The Liberal Birther Movement

The Birther Movement is the collective word for the crazies that persistently insist that President Barrack Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii.  Even though his birth certificate has been validated well enough to get onto the ballots of all 50 states and then some, even though he has had to prove he's been born in the U.S. more than any person in history ... the Birthers, and  political hacks like Donald Trump, persist.  I know Republicans get upset when non-Republicans call them racists for criticizing President Obama, but when their criticism is outright illogical and clear fabricated, it is difficult to see it as anything else. 

Every week I listen to the Slate.com's Political Gabfest podcast.  It is one of my favorite political talk shows because it is informative, entertaining and at time very funny.   In last week's show, one of the commentators, David Platz, jokingly suggested that the Republicans might have a Birther problem of their own.  Louisiana's governor, Bobby Jindal, is one of the front runners in Mitt Romney's VP selection process.  Mr. Jindal was born in Baton Rouge, LA which isn't a problem obviously, but he was conceived in India.  His parents emigrated when his mother was pregnant.  Jindal is a pro-lifer and has said any number of times that he believes that life begins at conception, not birth.  Taking his own beliefs to task, is he really an American citizen?

Of course, there is no legal argument here at all, but facts  haven't stopped the Birthers from causing the President grief.  Why shouldn't this be taken up by the liberal wing of our politics and run with it?  What could be gained?  For one, it would expose Jindal's and the Republicans' hypocrisy.  For another, to show the ridiculousness of his belief that life begins at conception.  If life begins at conception, then aren't we citizens of the country where our parents had sex and not where you emerged from the womb?  How would we prove where we were conceived?  If a lot of countries instituted this, pregnant women could all take a world tour in the early ages of their birth.  They could pick where their child was conceived. 

Romney is probably going to pick Marco Rubio anyway, but it is a fun exercise nonetheless.