Causecast

by JONATHAN HARRIS, Managing Editor

By now, you’ve all probably seen the footage of President Obama nimbly swatting a fly with his hand during a CNBC interview.

It was a funny, unexpected moment that seemed quite apt considering America’s desire for a badass, no-holds-barred president.

Of course, the media jumped on the story (because, ya know, nothing else is going on in the world) and looked for some way to expand the story from a 31-second YouTube video into an actual political controversy.

Watch this CNN report on the story and wait for the quote from Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA.

Seeing this quote from Newkirk, the blogosphere’s immediate reaction, rightfully so, was of shock and eye-rolling.

“Surely PETA isn’t so extreme that they would condemn each individual act of insect sacrifice!”

TMZ jumped on the story, prompting a response from our good friends at Ecorazzi.

I should mention that I certainly do not agree with PETA on everything and I have questioned their tactics in the past. This issue, however, is not an issue at all. Below is a segment from a recent PETA blog post, in response to the faux-troversy:

“As we all know, human beings often don’t think before they act. We don’t condemn President Obama for acting on instinct. When the media began contacting us in droves for a statement, we obliged, simply by saying that the president isn’t the Buddha and shouldn’t be expected to do everything right—if not for that, we would not have brought it up. It’s the media who are making a big deal about the fly swat—not PETA. However, we took the opportunity, when asked, to point out that we do offer lots of ways in which to control insects of all kinds without harming them. There is even a chapter in PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk’s book, Making Kind Choices, about how to rid your home of “uninvited guests.”

That’s all. No stark condemnation, no incendiary outrage. Ecorazzi has posted an update with the latest info, though TMZ has not.

Not a huge deal, but it’s important to see how the media’s desire to create controversy can often take away from the real story.

Just wanted to set the record straight.