"Birth" of a Problem

Now, it's not a recent occurrence, this "birther" bullshit. You know, the group of conservatives who feel that Barack Obama was born overseas and is not a U.S. citizen and thus cannot and should not serve as President. It had died down a little, but now, with the appearance of a new "Kenyan" birth certificate, it has heated up...although the certificate has a few "errors", like the fact that the city the hospital is in isn't part of Kenya until years later, or that the country it is from doesn't exist in that name also until years later.

However, the factual problems aside, there is a more concerning aspect of this whole birther movement. Let's break it on down:

Ideology, Ideology, Ideology

According to a poll conducted by Research 2000 study done for the website Daily Kos, only 42 percent of Republicans polled believe that President Obama was born in the United States. 30 percent of those polled said they weren't sure, and 28 percent said they didn't believe he was born in the United States. A combined 58 percent either don't believe or aren't sure if he was born in the United States! In comparison, 93 percent of Democrats polled and 83 percent of Independents believe that President Obama was born in the United States.

Even with the overwhelming evidence of President Obama's birth in Hawaii, the fact that a bare plurality of Republican respondents believe that he is a natural-born US citizen should be and is concerning. However, when you look at the results by region, it just gets worse.

Location, Location, Location

I'ma take y'all on down to the South, wherein we'll catch ourselves a glance at these heeyah poll results. Even taking Democrats and independents into count, only 47 percent of respondents from the South believed that President Obama is a natural-born US citizen. Conversely, when you look at the results from respondents in the Northeast and Midwest, the people who believed he was born in the US was over 90 percent.

I'm not racist, but...

This is, quite frankly, fucking scary and deadly serious. The birther movement has exposed an ugly fact about America: There is still racism and intense bigotry and hatred in our country. Now, you may ask what racism has to do with this. I can almost hear what you're saying:

"Now, the Republicans may be using this as a political ploy. They obviously don't agree with him. But racism, Sean? Where is this coming from?"

Let me explain. During the election, this claim was raised. However, many people seem to forget that Senator John McCain (R-Bedrock) was also accused of not being born in the United States, due to the fact that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. (The Wikipedia article on the PCZ has an explanation of citizenship issues that's pretty good). Those claims and calls for McCain to drop out or show his certificate dropped very fast.

However, Obama is constantly being plagued. If Obama was named Barry O'Bannon and was as pale as Fred Armisen or Amy Poehler, would we be having these issues? Let me answer: NO.

It's a concerted effort to undermine and demean the first black President of the United States. It's racially motivated, and an ugly reminder of not just how far we've come, but how far we still have to go.

And the problem with the rhetoric is that it's getting more acrimonious. The man that shot up the church of liberals, the man who killed Dr. Tiller, the man who shot up the Holocaust Museum...they all believed in this, and other fringe theories. It won't be long before something much worse occurs. Should something happen to Obama or his family...well, the United States will see rioting and violence and chaos surpassing Watts and Dr. King's death. I hate to sound so dire, but the Republican Party, and America, is fast coming to a moment of reckoning.

Let us hope that day comes without event.