RACE AND THE OBAMA BIRTH CERTIFICATE

Yesterday, President Obama said ENOUGH! and produced his original birth certificate from Hawaii, in an attempt to put an end to the silly birther mantra that he was not born in the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president.  But is the issue now dead?  NOT ON YOUR LIFE!

In a surprise press conference that most networks didn’t even know the president himself would be attending, Mr. Obama “trumped” Donald “P.T. Barnum” Trump and his other critics by presenting the original document many have long said doesn’t exist. The State of Hawaii now keeps these original documents in a vault for all its citizens, opting instead to print out an official copy for anyone requiring one. But because he is the President of the United States, Mr. Obama was given an exception from Hawaii to receive the original document, and he sent his attorney to Hawaii (at his own expense), to physically pick it up and deliever it directly to him.

During the impromptu press conference, the president was visibly angry on how this issue has dominated the news ahead of more pertinent issues. “I know that there is going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest,”  Mr. Obama said. “But I am speaking for the vast majority of the American people as well as for the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better stuff to do. I have got better stuff to do. We have got big problems to solve.”

“We are not going to be able to do it if we are distracted, we are not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other … if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts, we are not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers,” the president declared.

RACE
But let’s cut to the chase and face the REAL issue hiding behind the birther movement.  For as long as this “black” man is seeking reelection to that “White” House, the issue will never die.

Blacks in America have long been considered illegitimate and ineligible for many things:  to ride in the front of a bus; to drink from any fountain or eat from any counter; to seek higher education; to vote; to run for president.  If the president were of Irish descent or English descent, does anyone actually believe there would be hordes of ignorant people questioning his citizenship and demanding proof?  Or would everyone do what has always been done for centuries — believe that if he’s white, he must be right?  The president’s biological father was an African man who was married to a white American woman. So to see the spawn of such a “boogeyman” become leader of the free world is, at least for some, an abomination.

According to CNN’s John King, there are those Americans who simply refuse to get comfortable with the idea of a black president.  So they hide behind the birther issue to delegitimize his presidency, rather than face the embarrassment of having to admit their inherent racism.  And in the words of PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley, race will cause this next presidential election to be one of the ugliest and hotly contested in history.  One term for this black man was a fluke.  But two…???

TRUMP’S RESPONSE
Instead of conceding defeat that perhaps he was wrong to make an issue out of a non-issue, Donald Trump instead seized the moment to further promote his greatest love — himself.  In a hastily arranged news conference, Trump patted himself on the back, saying he is “proud of himself” for being the person who was finally able to force Mr. Obama into releasing the document. “I have done the American people a great service,” Trump said.  He then acknowledged there are more important issues to discuss in America, before segwaying directly into his next side-show: questioning the validity of the newly revealed birth certificate and intimating that it is a fake. Sheeeesh!