I have to admit, I had never heard the term “birther” before. I don’t watch tv much, so I guess that’s why. Dictionary.com doesn’t have a clue what “birther” is either. So, whenever a word is used I don’t know and dictionary.com doesn’t either, I go to urbandictionary.com. They of course have it. According to them, birther has several definitions:

1. A conspiracy theorist who believes that Barack Obama is ineligible for the Presidency of the United States, based on any number of claims related to his place of birth, birth certificate, favorite birthday, or whether or not he has heard the song Africa by Toto. “Did you know that Barack Obama’s parents concealed the location of his birth because they knew he would grow up to be President? What? Of course it makes sense, I’m a birther!” barack obama president birth conspiracy Brent Elliott, Dec 8, 2008
2. A racist sore loser who can’t deal with having a black president so they make up absurd conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s birth certificate. These nutjobs actually believe that there has been a conspiracy going back 48 years to fake Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Apparently they had a crystal ball and knew that this black child (born in the days of segregation) would someday run for President. “Just ignore that racist nutjob foaming at the mouth. He’s a right wing birther conspiracy nut. gop racist bedwetter nazi klansman self-hating-gay, scoobydubious, Jul 16, 2009
3. A person who believes that Barack Obama has controversy and/or fraud surrounding his birth, though all theories have been either rejected or proved false. The birthers gathered on the steps of the Supreme Court – all 20 of them. http://hotair.com/archives/2008/12/09/birthers-get-another-lifeline/
4. A redneck born on American soil in a barn delivered by a drunken veterinarian who also performs abortions. Parents are both American citizens who are usually first cousins if not brother and sister. Birthers fought for their right to marry their cousins. hillbilly redneck birth conspiracy obama
   by billthecat, Jul 28, 2009
5. A knuckle dragging gutter culture warrior related to tea bagging citizens who don’t want to pay taxes because they don’t support our troops. “Obama’s parents were so smart they planned 50 years ago to have a baby on foreign land and get him elected into the White House so he can raise taxes to pay for our troops. It’s true I am a tea bagging birther” What were those tea bagging protesters complaining about again? Ohh yay they refuse to accept a black man as president and now have resorted to saying Obama can not be president cause he is an illegal alien. Sounds crazy? No I am just a tea bagging “birther.” teabagging obama birther conspiracy nutjob troop hater knuckle dragging
6. A term for the frothy liquid mixture formed in the vagina when a baby is born. It is a foul smelling combination of maternal blood, vernix, and meconium (baby poop) that drips down over the mother’s anus during the third stage of labor. It is thought to be a contraction of the words “birth” and “lather.”, “Nurse, would you please wipe that birther off the crack of my patient’s ass? asshole dumbfuck idiot racistfool
   by drsteevo, Jul 28, 2009
7. Jargon term, or buzz word used by mainstream media to discredit, and marginalize the legal battle of Philip Berg, a registered democrat operating out of PA. The term was most recently pegged in an attempt to divide, a bi-partisan investigation into the legitimacy of Barack H Obama’s Presidency. If you don’t like mafia leaders, and respect the rule of law, then you are a birther.

So, after seeing that list of definitions submitted by what has to be respected observers of the United States version of the English language, it’s no wonder Eugene Robinson at RealClearPolitics thinks so lowly of birthers as well. He’s a little more kindly, simply calling them “nutjobs” in his opinion piece entitled “The Berserk Birthers”.

Now, this is where it gets kind of crazy for me:

Also beyond the Outer Limits of sanity is CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, who has been giving prime-time exposure to the “birther” lunacy — even while denying that he believes in it. Dobbs’ obsession with the “story” has become an embarrassment to the network, which has tried to position itself as untainted by political bias. CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein has pronounced the story “dead,” but insists that it’s legitimate for Dobbs to examine the alleged controversy, though in fact no controversy exists.

CNN untainted by political bias? Wow! Now THAT’S out there! That’s berserk! That’s something only a nutjob could believe. It gets even better:

Is this an orchestrated campaign to somehow delegitimize Obama’s presidency? Is the fact that he is the first African-American president a factor? Is it that some people can’t or won’t accept that he won the election and serves as commander in chief?

Maybe, maybe not. Trying to analyze the “birther” phenomenon would mean taking it seriously, and taking it seriously would be like arguing about the color of unicorns. About all that can be said is that a bunch of lost, confused and frightened people have decided to seek refuge in conspiratorial make-believe. I hope they’re harmless. And I hope they seek help.

Now, it’s impossible for me to buy for one second CNN ever concerned itself about being unbiased in this last election. I’ve got an entire thread on this blog dedicated to news media political bias, and CNN is all over it. It goes back almost five years of documented cases of bias most usually with documentation proving that bias.

So, here’s the rub I have with this article by Eugene Robinson, if the argument against something neither cites evidence disproving the original argument and uses obviously flawed logic to discredit the original argument, it means the person making the argument really never set out to make any real effort to counter that argument. Monty Python illustrated best in their “taunting Frenchmen” bit on The Holy Grail. Don’t concern yourself with logic, just hurl insults.

And, for Eugene’s enlightenment, the whole birther thing has been kept alive because The White House will not provide a legitimate birth certificate. Now, I carry one in my pocket. It’s not that hard a thing to do. If Obama was the least bit interested in putting this whole birther thing to rest, he would have presented it. As it is, he apparently doesn’t care one way or the other. That’s the boat I’m in. I could care less. But, what I don’t believe in at all is running around hurling insults at people who believe otherwise, either way. Sure, it sounds kinda crazy that some people are making the argument Obama wasn’t born in the United States. But, it sounds even crazier to me that some people think CNN is not politically biased. And, in the big scope of things, which is more realistically dangerous, people of no influence thinking their president was born outside of the United States, or, media people ignoring media bias?

Tags: bias, birther, cnn, conspiracy, eugene robinson, fool, hillbilly, idiot, knuckle dragging, knuckle dragging gutter culture warrior, lou dobbs, Media, media bias, nutjob, obama, racist, realclearpolitics, redneck, teabagging, troop hater