In the article, the author references the popular play Our American Cousin, which Abraham Lincoln was watching six years earlier when he was assassinated by actor John Wilkes Booth.
In the play, Lord Dundreary is a sympathetic character who constantly utters confused catch phrases known at that time as Dundrearyisms (similar to modern day Yogi-isms of Yogi Berra): Calling to mind Lord Dundreary's conundrum, the Baltimore American thinks that for the Cincinnati Convention to control the Democratic party would be the tail wagging the dog.
In it, a plan is hatched to secure President George H. W. Bush's reelection by having Hollywood produce a fake war to improve his popular approval.
In the film, a sitting US president becomes embroiled in scandal weeks before he is up for re-election, and a spin doctor comes up with the scheme of hiring a Hollywood producer to fabricate military action to save his campaign.
[4] During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, President Clinton ordered missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan shortly after the story broke, drawing comparisons with the film and popularizing usage of the phrase.