The Week in Nontroversies

Controversy is an expected part of life in the public sphere, because any life that well-scrutinized is going to show some flaws. It’s even more of a usual occurrence in politics because people are actively looking for weaknesses to exploit. Some politicians make it too easy though, with infidelities or illegal business dealings. Unfortunately, controversy paints with a wide brush, and while a politician may be guilty of an infraction in just one small area of their life, all of their decisions and abilities are called into question by it. With Bill Clinton, a personal abuse of position in regard to marital infidelity and sexual malfeasance in the office was used by his enemies to undermine his legislative efforts across the board.

When political enemies don’t have a leg to stand on, though, they have to dig for nontroversies - controversies stemming from non-issues, distortions, and matters of almost no actual importance. Last week, after a few journalists complained about the President’s teleprompters blocking their camera angles and after a very slight mix-up in the order of speeches at an event, and suddenly Barack Obama’s use of a teleprompter became a major issue. This is a doubly effective tactic of distraction because it goes after one of Barack Obama’s greatest strengths; his strengths as a writer, speaker, and as politician who’s able to control himself from making fatal blunders of speech by staying on message. But since the invention of the technology, every President has used it, as well as actors, journalists, executives, etc. And really, why not, when a teleprompter makes it easier to read prepared remarks and still see your audience without losing your place, unlink printed remarks or note cards. It also ensures that you won’t ramble off on a topic and that you’ll be sure to say everything you want to say. No one has any problem with a President writing a speech, and they’d have no problem with him then reciting it word-for-word, but suddenly through in a teleprompter and make it Barack Obama, and they assume a conspiracy wherein someone is pulling his strings and forcing him at gunpoint to read it. This is even harder to believe about Barack Obama who, unlike his most recent predecessor, is well-known for being actively involved in the formulation of his speeches.

Then Barack Obama went on The Tonight Show, which was certainly unusual, but given that George Bush made appearances on Dr. Phil, did not seem to be a sudden and drastic change in the Presidency. People tried to make a controversy out of this, as though if only he spent that 20 minutes in the oval office instead of on television, that he could turn our economy around once and for all. When that nontroversy failed to capture the public’s rancor, the smear merchants then hooked onto a poorly chosen but innocuous comment. Days later, headlines rang out with faux-outrage about the President disparaging the Special Olympics by comparing his paltry bowling score to that of a handicapped person. Even actual journalists quoted him as saying that his score was like “the special olympics or something.” However, those of us who actually watched AND listened to the interview saw that his comment about the Special Olympics came not immediately after telling us his bowling score, but after Jay Leno applauded sarcastically and gave feigned encouragement saying “that’s very good, Mr. President.” It was to this support, despite his performance, that Barack Obama was comparing the Special Olympics. He wasn’t saying that his bowling skills were those of a Special Olympian, but that Jay Leno was acting towards him the way spectators of the Special Olympics acted towards participant, with positive encouragement even when they are unsuccessful. Was it in bad taste? Yes, maybe a little. Was it offensive? No. Does it say anything bad about his character, his view of the handicapped, or his abilities as President? Most definitely not. So why are we wasting time on it?

Everyday there are new nontroversies to distract or to entertain, to enrage or obfuscate, while elsewhere the real problems and offenses are overlooked and underreported. By focusing on inane minutiae, we make it more difficult to solve real problems, which is of course precisely what some people want. Barack Obama’s political enemies see his popularity, and see that his plans have a chance of succeeding, two things which would spell disaster for their political futures. They could offer better alternatives, or support him in hopes of gaining that same popularity and public trust, but instead they choose to distract and make people forget the reason’s they like Barack Obama by giving them false controversies.