Political ‘smoke’ doesn’t always mean there’s fire

I groan whenever I see the old “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” saying used metaphorically to apply to human situations ( “Clinton or Trump? A terrible decision to have to make,” Letters to the Editor, Sept. 29).

That saying was to keep people alert for actual fires and doesn’t get into the possible reasons for the “smoke,” which could include arson. The Obama birthers emitted plenty of “smoke” over the past eight or so years without there being any “fire” at all.

This story was originally published October 19, 2016 at 10:27 PM with the headline "Political ‘smoke’ doesn’t always mean there’s fire."