Thought #27
May 2009
Author: Bill Thurston
Exotic Issues
This Thought is not information about current events but, I believe, is a useful
tool that gives useful insight into some government communications.
What is an Exotic Issue?
First of all, an exotic issue always exists around a primary issue. An exotic
issue is intended to do one of three things:
Be in the forefront to draw attention away from the primary issue.
Hide behind the primary issue.
Provide a deception so the primary issue can remain undetected.
We all have used exotic issues so I will explain them with activities that have
happened in or around your household. In the first example the wife will present
the exotic issue and in the second and third example the husband will present
the exotic issue.
Example #1:
It's Saturday. The husband has just mowed the lawn and is enjoying a beverage
when his wife returns home from shopping. She asks her husband to go sit in the
living room because she has a surprise. You sit down and your wife brings in a
box. She opens the box to show a very large salad bowl. You already have 4 large
salad bowls but none of them are cut glass like the one in front of you. Your
wife states: "I have always wanted a cut glass salad bowl. I saw this one last
month and fell in love with it but it was too expensive. Today it was on sale
for 50% off and I had to buy it. Do you like it?"
OK, The primary issue is that your wife just bought a very expensive salad bowl
that she really didn't need but she fell in love with it and is happy to have
it.
The exotic issue is that today the bowl was on sale for 50% off and your wife
had to buy it to take advantage of the great savings.
This is an example of the exotic issue being in the forefront to draw attention
away from the primary issue. With this awareness, you will find many examples of
this in government communications.
Example #2:
You and your wife have agreed to buy a 68" plasma HD Television on Father's Day.
It's going to cost over $5,000 but both of you feel you deserve it. You go out
to get gas when you decide to stop by the store where you will buy the TV and
just take another look at it. As you are drooling over the TV you will soon own,
you notice the desk top universal remote control sitting on the table. You have
always wanted a universal control that does everything including lowering the
room lights and uses voice commands. You ask the sales person what he can do on
price if you buy the large TV. You find that you can get last year's controller
with the TV for $499. You tell the sales person to work up the quote for the TV
and include the remote controller. You explain that you and your wife will be in
to buy the TV and remote on 17 June so have the quote available when we arrive.
OK, the primary issue is that you and your wife are going to buy a new expensive
TV.
The exotic issue is that you have made a small add on to the purchase. You hope
your wife will see it as a small addition and not take issue.
This is an example of the exotic issue
hiding behind the primary issue. With this awareness, you will find many
examples of this in government communications.
Example #3:
It's your wife's birthday this Sunday and your will go shopping on Friday to buy
a necklace. She saw the necklace several months ago when both of you were window
shopping and she really liked it. So it's Friday night and your friend calls (as
planned) and asks you to help move some heavy machining equipment in his garage.
You ask your wife if you can help your friend and be back in 4 hours. You get
the OK and you are off to buy the necklace. You stop by your friends house and
quickly move the equipment in his garage before going to buy the necklace.
OK, the primary issue is getting out of the house to buy the birthday present
without letting your wife know what you are doing.
The exotic issue is that you created a feasible yet deceptive story to get out
of the house to complete your mission. It may be very difficult to know the
primary issue unless it is revealed in the future. With this awareness, you will
find many examples of this in government communications.
Final Thought
We get a lot of our information from the news media. The news media exists to
increase their ratings while presenting the news. The media loves exotic issues
because they are usually more interesting then the primary issues. The
government loves to use exotic issues because they work so well through the
media.
Next time you listen to the news, on every issue, ask yourself if this is an
exotic issue or a real issue. It is usually quite obvious. If you think it's an
exotic issue then there exists a primary issue close by. It's important and
usually easy to find the primary issue.
For clarity, I will attempt to give you examples of recent exotic issues that
were presented to us in the media. You may disagree with the examples and that's
OK. My goal is to clarify what I call exotic issues. By the way, if you feel
compelled to call "exotic issues" something else, please do so.
Exotic issues being in the forefront to draw attention away from the primary
issue.
Barack Obama recently ordered his Cabinet to find ways to slice spending by $100
million from his 2010 fiscal budget. "We also have a deficit _ a confidence gap
_ when it comes to the American people," he told reporters. "And we've got to
earn their trust." $100 million seems like a lot and you might feel good about
this action. To put it in perspective, it is like getting excited and telling
everyone that you just made a $1000 purchase and, through much negotiation, got
a 2 cent discount. I think this qualifies as an exotic issue.
Exotic Issues hiding behind the primary issue.
The best example of this is add-ons to proposed new laws that aren't relevant to
the primary issue of the law. These add-ons are called "ear marks". The strategy
is to focus on the primary issue and argue that the ear marks aren't important
enough to stop the passage of the bill. Congress has used this exotic issue from
the very beginning.
Exotic Issues providing a deception so the primary issue can remain undetected.
The ability to define these exotic issues when they are first reveled is very
difficult because the goal of the issue is to create deception. Here are some
examples that could be intended to deceive. Feel free to disagree:
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman".
"People
have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a
crook. I've earned everything I've got".
Maybe even "weapons of mass destruction".
Try not to let the media/government mislead you with exotic issues!
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