Early on, David Mamet established himself as a gifted playwright and screenwriter. Genuine artists are not herd animals, esthetically, intellectually or politically. For example, Mamet’s screenplay for the 1997 film, “Wag the Dog,” finessed — by in large — the politically correct cliches, which, since the Vietnam War, have turned Hollywood into an ideologically petrified forest of Left-wing premise.

A war film of sorts, “Wag the Dog” satirically mocked lying leaders and sensationalist media. The plot featured a U.S. president mired in a sex scandal. To distract the public, the prez’s Hollywood pals fake a war.