What can the film "Wag the Dog" tell us about techniques of propoganda

In the film we viewed last week, Wag the Dog, we learned various techniques of propaganda and how easily they can be used and very convincingly.  


The first use of this technique, came from the beginning of the story.  When Robert DeNiro is hired to get the President of the United States out of a jam with a possible molestation charge of a young girl, DeNiro attempts to create and facilitate lies to redirect the American public from the story at hand, thus creating a fictitious war with the small, little known country of Albania.  When things don't go as planned, DeNiro, with the assistance of a famous Movie Producer, played by Dustin Hoffmann, redirects the focus once again, ascertaining additional stories of propaganda,  as they formulate yet another fictional character, an American War hero who served in the fictitious war.   


As the 'Stories" are created and used to redirect the focus of the general public, you begin to wonder if anything in our own lives is actually true.  As more and more elements are created to deceive all of us, you really have to think about how propaganda may be used in our own everyday lives, and we don't even know it.  This movie is too factual with how easy propaganda is used, that it puts everyone on edge.