Ben Pershing: Perhaps because there is an actual videotape of the planes hitting the World Trade Center that billions of people around the world have seen, while there is no videotape of Obama being born in Hawaii or Vince Foster committing suicide. Also, for what this is worth, there is no bill in Congress declaring 9/11 to have been a giant conspiracy. But there is a bill in the House calling for presidential candidates to provide proof of citizenship. And there was a congressional investigation of Foster's death.
I find it truly astonishing that, in an era where this country is beset by so many pressing and serious problems, a significant number of individuals seem to feel that issue #1 is...wait for it...the President's birth certificate. Even worse is that so many in the Mainstream Media are not only willing to condone this silliness...they're actually fanning the flames. I can understand Right-wing media mouthpieces shilling for anything that they think might cast doubt on President Obama's legitimacy, but are we really witnessing the death of objective journalism? Like I need to answer that....
Memo to Ben Pershing: you're supposed to be a reporter; how about doing your job and doing some actual investigating? Perhaps if you could have been bothered to get off your ass, you might have learned that the State of Hawaii has made it clear that Barack Obama was born there. Hey, at least he was born on US soil. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone...yet we heard no one seriously opining on his eligibility to be President. Sadly, it's hard not to focus on the racial aspect of this controversy. Would the President's birth certificate even be anything resembling an issue if Barack Obama was Caucasian? When you look at the people who are trying to make the President's birthplace into a "legitimate issue," it's not hard to come to the conclusion that race is right at the top of their hit parade. "Birthers" tend to be overwhelmingly White and extremely Conservative. Racist? I'll leave it to you to draw your own conclusions, but from where I sit, the answer to that question seems blindingly obvious.
Clearly, this is not a reality-based issue. When nonsense rules, how can we reasonably hope or expect that our elected representative will address, much less resolve, the serious problems we face today?
How far have we sunk when enough lies, racism, and propaganda create the need for a statement like this:
"I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawai'i State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawai'i State Department of Health verifying Barrack Hussein Obama was born in Hawai'i and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago...."
Even the House of Representatives voted unanimously (378-0) in favor of a resolution recognizing Hawaii's 50th anniversary. The resolution included language stating that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. So...you'd think that would be sufficient...right?? Birthers never let a little thing like the truth get in the way of their anger and prejudice.
This seems a clear-cut case of a crackpot idea being seized upon by people who normally would be considered lucid, intelligent, and perhaps even reasonable. In doing so, most birthers seem to have willingly forfeited anything resembling a grip on reality. When senior Republicans like Roy Blount can opine that President Obama's citizenship is a legitimately open question...well, you'd have to think that the clue train has long since left the station, no?
Somewhere warm and beautiful, Josef Goebbels is snickering into his margarita.....
