Leonard Pitts had a good column in this morning's Spokesman Review. He addressed, as everyone seems to be doing, the issue as to whether or not our President is legitimate based on the assumption by many that he is not a natural born citizen.
He feels, and perhaps rightly so, that the already weak Republicans are trying to build their platform on this issue. He also points out, importantly, that the "copies" of Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate are considered legal. I might add to the argument that Photoshop is an excellent tool for those who wish to dispute it.
Yesterday was a scorcher so I stretched my aching back out on the couch and watched the Sunday talk shows that I hadn't seen for several weeks. Summer yard work you know.
Three subjects dominated. The "beer summit", Palin's resignation and the "birther" movement. That those subjects dominated didn't surprise me. What did was the venom aimed at our President. Criticize his policies all you want; I've certainly done it often enough. But to "assume" he has all this deep seated hatred for whites is, pardon the pun, beyond the pale. Those espousing this were the FOX conservatives led by Glenn Beck. Others, from other networks, have also pushed the issue with vigor.
That it is being done this long after the election, when it first began, indicates to me the Republicans are even more weak than I thought. If this is the best they can do we'll have Democrats running the country for a good long time. Whether you think it's happening or not, Obama campaigned on hope and change. Not questionable truths and fear. Who won?
Assumptions, presented as truth are dangerous. They are opinion unless backed up with provable fact.
On a lesser level, I received an e-mail from a commenter, "assuming" I was "pissed" because I defended another commenter on my blog. There is nothing further from the truth. I was not "pissed"; I just felt the second commenter had a valid point and said so.
Why do I point this out? It goes to the point that those who "assume" they have the only valid opinion and one dare not disagree with them are little more than bullies. That the Republicans taught and learned this lesson well in the previous administration does not encourage me regarding the party's immediate future!
Fortunately for us there are still journalists and columnists such as Mr. Pitts who can and do present rational commentary on the subjects they address. We may agree or disagree. Their tone makes their view readable. A rant, as hate filled as some have accused Professor Gates as being, only deafens. Hopefully.
4 comments:
What is the old saying....
ASSUME...makes an (for purity of this blog) donkey out of U and ME..
The "birther" movement is absurd and people who are obsessed with the idea that Obama is not a U.S. citizen are only showing how nutty they are to the rational-thinking Americans.
Here's why their claims are ridiculous: Obama's mother was from a lower middle class family and was attending college at the University of Hawaii when she met Obama's dad and got married and pregnant. Does anyone truly believe that her parents would spend a large amount of money to have her travel all the way to Kenya in her 8th month of pregnancy alone?!? It doesn't make sense at all.
Where was the outrage about "legitimacy" when the vote in Florida in 2000 was stopped from being counted? Bush was the real illegitimate president. Obama won the election without question. It wasn't even close.
True..of so true.
I hope your readers clicked on your link to Pitt's article. He particularly nailed my concerns in the section "...Democrats usually keep their loons off to the side where they are pandered to, yes, but not allowed to run the show. For Republicans, though, lunacy has “become” the show, a circus of extremism that now defines them." I sincerely think our system depends on a viable party in opposition. Not "clowns to the left of me, etc"
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