2008 I laughed when a friend said "you know he's not American".
In my defense, I thought she was being sarcastic. Plus, the laugh was involuntary. Even if I'd known she was serious, I'd have still laughed. To this day I still find it unbelievable that anyone would actually believe such an idiotic thing. It is one thing to be a racist and be offended by a black man running for President ... but that birther crap was and is just beyond anything believable. No one with even the barest education should have given it even a sniff. To this day I just shake my head in disbelief that my former friend actually believed it.
Fast forward to 2021. This woman is in her mid 80s and genuinely believes the shot has mind control agents in it. I don't interact with her at all any more, but it has gotten back to me that at different times she's said it can turn people gay - it can make men sterile - it turns us all into commies - and I'm not sure but she probably thinks it causes ingrown toenails.
The point of this thread is a reminder these numbskulls didn't just appear overnight. They've been hanging around causing us all minor inconveniences for a long time. They are the same bunch that are oh so holy for going to church but feel it their God given duty to stiff the waitress at Cracker Barrel for working on Sunday.
They aren't going away. They are one of us. Americans. They are what we used to call in Kentucky, the crazy uncle on the porch. If we don't figure out how to stop letting them dictate their crazy to everyone, we are sunk.
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Actually, I think social media has made everything worse. With the exception of sharing photos. 
The skateboarding cat was one of my faves. 
Didja the skateboarding cat.
Didja's owner is an animal trainer who lives in Australia. He said she really took to preforming tricks.
and painted their fringe extremists as the "silent majority" while our party are "liberal elitists" out of touch with the "real America". Maybe we're imaginary Americans since we're not real. 
we do outnumber them. That's a fact, and if we all stay motivated like we were in 2018 and 2020 we will outvote them.
It’s like an alternate universe here sometimes in TN.
(unless you're privileged to have a magic USB or WiFi connection into my brain).
On a personal level, the ultimate in right-wing arrogance was when I overheard a 30-something daughter-in-law tell her 65 or so old mother-in-law (a close friend of mine and life-long good and faithful Democrat) that she "just does not know", relating to some political issue. I've never forcefully struck a woman in my life, but came damn close that day.
Another event was striking: I was on a field service job in a large plant in Indiana, working with a couple of very skilled electricians during the 2008 Presidential campaign. They knew nothing of my politics but simply asked me what I though about Barack Obama. I told them I felt he was one of the most qualified men to ever run for President, considering his experience and education. Apparently, they we so accustomed to hearing the same right-wing slander lines, their jaws almost hit the floor after my simple but truthful statement.
Sad, demeaning world the right-wing has created for many parts of the world.
Thanks for the post, KYWoman. Each time I see your DU handle, I think of the late 60s hit "Kentucky Woman" written by Neil Diamond. My favorite recording of it was by Waylon Jennings (produced by Chet Atkins in '68).
KY.........
Chump almost got away with his BS about Obama because many Americans aren't sure when Hawaii became a state. Hawaii was admitted to the union as our 50th state on August 21, 1959.
If Obama had been born before, it would have meant that Hawaii was a territory, not a state.
Well he wasn't - Obama's birthdate is August 4, 1961. Hawaii was already a state for almost 2 years. The birth records were all kept according to the same procedure as every other state, however it's also a matter of privacy. That's why Chump was able to get away with his BS, he probably assumed that the birth certificate wouldn't be published, so he could tell whatever lies he wanted and it wouldn't matter.
It's just one more reason for being absolutely disgusted with this Orange Monster.
I've dealt with it my whole life. Even liberals with Hillary stickers told me they don't care that I was born and raised here, I'm still an H1b stealing jobs from real Americans. Ask any racist to describe a US citizen and you might hear qualities that describe a Russian or European with nothing to do with the US. 
Trump and his dumbass supporters bought into the "illegals are voting" lie and saw brown people voting as proof of fraud. Many of those idiots still believe it's mostly black people on government benefits like WIC and SNAP (not even close, it's disproportionately whites).
These same gullible willful idiots have bought into the lies around COVID. They view complete nonsense as "proof". Masks let viruses through but not oxygen. Masks make it easier to kidnap children. Vaccines make you magnetic (WTF?) or change your DNA somehow. And all sorts of nefarious things are happening in some global conspiracy that we're too dumb to see.
Except this time, they are the ones paying the price of their stupidity more than the sheep who take vaccines and wear masks. BAAAHHHHH!
Diversity is great but citizenship gets conflated with race way too often. I've worked with citizens of UK, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Israel, etc. yet I'm the only one born and raised in the US. Somehow I'm the job stealer. 
I don't know who came up with birtherism, but I think a lot of overtly and covertly racist white people were happy to jump on that bandwagon, because it gave them something they could hold against Obama without having to admit to themselves or anyone else that they just really did not want a black president.
They weren't interested in hearing any arguments against it, because admitting he really was a native born American would have forced them to find some other excuse to oppose him, and it would been hard to find one, because, well, just look at the man! 