Like mosquitoes in a swampy summer heat, the birthers will not go away. You gotta read this update by World Net Daily.
People can judge for themselves whether the birther movement is a wing-nut group whose chief propagandist is WND and read into it that the drive is based on resentment that Barack Obama is our first black president and cast aspersions that he is constitutionally unqualified.
That would be unfair and inaccurate, if Democratic Obama supporters and progressives actually accept that premise as gospel.
The constitution stipulates the president must be a natural born citizen and age 35. It is left to Congress to make the presidential candidates prove it. They did in 1971. Turned the task over to the political party bosses, which in retrospect, was not the brightest idea in the room.
The problem I have with the birthers — constitutional purists — is they are resistant, skeptical, paranoid and in denial of almost every birth documentation record they cast eyes upon.
I mean, in some instances based on the WND article of proposed and adopted state laws, nothing short of a virtual eye witness account by mother, father, doctor, nurse, family witnesses, video tape, long form, short form written and certified and notarized affidavits will suffice.
One of the cop outs as a defensive argument the birthers make is their advocates challenged John McCain’s qualifications in court cases because he was born of Navy parents at a Navy base in Panama. They accepted those rulings hook, line and sinker.
Which makes me ask: Where the hell were these constitutional purists challenging the earlier 43 U.S. presidents of their birth rights when all the men were white Protestants, one Catholic, and all had gray hair when they left office?
The birther movement has taken a new approach, recently, by cheering and egging on legislation, led by Arizona, in enough states that Obama would not qualify to run in as many as 10 states in 2012 and by Electoral standards would be denied the presidency.
Right. That is the political equivalent of believing in the tooth fairy.
I grudgingly give the birthers an A+ for one thing which I suspect they want: Delegate a federal agency to define what proof necessary for the presidency and take it out of the political party machinery. But, their track records tells me that too would be insufficient.
As for me, I accept the Hawaii birth records that our president was born in Honolulu. It is like accepting the sun arises from the East every day without questioning why. Do it enough times and forget about it.
In reading the WND article, I was amazed at the energy, zeal, time, money and commitment to a specific cause.
Imagine as I do that momentum transferred to improving our public education system or promoting research and development of economically viable clean energy. These aren’t progressive causes but national security goals.
Perhaps, even educating half of Congress who flunked questions pertaining to the constitution.
Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.