Stop Calling It a Fringe Movement - Most Republicans Don't Even Accept Obama as a Citizen

For months the major news media has been characterizing the "Birther Movement" as a harmless fringe element of the Republican Party. But a poll from last week indicated that the majority of Republicans (58%) either don't believe that Barack Obama is a citizen or aren't sure.

And even after a vote in the House of Representatives last month recognizing Hawaii as a State and acknowledging that it was in fact the birthplace of the 44th President, the wacky Birthers still aren't convinced. Thanks to Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), the ceremonial resolution (which was written long before the Birther Controversy really heated up) was brought to the floor for a vote. House Resolution 593 passed with a vote of 378-0. 220 Democrats and 158 Republicans voted in favor.

See the Roll Call Results

Read the Resolution

The U.S. Senate followed a few days later with a similar ceremonial vote, with Senate Resolution 225.

Yet the "Birthers" continue to press on. Why? Because as I mentioned before, it's really not about Birth Certificates or citizenship for those who are making these wacky claims. It's about prejudice and xenophobia....especially this sort of White rural xenophobia. This is all about race, and this non-issue provides these people with an excuse to spew their racism. That is why all the proof in the World wouldn't matter to these people because Citizenship and Birth Certificates really aren't the issue for them.

I wish the media would stop calling them "Birthers" and start calling them the racists and xenophobes that they really are.

I have never seen so much willful ignorance in my life.

________________

Related Post on Birthers

Right Wing Conservative Loonies and Their Conspiracy Theories

"Birther Movement" follower hijacks Town Hall Meeting held by Congressman Mike Castle (R-DE).


Chris Matthews takes on Birther Movement Congressman John Campbell


Is there anyone still not convinced that we are dealing with lunatics?

The "Birthers" can't seem to leave the Obama Birth Certificate Conspiracy Theory alone. In fact, thanks to Talk Radio and Faux News, the Birth Certificate nonsense has only grown over the last few months. Republican mouthpiece Jerome Corsi is now taking this propaganda to other Countries. He was recently in Israel for radio interviews...undermining President Obama, and painting a false picture of him for the people of Israel and for listeners throughout the Middle East. It's almost Treason.

To make matters worse, this nonsense has been given more legitimacy in recent weeks, with members of Congress getting behind the "Birthers" (and securing votes from the wacky conservatives who make up their political base back home). Republican Congressmen John Campbell and Bill Posey are pushing a Bill that would require Presidential candidates to provide proof of Citizenship (a step in the vetting process that already exists....so this is all BS political theater for Campbell and Posey. They are using this as a way to manipulate voters in their Conservative districts).

But what is this really all about? This isn't really about a birth certificate. Nor is it a genuine question of citizenship. These are excuses and distractions being used to hide the real issue. Those of us who are Black Americans know exactly what this is about. Let's just get to the real heart of the matter. President Obama's birth certificate is only an issue because he's Black (or biracial as some see him... including myself...but for the purpose of this discussion... we'll say he's Black)....and he has a Mideastern Middle name (and to some degree because his father was a Muslim). But race and American bigotry and xenophobia are really the heart of this issue.

If he happened to be a White man with a funny name....and especially if he were White and Republican, his birth certificate would not be much of a problem. The whole "Birther movement" is what America looks like when it wants to dodge the real issue.... in this case... the issue being dodged is race. I would rather have these gullible White Republican racists just come out and say what's really bothering them... what really scares them.

What this issue also highlights is the power of Right Wing Republican Talk Radio (where the so-called "Birther movement" got its start). Mainstream Republican talk show hosts helped to create and feed this beast.... and now the beast is threatening to consume those who created it. It's the same way that we ended up with Jim Adkisson, Scott Roeder, Hal Turner, and James Von Brunn....and it's the reason why Right Wing Republican media is so dangerous.

But I have to admit...I have gotten a chuckle or two in (you have to laugh to keep from crying). Watching these wackos as they are exposed...and embarrassed in the national media has been amusing. The youtube political vlog, The Young Turks, has been having a field day with this craziness, and so has CNN's Rick Sanchez.

But even when faced with reality...the loonies won't stop crawling out of the woodwork with this nonsense. The hits just keep on coming.