Joe Conason: What Are the Birthers Really After?

[marmar]

from Truthdig:



What Are the Birthers Really After?

Posted on Aug 5, 2009
By Joe Conason


On Aug. 4, President Barack Obama celebrated the anniversary of his birth, an event that occurred 48 years ago in the state of Hawaii. This is an indisputable fact, as sane critics on the right, such as the editors of the National Review and the veteran pundit Patrick Buchanan, acknowledge. And yet there is a significant minority, especially within the Republican Party, that fervently insists otherwise.

Why this obsession over Obama’s birthplace persists is a question that evokes disturbing answers.

It was probably inevitable that the election of the first African-American president, a man of mixed racial heritage whose father was Kenyan and whose middle name is Hussein, would stir resentments among the farthest right-wing fringe of American society. There are still people, often clustered in groups that falsely claim to be “conservative” and “patriotic,” who have never accepted the social advances that we have made in the years since Obama’s birth—which occurred in an era when the marriage of his white mother and black father remained illegal in some states.

But if the Obama presidency provokes a certain kind of old bigot, it is also true that the spinning of conspiracy theories, outlandish myths and paranoid fantasies is nothing new in presidential politics. Not long after the Clintons entered the White House in 1993, they became the targets of a stream of poisonous lies, emanating from many of the same sources that are defaming the Obamas today.

The same “news sites,” notably Newsmax.com and WorldNetDaily, and the same right-wing radio personalities, from Rush Limbaugh downward, sought to convince the public that the Clintons were serial killers, drug kingpins, traitors and communists, bent on dissolving American sovereignty into a socialist world government. Those wild accusations were part of a broader right-wing strategy to discredit and curtail Bill Clinton’s presidency. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090805_what_are_the_birthers_really_after/

[Sinistrous]

1. IMO they are just scrounging to validate

their useless lives.

[tanyev]

2. One of the reasons I was glad Obama won the primary was because

I really didn't want to go through another 8 years of the ridiculous lies and hysteria about the Clintons. Silly me.

[dgibby]

3. Rachel did an excellent job of exposing the corporations behind this insanity last night.

She was specifically speaking of the anarchy (my definition) occuring at the Town Hall meetings, but it applies to the Birthers, as well.

She describes the people who fund and promote these things as professionals who represent large corporations and the Republican Party, and are responsible for disseminating false information designed to pander to the the basest instincts of those on the far Right.

It is, according to Rachel, a concerted effort to maintain power and make money. The fact that they are inciting fundies, racists, and wingnuts to violence is of no consequence to them, as long as money is made and power is maintained.

I really can't do this justice, but I strongly urge everyone to watch last night's episode of Rachel's show. She was eloquent.

[ginnyinWI]

5. Yes I saw that.

For the average wingnut, it satisfies his/her desire to reinforce their worldview. For the corporatists, it's a way to (feebly) try to get the repub party back in power. Kind of a stupid way to do it, really. Who wants to be seen as a nut like that, unless they are already one? I don't see this movement catching on. Why don't they support moderate repubs who would propose sound, reasonable policies, albeit right leaning, and help establish the party for real? Shhh...

[Maraya1969]

4. If Obama was O'Reilly THIS WHOLE THING WOULD NOT HAPPENED

It is more racism set up by the high ranking repukes who are aiming at racists now just like they aim at fundamental Christians.

[oceanman]

10. If Obama was O'Reilly

Obama - O'Reilly - Smith - It wouldn't really matter what his name was, if he has a D for Democrat behind his name these mooks would be screaming or digging up faux scandals no matter what. Let's see, question the previous Clinton administration - who can make up the biggest dirt and get the biggest headlines, even to the point of accusing them of murder - question anything about the little shrubet, who is, according to our laws as I understand them, actually guilty of murder and/or war crimes, and your patriotism is questioned. This is nothing new, but surely shows the mainstream media for what they really are and who they truly represent - they think we're all idiots and think our collective memories are 3-months long, tops, not to mention that, to them, real facts concerning war crimes are 'political differences'. Unfortunately and tragically, it seems that for some segment of our population, at least the ones who always seem to get the face time, they are right.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. They're dehumanizing the opposition so they don't lose more of their

supporters.

[Octafish]

7. President Biden

That way, they can have a President Jebthro come 2013.

[formercia]

8. I guess the idea of 2 terms is just too much for their brains to wrap around

and most of their stay-behinds will have retired or gone to spend more time with their families.

[Karenina]

9. At their own and everyone else's risk...

I do believe Americans are having a collective nervous breakdown...

[DCKit]

11. And the Wingers are doubly pissed 'cause there's no Whitewater in Obama's past...

and, therefore, almost no chance of getting a "special" prosecutor assigned for another witch-hunt, a' la Clinton.

It's one thing to have a reasonable cover story, but the crazy shit they're spewing now is just way too woo-woo to risk a legal and/or political career over.