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Only Republicans seem to understand the RULE OF LAW and dumbocrats swallow BO’s lies. We need one of our OWN KIND in the WHITE house! Republicans will crush the dems in 2010 when the lies of BO the kenyan are revealed! — Anonymous

The above quote, in inflammatory and uninformed tones,  sums up the partisan divide represented in America.  Sarah Palin said this in 2008:

“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.”

While not intended, these comments may have set in motion sentiments behind a movement.  Perhaps the most fascinating fringe group of recent memory in politics, the birther movement, has spawned  an interesting query for me.  How do they maintain their existence?  Let’s put aside, for the moment, any particular views that you might have on the subject of Barack Obama’s birth.  What would make a group so fervently opposed to something that in most people’s minds is validated by clear, decisive evidence?  Delving deeper into the minds of the birthers is dangerous, but it may also provide the blueprint for building a case for their argument.

I have weighed in at various times on the birthers on my blog, but I have not tried to explain this issue with any type of clarity until now.  At times, I’ve treated this story with as much seriousness as Paris Hilton winning the Nobel Prize for literature.  I believe this birth certificate issue is a futile attempt at obfuscating real issues that real Americans face, and it borders on lunacy and conspiratorial ignorance.   It is no more real than the wild, untrue theories that Trig Palin is not the real son of Sarah Palin.  Left wing bloggers have had a field day with this crude assertion, and you can even see the ridiculous Trig Palin conspiracy timeline here. Perhaps the birthers speak to something else that is not being discussed.

Think back to the 2008 presidential campaign and some of the criticism that then nominee Barack Obama received.  He was derided as an inexperienced, much too liberal community organizer.  This was fair criticism to be sure, and these were labels that he did not dispel.  He was also repeatedly harangued for his associations with various malcontents and rabble rousers, such as Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers.  These two individuals have a history of condemning America for its treatment of various groups and its actions globally.  Whether their theories about America’s complicity in “heinous” activities are real or perceived by the aforementioned men, they shadowed Barack Obama.  They were the first true test of Obama’s national loyalty.  There was the flag pin issue.  “Why didn’t he wear one?”  During a portion of his childhood, the president lived in Indonesia.  That, coupled with his paternal heritage, led folks to assume that he was a Muslim.   There was his too-liberal political agenda, which centered on his sweeping reform of health care and the “distribution of wealth” comment.  All of these things, for some Americans,  called into question President Obama’s patriotism.  Their theories reinforced the idea that being an American was about signing on to a particular belief system and living through those beliefs.  In Barack Obama, they faced someone that they had never encountered before,  someone they felt did not subscribe to this belief system.  He became someone that they were uncomfortable with.

Some partisan republicans and conservatives have long believed that most democrats lack the chutzpah and ideology to be real Americans.  Liberals are dovish on war and defense, only inclined to fight when imperiled.  They are not, as Daniel McCarthy states, “corporate capitalists,” and by inference are often called socialists and communists.  How often did you hear this very thing on the campaign trail?  Senator John McCain’s campaign slogan was “America First,” as if his democratic challengers just crossed the border illegally to implement some alien agenda.  This type of atmosphere fostered the culture in which we find the birther movement.  While talk of the president’s birth certificate was initially started by Hillary Clinton supporter Larry Johnson,  Birther Nation’s fuse was  lit by more high-profile politicians.  Both Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann made it simple for the birthers to connect the dots.  It makes sense that he “pals around with terrorists,” and he goes off to speak to citizens in European countries.  He’s comfortable reciting Islamic verses from the Koran to Muslims in Cairo.  It is because he is not an American.  Why else would he condemn America’s practices everywhere he goes?

The birthers’ inane cause has nothing to do with facts.  It has nothing to do with race although, for some of them, I’m sure that’s contributed to their belief system in some small measure.  It has more to do with perpetuating hyper-patriotism.  This notion encapsulates the beliefs that the president shall be the epitome of Americana, and that he or she capture the idyllic embodiment of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  The birthers don’t see the president as such a man.  In fact, in their eyes, he is the antithesis of these beliefs.  His brand of change is just too much to be absorbed, thus it must be repudiated by any means possible.

The birthers seem to have found fertile ground in the South, where a recent poll conducted concluded that only 47% of whites believe the president was born in this country.  This can easily be attributed to the partisan divide that exists between people here in the South and in other regions of the country.   In the South, partisan hatred runs wide and deep.  Most people would be willing to believe almost anything about someone with whom they have extreme dislike for, just as they would be willing to forgive and forget almost anything that someone they like does.  How else would you explain the support that Orly Taitz, the so-called leader of the birthers, receives here?  She was recently outed as a nut, and a conspiracy theorist, yet her views of Barack Obama’s alleged foreign birth remain popular.  The birthers have figured out how to ride the wave of hyper-nationalism to mainstream success.  So we are left with this question:  In America, is it okay to let our nationalistic pride ride roughshod over our own intelligence?

1. Brenden says:

   August 19, 2009 at 3:58 pm

   Why don’t you stop teasing us and finally write what’s truly on your mind: Those angry right-wingers who want to kill Barack Obama because of their racist ignorance — especially in the South — need to be publicly identified, lined up and shot.

   There, I said it for you. Satisfied?

   Reply
2. Matthew Wright says:

   August 19, 2009 at 4:17 pm

   Great comment. Too bad it doesn’t express my sentiments. Yours maybe?

   Reply
3. McPickle says:

   August 20, 2009 at 12:23 am

   Loved the comment Barney Frank made today to the woman holding Obama’s picture with Hitler’s mustache.
   “Can you tell me which planet you have been living on?” That goes for all the birthers, etc. whose hobby is making up wild stories, and those who believe them

   A Georgia Gal.

   Reply
4. Matthew Wright says:

   August 20, 2009 at 8:30 am

   I did see that. It was priceless.

   Reply
5. Michael says:

   August 20, 2009 at 9:15 am

   Excellent article and spot on. At this stage of my life, I’ve finally learned that people simply believe what they want to believe whether it has any semblance of Truth or not. Don’t confuse them with facts as they have their own ‘facts’ from some lunatic fringe. But as long as good people continue to speak the Truth, it will rise up.
   Keep up the informed writing!

   Reply
6. Matthew Wright says:

   August 20, 2009 at 9:56 am

   Michael,

   Thanks so much for the kind words, and thank you for reading. I agree with you in that people will believe and listen to what they want to. It’s up to us to be as informed as possible.

   Reply
7. Cliff Green says:

   August 23, 2009 at 4:20 pm

   Excellent piece of work.

   Reply