"Birthers"

We have some relatives who are real “tea-baggers”, and most irritating, they are “birthers.” Their motto is “My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with facts.” It’s probably just as well. From my observations, I think these people would be totally confused with any fact.

They do seem to follow the formula set out by Orwell in Animal Farm. Give the “sheep” something simple they can repeat over and over.

The truly amazing argument put forward by the “birthers” is that on the day President Obama was born, his parents, along with some unknown political activists, lobbyists and influence peddlers, got together and decided that he would become President in 2008, and thus it was necessary to forge a birth certificate. They claim he was actually born in Kenya, Thailand, Timbuktu, SE Australia, Madrid or New Delhi—someplace other than Hawaii. By their reasoning, it was all a grand conspiracy. They do love a conspiracy. That way they can blame lot of people for something they don’t want to believe.

Their other big argument is that the hospital in Hawaii issued a “Certificate of Live Birth” rather than a Birth Certificate. The “birthers” claim this ‘proves’ he wasn’t born in Hawaii and everything is a forgery. Maybe President Obama wasn’t born at all, but is actually an extra terrestrial from Mars or Jupiter.

One of my daughters was born in the Navy Hospital at the Naval Air Station, Memphis, TN. They issued a “Certificate of Live Birth,” which is very common in many states. But by the logic of the “birthers” this proves she is not a US citizen. HAH! I would like to see them try to tell her that bit of nonsense!

A simple Google search will turn up many sites that can debunk these lies. A good one is www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa

Of course the “birthers” would never bother to look at the mountains of proof already available that shows they are totally wrong. They can’t be bothered. Besides, any facts would only confuse them, and they are easily confused. After all, when you listen to Lush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck Sarah Palin or the other “reporters” on Fox News all day, you soon arrive at the point where you can’t recognize a lie if it jumps up and bites you.