The Target Corporation has been in the news in recent weeks due to their recent political activities. I live in Minnesota, so I hear a bit more than most about the Target Corp because they’re headquartered in Minneapolis. Being headquartered here, Target is taking a more active role in state politics due to the recent Supreme Court ruling that allows public companies to support political groups the same way unions and non-profits have been able to do for almost 63 years. Several other companies are also taking advantage of the new campaign laws - Best Buy, Polaris, Pentair - just to name a few.

Being a business, Target did what any business could now do and donated funds to a pro-business group called Minnesota Forward. This particular group is focused on encouraging the creation of jobs and highlighting issues related to business owners in the State of Minnesota. Now in the grand spectrum of political parties available these days, the Minnesota Forward agenda aligns most closely with the Republican party. So with Minnesota Forward’s agenda aligned with the Republican party agenda, it should be no surprise that Minnesota Forward threw its support for the 2010 gubernatorial candidate to Republican candidate Rep Tom Emmer.

Rep Tom Emmer is a conservative Republican that is vying for a win in the 2010 gubernatorial race due to the impending departure of current Minnesota Governor Tim Palenty. As with any candidate, Rep Tom Emmer has stated his belief and support on a variety of topics that most would agree are typical Republican party line items - lower taxes, increase business employment, pro-life and anti-gay marriage. Great, that’s Rep Tom Emmer’s personal choice to believe and support those items.

Now because of these chain of events, some people are arguing that people should boycott Target because they oppose gay marriage.

Huh?

Let’s recap what’s happened so far:

A: Target donates $150,000 to Minnesota Forward.
B: Minnesota Forward is a pro-business political group.
C: Minnesota Forward endorses its support to Rep Tom Emmer for the Republican candidacy in the 2010 gubernatorial race.
D: Rep Tom Emmer opposes the support of gay marriage.

Therefore, in the logic proposed by the boycott advocates, A to B to C to D means A equals D. Really? The arguement is because Target supported a pro-business political group that they are also opposed to gay marriage. Really? If that’s the case, then Greenpeace must support the killing of endangered species.

A: Greenpeace uses boats and cars as part of their efforts.
B: Those cars and boats use gas and diesel to operate.
C: Gas and diesel come from oil.
D: The gulf oil spill killed endangered species.

A equals D, therefore Greenpeace must want to kill endangered species.

Next stop, school supply run to the big red bullseye.