“Americans are tired of partisan politics” is not only an empty (and hypocritical, when spouted by political partisans) platitude but an ignorant one. From the early days of the Federalist/Anti-Federalist divide, partisanship has been an American institution. We would not be who we are without debates and disagreements over the size, scope, character and authority of government. As such, the idea that we should come together “for the good of the country” is facile. However, this partisanship of ideas is quite a bit different from partisanship as it is often decried today. A more accurate description of what Americans are really tired of is point-jockeying: the concerted effort by Team Red and Team Blue to see which side can appear better – and make the opposition appear worse – in the eyes of the electorate. This mindless competition is a testament to the triumph of political ambition over political principle, and nothing seems to encapsulate it better than the nontroversy.
The nontroversy (as in “non-controversy”) occurs when a statement or action that shouldn’t be particularly controversial is granted controversial status by either ignoring context and past precedent or presuming malicious intent for nakedly political purpose. To a certain extent, the nontroversy is a product of public officials facing intense exposure and media scrutiny. When you live under a microscope, your sins are amplified for all to see. With this comes a certain loss of proportionality.
However, blaming the nontroversy on the media (who are supposed to hold the powerful accountable, after all) ignores the inherently manipulative – and inherently political – nature of the phenomena. After all, a nontroversy would not be a nontroversy were it not for a talking head or political hack raising a big stink to help spur coverage. Unsurprisingly, those who decry a “biased” or “sensational” media are often among the first to try to use it to their advantage.
The ascendancy of the nontroversy can be traced to two factors: time and speed. We are, as of this writing, fewer than two months away from a presidential election. With the stakes high, the pressure for candidates to eke out an advantage is immense. But we are also living in an increasingly interconnected, fast-paced world. Audio and video can be recorded, often sans context, and shared with lots and lots of people in a matter of seconds. When this happens, it is no surprise that deep understanding never develops: there isn’t time for it.
To see the nontroversy in full bloom, one needn’t look further than a pair of statements made within the past year by the two leading presidential candidates. On July 13, President Obama gave his now-notorious “You didn’t build that” speech in which he expressed the view that social institutions, not individual effort, were responsible for one’s successes. This, predictably, generated a firestorm of criticism from Obama’s opponents, with most common charge being that it revealed Obama’s hatred of capitalism and individualism. And while the president’s remarks do smack of a certain amount of annoying contempt for the idea of self-sufficiency, they qualify as a nontroversy for several reasons. First, Obama did not say anything particularly surprising. A belief in and preference for public institutions is keeping with his views and those of his party. To treat this outburst as sudden blasphemy is disingenuous. Second, many of the condemnations were issued by those whose views differed little from those of the president. Substitute “God” or “family” for “a teacher” in Obama’s remarks, and you have the conservative (though not the libertarian) creed in a nutshell. And yet, despite the exaggerated and largely meritless controversy, “You didn’t build that” continues to linger in the public imagination as all that is wrong with Obamaism.
Another example of a nontroversy can be found in Mitt Romney’s September 17 comments that the “47 percent” of Americans that support Obama are “dependent upon government” and “believe they are victims” who deserve entitlements. Just as predictably, this drew loud criticisms from Romney’s opponents, who were quick to brand him heartless and attempt to tie his remarks to voter suppression. And while Romney’s words were both poorly chosen and inaccurate, this too is a classic nontroversy. Prior to seeking office, Romney established himself as a businessman. As such, his denunciation of those who do not generate income and depend on government assistance for survival is in keeping with his perspective and that of his compatriots. Further, contempt for people who don’t support you is hardly native to Romney. The very same people who have criticized him for expressing such sentiments would do well to remember another nontroversy: Obama’s denunciation of “bitter” small-town voters who “cling to guns or religion…as a way to explain their frustrations.”
Of course, in heaping scorn on the nontroversy, one should also be wary of the opposite: the tendency to downplay something controversial for partisan reasons. Because the political environment is so toxic, charges of “They do it to!” will often stick. But when this approach is employed to mitigate something as inherently noxious as calling for the internment of Muslim-Americans during the War on Terror (ala Michelle Malkin), it is every bit as pernicious as blowing something out of proportion. (In other words, the fact that a Democratic administration oversaw mass internment during wartime doesn’t make it OK for a Republican to suggest that we do likewise).
Being that any emanation from betwixt a public figure’s lips will attract attention and invite interpretation, it is likely that the nontroversy is here to stay, a permanent reminder that politicians and their surrogates view us as simpletons with political amnesia who will be swayed by their phony outrage. But just because a stink is raised doesn’t mean that we must open our nostrils to it and breathe it in. In the words of the immortal Chuck D, don’t believe the hype.
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