dead cat

1. something said or done to divert attention from unpleasant news,
2. There is a story, popular among British politicians and attributed to the Australian strategist Lynton Crosby, known as "The Dead Cat." A CEO is confronted with poor statistics at a board meeting, and to divert attention from this unpleasant news, he suddenly pulls out a dead cat and throws it onto the middle of the table. ( Kate Maltby, 'Hamilton' is Trump's dead cat' , CNN, November 22, 2016)

"Let us suppose you are losing an argument. The facts are overwhelmingly against you, and the more people focus on the reality the worse it is for you and your case. Your best bet in these circumstances is to perform a manoeuvre that a great campaigner describes as 'throwing a dead cat on the table, mate' There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the table ― and I don’t mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant. The key point is that everyone will shout, “Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!” In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat ― the thing you want them to talk about ― and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.’" (Boris Johnson, 'This Cap on Bankers’ Bonuses is Like a Dead Cat – Pure Distraction', The Telegraph, March 3, 2013

"Trump apparently has an endless supply of dead cats, seemingly able to conjure them from insignificant news stories and throw them on the boardroom table by way of an angry tweetstorm. The media loves this because they know that people eat it up, whether they’re Trump supporters who share his “rage” or critics who are repeatedly appalled by his antics." (Jesse Jackman, 'Trump’s ‘Dead Cats’ Have Hijacked The Mainstream Media' ,Huffington Post, November 30, 2016)

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fly in the buttermilk

A single dark skinned person surrounded by a group of light skinned people. Possibly, but not necessarily a token black. A racial variation of fly in the ointment.

Jackson: This is my school picture from the early days of desegregation.
Williams: You look like a fly in the buttermilk.

Aaron did not realize that he had only been hired to make the company seem as if it promoted racial diversity. He became discouraged on the first day of work at the firm when he realized that he was the fly in the buttermilk.

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