What Happens When Life Imitates Art?

Somewhere, in the depths of the White House’s secret hallways, behind locked doors and the stone-faced Secret Service, someone with a sense of detachment and humor has surely posed the question: “Where is Robert De Niro when we need him?”

The rest of us, meantime, are left to wait and ponder the amusing possibilities: Could war with Albania be imminent, or would that be just a tad too obvious? If so, what country have we deemed the “bad guy” - and more importantly, who is directing the picture, and when can we expect the CD?

For those who have seen Barry Levinson’s “Wag the Dog,” the recent sex scandal developments embroiling the Clinton White House may be too eerie to handle. We all know that art imitates life, but what statement about society (not to mention stunted originality) are we making when life imitates art?

Distributed nationwide on Jan. 9, “Wag the Dog” tells the story of how De Niro and White House spin doctors manufacture a war to distract attention from the president’s sexual activity with an underage girl.

With the help of producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman), De Niro manufactures a war with Albania, deflecting attention away from the girl and saving the presidency.

The movie was well-received, and political experts like Dick Morris - Clinton’s former adviser and no stranger to sexual temptation himself - argued that the film’s plot was not that far from the creative “spin-doctoring” possible in Washington these days.

Three weeks after “Wag the Dog” hit America’s theaters, film and real life seem to have come full circle.

“This seems to be one case when film has beaten the real world to the punch,” said Linda Williams, a professor of film and rhetoric at UC-Berkeley.

With President Clinton on the defensive about tapes that allegedly connect him to a sexual relationship three years ago with Monica Lewinsky, a then 21-year-old White House intern, inquiring minds want to know how the White House plans on diverting our collective attention.

Because of Levinson’s film, a full-frontal assault on Poland would surely be met with a good deal of skepticism.

“My most megalomaniacal fantasy is that somebody in the White House is saying ‘Oh my God, they just deprived us of that option!”’ David Mamet said Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival. Mamet co-wrote “Wag the Dog” with Hilary Henkin, based on the book “American Hero.” “I think he (Clinton) seems to be a guy in a jam and I feel for him. I hope that things work out in such a way that not only common sense but justice will take their course.”

Justice certainly didn’t take its course in “Wag the Dog,” where the president made out like a king. Just how Clinton fares in this case remains to be seen, but the world is watching.

“Politics are increasingly becoming a spectator sport, especially when people don’t feel anything is really at stake in changing their lives,” said Northwestern University sociologist Bernard Beck. “When it comes to the sexual drive of the president, I think people are more amused than angered.”