The Flying Karamazov Brothers juggling troupe performs intricate feats of throwing and catching, often with objects not designed to be thrown or caught. As a result, there are two or three awkward moments in each performance when the object of the juggle goes sailing past its intended target and crash-lands. At such moments, one of the Brothers Karamazov leaps to the front of the stage, points to a spot high above the back of the crowd and shouts, “Look, a monkey!”

Who would have picked Karl Rove for a juggling fan? I’m not sure if Mr. Rove can keep three oranges moving, but he’s certainly learned the “Look, a monkey!” trick. Last week, George Bush was forced to announce the suspension of his 21-month-old tariff on imported steel. The same day, Mr. Bush also announced his intention to send Americans back to the moon. “Look, a monkey!” and all the idiots on tee vee bumped the tariff piece from the top of the news to tell America that the president is mooning us. Who wants to report a boring trade story that embarrasses the White House, when you can have a shot at “The Right Stuff”? The moon story, having fulfilled its distractive purpose, disappeared after one news cycle.

In case you missed the tariff story, here’s what happened: in early 2002, Mr. Bush imposed a tariff on imported steel, to make American steel more competitive and save jobs and win votes in the swing states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Steel-producing countries from Europe to Asia complained to the World Trade Organization and after almost two years of pondering, the WTO decided the American steel tariff was an unfair barrier to trade. The decision surprised no one and the European Union was ready to pounce. It declared that if the U.S. did not abandon the steel tariff immediately, the EU would impose tariffs of its own. The targets were carefully selected to catch Mr. Rove’s attention. Orange juice, because juice oranges are grown in Florida, a state Mr. Bush needs to carry next year. Table oranges, from Democratic California, were left alone. Textiles, produced in the Republican Carolinas, were also targeted. The EU knows political factors outweigh all other considerations at the Bush White House; counter-tariffs were calculated to inflict maximum political damage.

Mr. Bush surrendered, as all bullies surrender when challenged, and ignominiously dropped his steel tariff. It will cost him votes in the swing steel states, but protecting juice oranges and textiles protects his base and the Rove Doctrine says one must always pander to the base.

A week before the tariff debacle, it was not “Look, a monkey!,” but “Look, a turkey!” Mr. Bush’s surprise Thanksgiving visit to the troops in Iraq was partially inspired to draw attention away from Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who were visiting troops in Afghanistan and Iraq over the holiday. For good measure, the Republicans called Mrs. Clinton unpatriotic for sharing her opinion of Mr. Bush’s war strategy with soldiers. “Look, a traitor!”

The other side of this coin are announcements like the one made the night before Thanksgiving, that the Bush administration is relaxing the regulations that protect Americans from mercury poisoning. As Christmas and New Year’s Eves are fast upon us, we can expect more stealth announcements of giveaways to Bush campaign contributors.

Wagging the dog is nothing new in American politics. People accused Bill Clinton of waging war in Kosovo to distract the public from his Monica Lewinsky impeachment proceedings, although, in retrospect, most will admit military action was required to restrain Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, if not exactly on Mr. Clinton’s timetable, then shortly thereafter.

Great monkey moments of my generation include Nixon’s trip to China in the face of Watergate revelations and Ronald Reagan’s 1983 invasion of the island of Grenada less than a week after more than 200 Marines were killed by a suicide bomber in Beirut. They even made a Clint Eastwood movie about that “war,” the only war movie that was longer than the war it depicted.

Elevenscore and seven years ago, this nation was founded on the principle that citizens rule and government exists to serve the people. See how far we have fallen, when public relations replaces civic debate and we have been degraded from citizens to consumers, to be sold presidents and wars as if they were cars or boxes of soap.