My favorite commentator on Twitter, PourMeCoffee, nailed the whole "birther" nonsense. (You know, the "birthers" are these paleoconservatives who deny that President Barack Obama was born in the U.S. and therefore is not eligible to be President under the Constitution.) PourMeCoffee compares these nut jobs with the late Betty Hill, who believed that an outer space alien arrived in a U.F.O. and abducted her and her husband.
As PourMeCoffee wrote, "This is what those wishing to engage the birthers are up against. Love your crazy! Hug it and hold it and love it right! Betty did. Never, ever let it go!"
Cue Virginia's own, Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Roanoke.
Along with Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), John Campbell (R-Calif.), John Carter (R-Texas), LouieGohmert (R-Texas), Kenny Marchant (R-Texas), Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) and Ted Poe (R-Texas), Goodlatte has co-sponsored Bill Posey's (R-Fla.) birther bill, H.R. 1503. This bill would require that any candidate for President include a copy of the candidate's birth certificate in its filings with the Federal Elections Commission.
Of course, we need that because.... Because the wing-nut fringe of the GOP doesn't believe President Obama is eligible to be our President.
Never mind that Obama presented his birth certificate to address this right wing attack during the 2008 campaign, never mind that some wingers believed that Obama's opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wasn't eligible to be President because wasn't a citizen either -- he was born in the former U.S. possession, the Panama Canal Zone. In my view, this is really an effort to de-legitimize Obama's presidency. Some ask if it's actually a proxy for racism.
As for Minority House Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Richmond), rather than condemn birthers like his fellow Virginia Republican, Bob Goodlatte, he's blaming... wait for it... the liberal media.
So who are these nutjobs who aren't sure that Obama is a citizen or are certain that he isn't one? A new poll from Daily Kos/Research2000 out today indicates that 11 percent of respondents fall in that camp. These folks are largely Republicans. In fact, according to the poll, 58 percent of Republicans believe that Obama isn't a citizen or aren't sure of his citizenship. As Markos Moulitsas wrote, "once again, Republicans find themselves outside the American mainstream. And reality."
And the GOP wonders why it's the minority party?
As a Virginian, I am so proud that Texas doesn't have a monopoly on electing batshit crazy nut jobs in office, with Goodlatte, Virginia can claim one, too! After all, Goodlatte's friends with the Teabaggers. He's got a history of courting the votes of the crazies.
As for the nation's newspapers, they've condemned the elected officials like Goodlatte who've done the birthers' bidding. At least the Orlando Sentinel, the Houston Chronicle and the Tulsa World have.
But what about the editorial pages of Virginia's newspapers. Why are they silent on Rep. Goodlatte's birtherism? Hello, Roanoke Times? Where are you? Are you waiting for former Virginia GOP Rep. Virgil Goode to show up at Congressman Tom Perriello's next Town Hall to harass him like this wacko in Delaware did to GOP Congressman Mike Castle?
Cross posted at Fake Virginia.