Wag The Dog, Part II

When attention is purposely diverted from something of greater importance ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ February 19, 2024  |  [View Online](  |  [Sign Up]( Wag The Dog, Part II Wag the dog. Phrase. “An instance when attention is purposely being diverted from something of greater importance to something of lesser importance. “ – An internet description Dear Reader, Poor Alexey Navalny. A quick look at the outline of important dates during his life reveals his inevitable fate at the hands of the brutal dictator Vladimir Putin. At least there’s a silver lining. With the Russian martyr’s death, the Biden administration could move on from “cowardice and complacency” – defending the president’s mental acuity – and regain the moral high ground in the debate over sending aid to Ukraine in its existential war with the same brutal dictator. “Ukraine needs our support,” Vice President Kamala Harris said with customary litigious authority while being interviewed outside the main hall at a security conference in Munich, “and we must give it.” A legion of Senators, media personalities, journalists, and more than a few of my neighbors memorized the talking points and ran with them. Senator Amy Klobuchar led the way on Sunday morning’s Meet the Press. “As someone who ran against Joe Biden,” Klobuchar asserted, “he’s up for the job.” She prattled for a bit about a recent flight she’d taken from Washington to Wisconsin with the president before turning to support for Ukraine. Too bad Klobuchar may be repeating the party line just to hear her own voice and catch a glimpse of herself on the boob tube. The business model followed by many legacy media outlets is falling apart. From media tracker Deadline, by way of John Robino on Substack: In the 25-54 demo, Fox News averaged 219,000, down 8%, compared to CNN with 124,000, down 14%, and MSNBC with 106,000, off by 3%. In the total-day demo, Fox News averaged 1.25 million, down 7%, compared to MSNBC with 761,000, up 8%, and CNN with 463,000, down 12%. In the total-day demo, Fox News averaged 149,000, down 14%, compared to CNN with 86,000, down 20% and MSNBC with 77,000, down 1%. “I’m not 100% sure what these numbers refer to,” Robino admits, “but they’re obviously pathetic in a country of 350 million people. Compare the above to the views on X of some recent Tucker Carlson interviews: Milei interview 428 million views Trump interview: 265 million views Putin interview: 139 million views (so far) Viktor Orbán Interview: 130 million views Andrew Tate interview: 111 million views Ramaswamy interview: 45 million views Alex Jones interview: 24 million views Catturd interview: 18 million views “This power shift,” Robino concludes, “is an apocalypse for the typical mainstream media ‘reporter’, who now tends to be Ivy League educated and culturally allied with the political and financial ruling class. “The days of ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable’ are long gone.” Those days are likely to recede further in the rearview as the election year 2024 rolls on. Back in October, you may recall, we forecast that consumers will likely tap out in 2024 as consumer debt versus savings had already reached a record-breaking gap in late 2023. We forecast that China would bust (even more) and that inflation in the US would be just as much a factor of the “end of cheap” stuff we’ve come to expect from global trade. And that domestic politics would get even more aggressive, unpredictable and violent. For good measure, we forecast that random violence and retail theft would increase throughout the year. People don’t behave very well when the economy isn’t providing for them as they want. Government statistics and legacy media reports on employment, inflation, and the overall health of the economy barely match voters’ experience. Our forecast was admittedly grim. But darned if we weren’t one-upped by a friend of ours. One of the most-viewed Wiggin Sessions guests over the past year was Martin Armstrong. You might remember when we talked to him about a coffee-table collector’s book he released called The Plot to Seize Russia – an analysis of Western elites’ efforts to steal resources in what Halford Mackinder called “the world’s heartland,” including land lying beneath the disputed territory in Ukraine. It was an intriguing conversation. Yesterday, Armstrong was back at it again. He released his 2024 Outlook, which he optimistically entitled The Year From Political Hell. In the report, Armstrong forecasts political turmoil, civilian unrest, war and a big economic downturn in 2024… and not just in the United States. “This is not just the United States election,” Martin told Greg Hunter during a USAWatchdog.com interview. That’s only “what you hear on the news locally..." Armstrong continues: Step outside this country, and, for example, Indonesia just voted in a leftist government. You have the EU going for elections. You have on May 2nd all the local elections in Britain. You have Russian elections on May 7th.  Sixty Percent of the world is going to the polls in 2024 to vote for a new government. You might as well throw them into a tumbler, shake well and see what comes out. Which likely means more “mass killing” and worse. Armstrong predicts:  There will be nuclear weapons. The neocons keep telling people on Capitol Hill that Russia would never use a nuke because they know we would use them back. That is nonsense!  If you are about ready to conquer somebody, and this is all they’ve got left, they are pushing the button… These people, all they want is war. They don’t care. They really do not care. They don’t care about the economy. They don’t care about anything.” Armstrong says the coming war will make the economy “crash in 2024” as people get scared, spend a lot less, and save a lot more. Armstrong warns: What we are looking at is a contraction in spending because of uncertainty. This is what these neocons are creating, and they don’t want to listen to anybody, and it is just their agenda, and they don’t care what happens to the country… We are looking for a contraction of 12% to 18%. GDP is not going to be rising, but you are going to find inflation still rising. Armstrong also says to be prepared for “a rebellion in government debt” as people lose faith in governments around the world.  “The rebellion in government issued debt will include US Treasuries,” Armstrong is forecasting. That means interest rates will continue to trend upward, as we saw in earnest in late 2023, not downward. If Armstrong’s right, the merry band of Fed watchers eagerly awaiting the next rate cut… and individual investors betting on the “Magnificent 7” tech stocks to keep adding to their capital gains… will all have their work cut out for them this year. It’s not likely you’d hear any of these forecasts from the mainstream. So it goes, Addison Wiggin, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. A month ago to this day, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker lamented during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the legacy media “no longer own the truth.” The question at hand in the panel, titled Defending Truth, was how far should governments and the media go to censor and regulate “disinformation.” Tucker warned the other panelists, also global legacy media muckety-mucks, to revise their zeitgeist. “We were the gatekeepers,” she said, “and we very much owned the facts as well.” But no longer. Indeed. And that’s exactly why we’re re-energizing The Grey Swan Fraternity. Look for explicit details tomorrow. The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to The Wiggn Sessions delivering daily email issues and advertisements. 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