Say what you will about Barack Obama's performance as President of the United States, you have to give him credit for a masterful performance this week in his handling of the "birth certificate" issue.
After years of demanding release of Obama's "long form" birth certificate, Republicans finally got what they wanted - or, rather, didn't want. Tea Party members and the other assorted right wing nut jobs, who seem to comprise an increasingly large portion of the Republican Party these days, have for months been arguing that the "short form" certificate that Obama released two years ago was - for reasons never explained - invalid, even though as a legal matter it constitutes proof of birth in the U.S. The conspiracy theorists who maintained that Obama was actually born in Kenya, Indonesia or wherever, pointed to the non-disclosure of the long-form certificate as proof of their case. With a few notable exceptions - Mitt Romney among them - Republican leaders who could have put a stop to the nonsense long ago, didn't have the guts to risk alienating the fringe. They parsed their words carefully. They conceded when pressed that they "took the President at his word" but suggested in the same breath that others were justified in questioning it.
Then enter stage (far) right Donald Trump, the self-promoting real estate developer and TV reality show performer, who is supposedly flirting with a run for the Presidency. Trump is a buffoon and has no serious policy proposals to offer, but he knows the "birther" issue plays well to a lot of the people who vote in Republican primaries, not to mention Fox News. Traipsing back and forth across the country with the media in tow, Trump elevated the issue of Obama's place of birth to front page headlines. He claimed to have hired investigators to go to Hawaii to poke around. He suggested darkly they had uncovered an lot of interesting information that Trump would reveal "in due course". In response to a question as to whether he would disclose his tax returns (many observers question whether Trump has anywhere near the "several billions" he claims and the tax returns would throw some light on this) he promised to do so if Obama disclosed his long form birth certificate. On Wednesday, as Trump prepared to give a press conference in New Hampshire, at which he would no doubt have beaten the "birther" drum yet again, the White House suddenly released the long form certificate and Barack Obama convened a news conference of his own.
The news media carried two sharply contrasting images that night. The first was Trump, who leads some Republican opinion polls, pontificating in front of a battery of microphones about how he deserved credit for accomplishing something that nobody else had been able to do - securing release of the birth certificate. But without missing a beat he segued immediately into his next conspiracy theory: how did Obama, who he had "heard" didn't get good grades at school, end up going to Columbia University and Harvard Law School. The racial sub-text, namely that Obama may have been an undeserving beneficiary of affirmative action, is obvious and repugnant.
The second image was of Obama, behind his Presidential podium, jacket off and sleeves rolled up, earnestly vowing that he won't allow debate over the nations's pressing economic problems to be be sidetracked by "sideshows and carnival barkers". He didn't mention Trump by name, but he didn't have to. The reference was dismissive, almost contemptuous, and deservedly so.
Political pundits continue to debate why the White House chose to release the document when it did. Some say they shouldn't have done it, that it showed weakness and will open the door to yet more demands - for academic transcripts, for example. Others point to polls showing that a quarter of the electorate doubted whether Obama was born in the U.S. Some said he should have released it earlier.
But I think Obama handled the release of the birth certificate to perfection. He allowed Trump and his acolytes at Fox News just enough time to renew the phony debate over the birth certificate issue to remind independent voters how extreme and out of touch with reality the Republican party has become. The Republicans duly obliged, and Obama cut them off at the knees. He made them look foolish. They compounded that appearance by the absurd charge that the White House only made public the long-form birth certificate public in order to distract attention from the nation's economic problems. And wi
Rather than concede defeat, some on the right (aided, of course, by Fox News) are now questioning the authenticity of the birth certificate or, like Trump, questioning the President's academic credentials. They apparently haven't heard the old adage that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.
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| Memo to Trump - Be Careful What You Wish For |
Then enter stage (far) right Donald Trump, the self-promoting real estate developer and TV reality show performer, who is supposedly flirting with a run for the Presidency. Trump is a buffoon and has no serious policy proposals to offer, but he knows the "birther" issue plays well to a lot of the people who vote in Republican primaries, not to mention Fox News. Traipsing back and forth across the country with the media in tow, Trump elevated the issue of Obama's place of birth to front page headlines. He claimed to have hired investigators to go to Hawaii to poke around. He suggested darkly they had uncovered an lot of interesting information that Trump would reveal "in due course". In response to a question as to whether he would disclose his tax returns (many observers question whether Trump has anywhere near the "several billions" he claims and the tax returns would throw some light on this) he promised to do so if Obama disclosed his long form birth certificate. On Wednesday, as Trump prepared to give a press conference in New Hampshire, at which he would no doubt have beaten the "birther" drum yet again, the White House suddenly released the long form certificate and Barack Obama convened a news conference of his own.
The news media carried two sharply contrasting images that night. The first was Trump, who leads some Republican opinion polls, pontificating in front of a battery of microphones about how he deserved credit for accomplishing something that nobody else had been able to do - securing release of the birth certificate. But without missing a beat he segued immediately into his next conspiracy theory: how did Obama, who he had "heard" didn't get good grades at school, end up going to Columbia University and Harvard Law School. The racial sub-text, namely that Obama may have been an undeserving beneficiary of affirmative action, is obvious and repugnant.
The second image was of Obama, behind his Presidential podium, jacket off and sleeves rolled up, earnestly vowing that he won't allow debate over the nations's pressing economic problems to be be sidetracked by "sideshows and carnival barkers". He didn't mention Trump by name, but he didn't have to. The reference was dismissive, almost contemptuous, and deservedly so.
Political pundits continue to debate why the White House chose to release the document when it did. Some say they shouldn't have done it, that it showed weakness and will open the door to yet more demands - for academic transcripts, for example. Others point to polls showing that a quarter of the electorate doubted whether Obama was born in the U.S. Some said he should have released it earlier.
But I think Obama handled the release of the birth certificate to perfection. He allowed Trump and his acolytes at Fox News just enough time to renew the phony debate over the birth certificate issue to remind independent voters how extreme and out of touch with reality the Republican party has become. The Republicans duly obliged, and Obama cut them off at the knees. He made them look foolish. They compounded that appearance by the absurd charge that the White House only made public the long-form birth certificate public in order to distract attention from the nation's economic problems. And wi
Rather than concede defeat, some on the right (aided, of course, by Fox News) are now questioning the authenticity of the birth certificate or, like Trump, questioning the President's academic credentials. They apparently haven't heard the old adage that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you do is stop digging.
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