happened 50 years ago today.

On this date in 1969, 50 years ago, as the world watched breathlessly for the first lunar landing, a car driven by Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard, killing his passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne.  

It was big big news and a potential career wrecker for Kennedy. He basically got away murder in the eyes of many but it did end his chances for the presidency.  Still, it could have been worse for him if there wasn't this little distraction going on at the same time - man's first foot on the moon 50 years ago this week.