Unfortunately a number of gotcha moments only became controversial when the media, like blood-deprived leeches, clung to the nontroversy and spun it through its continuous loop of 24-hours news, which only contains an estimated 30 minutes of new news according to a recent Political Fallout study.

And what was the bottom feeder of the nontroversy list? How about Iowa’s First Lady getting caught violating the controversial smoking ban her husband signed into law? That story sent everyone’s outrage meter into the red before disapearing back into the abyss.

While the passage of the public smoking ban may have been controversial — given Gov. Culver other addiction: gambling revenues (Hmmm…I wonder if gaming lobbyists get the same discount on the Knappster’s condominiums?) – catching his mate, Mari Culver, smoking in a state-owned vehicle is by no means as controversial as the media and some Republican lawmakers made it out to be.