The political strategy of throwing a dead cat on the table: a quick primer.

The term was first coined by Australian political campaign strategist, Lynton Crosby, and I quote:

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 grief".

Time Magazine's Dead Cat of the Year is Islam (2001 -)