The Red Herring

Many people in politics love to divert attention from the real issue by throwing out a red herring argument. I just watched a clip of Elton John at a Hillary Clinton fundraiser. He took a breather from singing to extol his view of Senator Clinton's virtues as a prospective president.

All of this is well and good. I'm all for free speech. Individual freedom is one of my big bugaboos. Sir John is certainly welcome to support whom he wants and advocate for his choice to his heart's content. Here's where the problem lies: Elton John then begins to excoriate America at large, laying out his belief that misogyny is behind the lukewarm poll numbers for his treasured candidate.

Time to burst the bubble on Sir John's (and other people's) la-la land. Hillary Clinton is only marginally to the right of Karl Marx (and I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here). Add to that she runs a dirty tricks machine that makes Nixon look like the most off-key contestant on amateur night. I do not agree with her policies in any way and I find her methods contemptible. Therefore, I am not going to vote for her and would oppose her with every means. The fact that she sits down to pee is irrelevant.

Now, if in the future a female ( or black or latino, etc.) candidate runs on conservative principles and I oppose them, Sir John may trot out the charge of bigotry. Until then, it's just a load of malarky. Or, the more polite version - it's a red herring.