:: meanders ::

:: Media Intervention and Spin
By now everyone has seen the toppling of the Stalineque Saddam statue. Testament to the power of that image was evident yesterday, where it received loads of chatter at internet chat sites. In fact, it made the rounds of market chat sites so quickly on the heels of the event that it was one of the few times I suspected media-intervention on the event. One fellow felt the event was a Madison Avenue PR event, ostensibly staged by the US Marines present near the site. I don't agree with that view. What I mean by "media intervention" is the following. The version I heard from a reputedly "in" market source was that "dealers" (ie, trading desks) were selling the negative conotation of the American flag draped on the statue. The flag was placed there by an exhuberant marine but it was then replaced w/an Iraqi flag, which was also removed before the statue was toppled with the help of a tank winch. What better way to quash a late-comers war-rally party than to spin the obviously positive statue event as market negative. Kill two birds with one stone: take advantage of the fact that the war-trade had run its course once the regime fled Baghdad and throw mud at the fact that it was done is short order. I dont' "buy" the sell-the-flag story and the overly convenient liberal symbolism. The same image is getting a second wind today, this time with a more favorable spin. Parents of the marine who put the flag on the statue are appearing on MSNBC.