This is what passes for political discourse in Washington these days. Someone in a position of authority, or at least celebrity, says something modestly interesting and someone on the other side — or sometimes even the same side — blows it up into something resembling a full-fledged contretemps. It’s politics by slip of the tongue.

This at a time when the issues confronting Washington could hardly be more consequential. Yet explaining the new financial regulation bill that passed last week or the new health care program slowly coming into effect is complicated compared to the media catnip of a good partisan spat…

“I’m always struck by the fact that there are life-and-death struggles, steel cage fights over things that have absolutely no impact on anyone,” said Chris Lehane, a Democratic political operative for President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. “People fight to the death over millimeters. And people outside D.C. look at them and say, ‘A pox on both your houses.’ ”

Yet as bad as it got during his time here, Mr. Lehane said the gotcha games seem to have reached a whole new level, thanks to the nonstop, Internet-driven, 24/7 news cycle. Small armies of operatives scour public statements, find a quote to exploit and put out an attack, and then when some blog or media outlet picks it up, put out another e-mail message quoting the story quoting the attack.