- noun
2. something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue
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This term gets used a lot in both politics and financial discussions. Creating something that is simply not true just to divert one's attention from what's important seems to be a good way of simply saying, "I really don't want this to happen"
Case in point. Barack Obama. While 52% of the registered voters that actually voted picked him to be our next president, there was a good amount of people that didn't. At least 40%. And while the Maverick and his Alaskan running mate went back to their respective states, Mr. Obama went to Washington.
Ok. Said and done, he's now our Commander-in-Chief, put aside your differences and let's start moving forward together.
Nope.
These arbitrators of herrings that are red in color decide that there's got to be a way to kick this guy out of office. They tried to keep him out during the election, calling into question the validity of his US citizenship. More on that in a bit.
So during Tuesday's inauguration proceedings, there's a part that takes place at exactly 12 noon. It's the Oath of Office. And it's pretty specific. Certain words have to be said and in a certain order. This is the leader of the free world we are talking about here.
So President-Elect Obama is standing at the podium with Chief Justice Roberts, who is there to conduct the big important business of swearing in a new president. It's a couple of minutes past 12 noon. It's cold out. And I'm sure there's a lot of nerves in jumbles. This is a big moment and a big deal.
Roberts starts out, Obama starts to repeat after him and jumps ahead. Roberts gets distracted and there's a few words that are not repeated in the proper order.
Not a problem. They correct themselves, get back on track and finish the Oath proceedings. It's now official, we have a new president.
But wait.
That's right. The lovers of all herrings red speak out.
"He's not really president... they didn't stay it right."
"It was said a few minutes past 12 noon. It's not official."
"The words were not spoken in the correct order.... Obama needs to step down"
Wha? Huh? Are you serious?
Last year, around mid-August, the red herring detractors came out of the woodwork. They were questioning Obama's citizenship credentials. In summary, they were doing their best to invalidate his qualifications for being president due to his birth certificate being a fake.
They spent endless amounts of time, energy, blog posts, Google searches and Photoshop editing making sure that they were right. It was their goal to make sure Barack Obama was not going to "go against the Constitution" and to never take office, let alone even get a chance to be on the ballot on November 4th.
"It's a fake, the lettering is not right."
"He never lived in Hawaii"
"His father wasn't a naturalized citizen"
"His mother left the country after he was born"
And there were many other detailed and outlandish reasons why Obama shouldn't be eligible to be president. Some even went as far as to suggest that this was one of the greatest conspiracies to happen to the United States.
Yep, 46 years in the making, before Barack Hussein Obama was born, there were some that plotted this out, carefully making alterations to his birth certificate. Secretly throwing out valid documents. Changing the laws so that every person with a red herring mission couldn't order a copy of the birth certificate. Making sure that one day, in 2008, Barack could become a candidate for president, and making history.
Give me a fucking break.
Let's get this straight, people.
There was no conspiracy.
There are no faked birth certificates, except for the hundreds stored on the blogs and hard drives of red herring mongers.
Regardless of the location of his parents after his birth, Barack Obama's eligibility for the office of president met each and every requirement.
Enough, people.
Read this link if you are still clinging onto this utter and complete bullshit:
Just Stop
And so it continues today with "Flubbergate". Which, by the way, was properly repeated on the first day in office. Crisis avoided.
But don't worry. There will be further red herrings drummed up in order to find a way to remove President Obama from office. Which is simply another way of distracting from the real goal, and that is unity. Removing divides and walls and coming together for the common good of everyone. Putting aside partisan politics and trying to solve current problems instead of creating new ones.
So please, I beg of you. Stop with these red herrings. Get over your selfish nature and put aside whatever it is that bothers you that there's no Ultra Conservative Right-Wing President in office. We have someone who has the chance - and wants the chance - to make this country a better place to live. Let him at least try to make good on his campaign promises for the next 48 months before you start finding ways to run him out of town.
Thank you. The world is watching.
