No. 41 of 108
July 24, 2025
Trump (the president) accuses Obama (a former president) of treason.
The cascade of othering keeps all of us focused on The Red Herring: “it is the other guy’s fault.” It is worth visiting the origin of the red herring. In the 1800s, a writer pointed out that a popular but false story was acting as misleading bait in the same way red herrings – the smelly smoked fish of the day – are used to throw hounds off from chasing rabbits. It is important to take this literally rather than metaphorically. Thrown off the scent of rabbits, the hounds go after the foxes. But first…they eat the herring. More thoughts on this in future posts. Look for the heading: “Other Herring.”