Birthers, buffoonery and a sad discourse

Birthers, buffoonery and a sad discourse
The Washington Post ^ | April 29 | Kathleen Parker

Posted on Sunday, May 01, 2011 12:45:04 PM by Tex-Con-Man

If you really, really dislike Barack Obama, his long-form birth certificate, finally proffered in exasperation, is quite simply a counterfeit.

If you are a fan of the president — or even a respectful critic — you are relieved finally to have rid the country of the plague of “birtherism,” the rabid belief that Obama wasn’t born in this country and isn’t constitutionally qualified to be president.


To whichever group one claims membership, one can’t help wondering when exactly we lost our minds.
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Yes, obviously. Trump resurrected the birther cause and breathed new life into it. But it wasn’t only to end the debate that Obama sent for his certificate. According to the vineyard, it was also to prevent other Republican candidates from looking sane by comparison to Trump.
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In a saner time, Trump would be dismissed as the carnival barker Obama implied he is. People would have recognized Trump as a self-aggrandizing megalomaniac and put a period at the end of the sentence. Not remotely would his name be followed with this phrase: “who is leading other Republican candidates in polls.”
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Alas, there is no reasoning with the unreasonable, too many of whom these days seem to self-identify as Republicans or conservatives.

This is as Democrats would have it, needless to say, but no one is served by our national descent into silliness. Sadly missing on the Republican side is the leveling voice of the grown-up who will say not only that he takes Obama’s word (and the clear evidence), but that the Republican Party won’t tolerate further discussion. Case closed.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...