"Birthers" of a Nation

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

President Barack Obama turned 48 Tuesday. Normally, the occasion calls for birthday greetings from family, friends and colleagues. Cards, cake, ice cream and presents are are also in order.

According to a small but vocal group called the "Birthers", however, the President may not be who he says he is. He might not be 48 years old. He may have been born in Kenya instead of Hawaii. Thus, he might not be qualified to be President. And they believe they have the evidence to back it up, brushing aside actual proof of residence.

"Birthers" are not much different from those who believe Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the only one who shot JFK, that the events of September 11, 2001 were an inside job, or that Elvis Presley is alive and planning his Grand Comeback. The MSM usually dismisses them as folks who need professional help. (Which reminds us . . . Jesse Ventura has a new TV show coming soon that focuses on conspiracy theories. Just thought you'd like to know.)

The "birthers" best-known spokesperson (besides just about anyone on Fox News) is Lou Dobbs, who has been embarrassing CNN with his nightly harangues on the topic. We've seen his act before. He apparently believes the country would be a lot better off without those damn foreigners screwing things up. Without counting himself, of course.

But there's something disturbing going on here, and it has nothing to do with dredging up old documents. It has everything to do with the color of Barack Obama's skin. You see, the "birthers" don't seem to want a black man as President of the United States. Especially one whose name suggests he might be Muslim and a puppet for Osama bin Laden.

Would these people stand in the way of Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger (Austrian) and Jennifer Granholm (Canadian) if they should ever want to make a run for the White House? Of course not. They'd be so eager to help Congress put together a Constitutional amendment to make it happen. Did we mention that Schwarzenegger and Granholm are white?

Unfortunately for the "Birthers", they can't change the election results. Voters decided that Obama was American enough to be their President, and all the "Birthers" can do is to whine about it. Maybe they need a new hobby, such as presenting a challenger for 2012 who can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he or she is a God-fearing American. We wish them well.