When you see 'DEI debate' headlines this week, immediately check what concrete policy changes or legal actions happened in immigration, criminal justice, or election administration during the same 72-hour window.
This is a textbook distraction event: abstract debate about DEI framing receives disproportionate media attention while concrete governance actions (asylum rule changes, Jan 6 conviction erasures, ballot seizure demands) occur simultaneously. The mechanism is norm_erosion_only with no institutional lever, minimal civil rights impact (score 1/5 for potential chilling effects on equity programs), yielding A=2. High outrage-bait (4/5), extreme media friendliness (5/5), perfect mismatch between coverage volume and governance substance (5/5), and strong intentionality markers (12/15) produce B=77.