This "birther" stuff is nothing more than common racism, a rank ptomaine in the bowels of the Nation.
It's not just about the President, either. A cabinet official here in Maine had to resign this week after suggesting that higher education "went downhill" after African Americans were allowed equal access to colleges and universities and that Native Americans "wait on the reservation" waiting for government handouts. The Governor accepted his resignation but said nothing further. This is the Governor, Paul LePage, who told the NAACP to "kiss my butt".
Karl Rove blames the President for the "birther" stuff, of course. Rove spends too much time with Grover Norquist, apparently--these guys are always projecting their tactics on to Democrats. They cannot possibly believe that Democrats don't use the kinds of dirty pool tactics they use. Sometimes, frankly, I wish Democrats would play dirty...
I've got these two nephews that I adore. They are of mixed race (Anglo-AA) and are getting old enough to start figuring out what is happening in the world. The eldest even resembles the President, something which he has figured out. He's also figured out that he's proud about the fact that the President of the United States looks more like him than his own father does.
It is worrying that my two little nephews and Godsons are going to become aware of politics in an age which finds bald-face racism to be in bad taste while providing any number of venues in which dog-whistle racism is not only allowed to flourish, but is even celebrated. Donald Trump comes to mind immediately.
This "birther" thing, and the fact that the President of the United States felt compelled to even give it the time of day in a press conference, is nothing more than racism, full stop. The fact that a man who is part African American sits in the oval office is intolerable to a large number of Americans, a larger number than you might think. Look at Donald Trump: he has more money than God, he's got a cheesy television program, why should he care about race? Well, he does. Clearly. If I were a bigot, boy, I'd give it up and quick for the kind of money Trump has. But, money cannot buy good taste, or good manners for that matter. It certainly doesn't keep people from hating others.
I don't know what is happening in this country. I simply don't understand it. It is like we're on some bizarre carnival ride that won't stop. Things like Social Security and Medicare, things that have been part of our social contract with one another for generations are now under attack. The President, a centrist, is a "socialist" and "possibly foreign", and first responders from 9/11 might themselves be terrorists.
What, in heaven's holy name, has gotten into us? I guess it's complicated, but all I can say is: the racism has to stop.
Thoughts?