Wine From Outer Space

Wine From Outer Space is intoxicating, unearthly and surprising. It's also where I write about whatever I choose, and that's nice.

24 July 2009

I Was Born Son of Byford, Brother of Al . . .

Harry Shearer postulates in an article on the Huffington Post that the reason for the so-called Birthers' outrage with regard to president Obama's--well--existence, has to do with legitimacy. They simply don't believe that he was truly born a natural US citizen (or at least that is the excuse they use to mask whatever true reason they may have).

An interesting take, but I don't really agree. It seems to me that it's less about legitimacy (thought the birth certificate angle is, for the freaks, an aspect of legitimacy) and more about painting him as an outsider. At its core, these people seem to be most affected by Obama's "otherness". How many times have I seen wingnuts in threads referring to Obama as the Kenyan, Dear Leader, or Chairman Maobama? He is (part) black, he has a strange name, his father is from Africa, and his policies are all about SOCIALISM--in other words, un-American. This is basically red-baiting with racism thrown in.

During the campaign, he wasn't just "soft on terrorism" but a "terrorist" himself, especially when Palin would whip up the crowds of chromosome-challenged individuals in attendance. McCain created a monster, both in Palin and in this movement which they started to paint Obama as some foreign radical. When that crazy baglady got up and said she was frightened of Obama because "he's an Arab", McCain FINALLY tried to douse that fire, but too late. They fanned the flames of many kooks out there, afraid of outsiders and invaders, of "liberal media" and ho-mo-sexuals, commies and a-rabs and moozlims.

When the gun bill was being voted on earlier this week--which would allow persons to carry a concealed weapon across state lines, just so long as you had a license in your home state--I figured this was just the fuel these isolated, paranoid, hate-filled and fearful weirdos would need to generate a real security problem for Obama. Luckily it was defeated, but only by a hair's breadth.

I saw a bunch of posted comments, with regard to the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Obama's comment that the Cambridge police "acted stupidly", saying things like "oh, well now I suppose Obama will just take over all the police precincts, too." The head of the Cambridge police union was going on and on about how Obama will "regret" his words. Ostensibly, he means Obama will regret those words in a political sense, but this union leader know exactly what he was saying, and to whom he was saying such a reckless thing. I don't recall a time when average Joe Blow citizens were so vocal and hostile against a president, and that includes GW Bush. On the positive side, however, no one has yet thrown a shoe at Obama.

And, as to be expected, people like Rush Limbaugh are just pouring gasoline all over this, saying that "last week it was Obama and Sotomayor against a white fireman. This week it's Obama against a white cop." Yes, it's all part of his plan to divest the white emergency workers of their power...ugh. There are loons out there who are shoveling it up, and they are legion.