I prided myself in avoiding the whole discussion of birth certificates. But with the news that President Obama, has requested that his long form birth certificate be released, I decided that I needed to say something. And not that he will read it, but I will address my comment to the President.
President Obama, for those people who are most dedicated to the idea of "birtherism," NOTHING that you do will ever be seen as legitimate. Jesus could tell the world that you were born in Hawaii, and they would consider Jesus to have been paid off, or even worse, a liberal.
I can understand why Obama would do this, really. But like those folks who are now questioning how he got into Columbia and Harvard (because for that lot, no black person can actually be qualified to get in to a school that isn't an HBCU on his/her own merit), it doesn't matter what Obama does, says or is; he is to be reviled, detested and removed.
As much as I did not like the policies of President Bush, it never dawned on me to think that he wasn't an American, nor was I one of those folks who considered Bush illegitimate following the SCOTUS ruling in 2000. Not since Chester Arthur's nomination to be James Garfield's running mate have we had this level of hullabaloo around a President's birth (and there, apparently, are real questions about whether Arthur was born in Vermont or Canada, which for the geographically challenged, shares a border with Vermont).
The vast majority of Americans know that President Obama was born in Hawaii, including the 30% of Republicans who have legitimate policy beefs with Obama. Releasing that birth certificate was not necessary, and a waste of President Obama's time.
3 comments:
Yes and no. For the most part I agree with you but I think that those who posed the question could have planted a seed of doubt in countless others, and by the President posting the birth certificate that could have cut the doubt-mongers off at the pass.
Aren't Democrats often criticized for not fighting back and for failing to provide effective messages and sound bytes?
Also, to be fair, didn't a lot of people think Bush was able to get into Yale due to family connections? I realize that's a very different critique than questioning Obama's education, but... as you often do with your blog... you got me thinking! :)
I certainly can see your point. But it just seems silly to me. There are several issues that Obama's opponents could use to question Obama's decisions, but to suggest he isn't American is beyond that.
Regarding Bush, I found an old article from the NY Times (May 22, 2001) citing Bush's comment at Yale's commencement: "And to the C students, I say, you, too, can be president of the United States." I raise this point regarding the new push to question Obama's academic qualifications. With that in mind, I find it interesting that a "C" student from Yale (and I don't think that Bush would have made that comment, if there wasn't some veracity to it), got into Harvard Business School. Clearly, he finished, but that does suggest something beyond grades and board scores got him in.
But releasing it in the manner he did gave him the opportunity to point out what a waste of time it was, and frankly, to make the birthers look ridiculous. Now that he's said what he did, any candidate or politician who raises it can be rightly accused of not addressing the REAL issues.
I'm glad he used words like "amusement" - showing that he doesn't take it seriously - and called the whole thing a sideshow and the birthers (Trump in particular) carnival barkers. Good imagery.
Post a Comment