The New "B" Word -- "Birther"

I've never really been called a "Broad" -- but I've been told that once upon a time it was actually a compliment. A Broad could hold her liquor, make a guy laugh, comment about a ballgame... Think Maclaine or Dickinson in the Rat Pack days. I like to think I'm a Broad. (Ok the liquor thing -- not so much anymore. I'm a lightweight now. Practically a teetotaler.)

Shirley Maclaine when she was a fun broad -- not a New Age quack.

And I've managed seldom to be called a "Witch with a B" -- to my face anyway. I deliberately chose a husband who does not use such language. A lesser man would probably use it a lot -- I can be rather... well, I act in that manner that is called "aggressive" when a man does it, but "b-witchy" when a woman does. If so, yeah, that's me.

I've never been called a "Breeder" to my face ever. But I know there's a group out there who refers to me as one. Oh yeah? Badge of honor! I'll gladly bring the children into this world who will be paying your Social Security. You're welcome, you ingrates! A--hem.

They actually sell shirts with this on it -- what the heck?!

So now some folks are going around calling themselves "Birthers." Not the most accurate appellation, I think. It sounds as though it refers to women who have kids, just like "Breeders." But, whatever, there it is -- another "B" word.

The mainstream media -- other than Lou Dobbs -- has given no credence to the questions raised by this bunch. Even conservative media like Bill O'Reilly and The National Review -- heck, even Ann Coulter -- have backed away from it, claiming it is a non-issue. Although they do believe that Obama is probably hiding something.

But I imagine they smell a set-up. It will turn out that there was some small detail that may be a bit of an embarrassment, and oh won't everyone who was screeching for proof of his birth look stupid? And then any calls for the release of his other records will never happen, out of sympathy for Obama and out of contempt for the huge amount of egg on the faces of the Birthers.

So do I think Obama was born in Hawaii? Chances are he was. But I can't say I know for sure. And I think it's amazing that everyone who supports BO says that he has already produced a birth certificate. That anyone who thinks he hasn't proven he is a natural born citizen is crazy -- that the State of Hawaii confirmed it.

Have they not ever heard that there are other more complete birth documents that Obama is keeping secret? That he has spent $800,000 (an amount, I admit I can't find the source for, but is the number that crops up everywhere) blocking what the "Birthers" are calling for? Why doesn't that raise red flags with the MSM? The same media that went berserk when someone else spent $150,000 on clothes that Sarah Palin never even asked to be purchased?

The same media who clamored over the eligibility of John McCain last year? The same media that raised a ruckus about unsealing the divorce records of Obama's opponent for his Senate seat in 2006?

Jack Ryan -- the first man run over by the Obama Media Love Train.

What was he hiding in those divorce records, they bellowed? They insisted they be made public and did not let up until the records were unsealed and a man was ridiculed and called a liar for not wanting the world to know that he propositioned his own wife in a bar.

So now we have sealed birth records, sealed college records, and sealed law school records -- from a man who championed transparency... and the media has no issue with that whatsoever? If it were not this man, whom they adore so much, they would be rabidly foaming at the mouth for the release of these records. And they are calling the Birthers kooks?

 So, if someone who thinks

A) that Obama should be held to the same standard that every other candidate was -- most notably, his own opponents 

B) that he should stop giving lip service to transparency and actually practice what he preaches and

C) that since he is not above anyone else's standard and touts transparency then he should therefore release all these records

is a "Birther" -- then yeah, count me in. Badge of honor.

[And if you believe A and B, it should also be C -- and then you're a Birther, too.]

Comments

[ChunLing]

My sister's a home-birther. She had her first child at a hospital, didn't like the experience at all, and started having kids at home. I guess she was something of a "broad" back in the day, though she was never a drinker. She was a team leader for a building services contractor, which is to say more of a construction worker than an interior decorator. But her children won't be paying social security for anyone.

The real scandal with Sarah Palin's wardrobe was that they didn't even buy the clothes in her sizes. By some mysterious accident, the female staffers charged with buying her wardrobe were not told her sizes, so they bought outfits in various sizes which somehow just happened to correspond pretty well to the sizes of the staffers doing the buying. Palin never wore any of the clothes supposedly bought for her, partly because almost none of them would have fit her anyway.

The moral of the story here is that you shouldn't get involved with people who are just planning to use you as a scapegoat for their own failings. The McCain people lost the election before Palin was ever asked aboard, everything after that became an exercise in creative assignment of blame. I have trouble knowing whether McCain himself was just that clueless or whether he's got ranks in duplicity...either way I'm really glad he's not President.

As for Obama...I'm actually pretty pleased with what he's accomplished. American's are beginning to realize that their entire system of government has been corrupted beyond all hope of repair. I know that there are people who think that America could have avoided total economic and social catastrophe if everything had been done exactly right by the administration, but they seem to be overlooking the fact that doing the right thing is a result of character. From fielding good candidates for office to supporting sane policy, government depends absolutely on the people for the ability to "do the right thing". If the people aren't in the habit of doing what's right, then it isn't like the government will be able to suddenly do the right thing.

The first step in learning to do the right thing is to become uncomfortable with the consequences of doing the wrong thing. By promising complete transparency while withholding even the most basic information about himself and his policies, Barack Obama is helping to make America uncomfortable. So I think he should keep withholding all those records (if they don't raise any questions about his Presidency). At the very least, he shouldn't let anything go without a pitched legal battle. America is so badly screwed up, and Americans so complacent, that pretty much anything unpleasant is bound to be good for you.

[Colette Moran]

Ok -- I'm all for "shaking things up" -- and it seems they have been. Just take a look at what's happening at town hall meetings lately...

But to say that Obama has "accomplished" *anything* is a joke. Maybe it took his election to wake some people up -- especially many of those who voted for him -- but we are going to have to endure and fight against BO's destruction of our country and our way of life -- that he wants to change FOR THE WORSE not BETTER -- tooth and nail for the next 3 1/2 years!

I think it's too high a price to pay for a jolt to the system that we may have needed in order to make real progress.

[ChunLing]

Yeah, I prefer to see things without needing to be hit over the head. But it seems to be a minority view. I guess that's that what-do-you-call-it...free will.

The thing is...as a rather clever demotivator put it, "It could be that the purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others." To be free, we need to have knowledge of the different consequences of various possible actions. I'd rather learn from the mistakes of others than make those mistakes myself, but unless everybody is the bookish type, somebody does have to make the mistakes for the benefit of those not inclined to read.