A couple of days ago, there were a number of diaries on the Rec List at Daily Kos gleefully trumpeting the news that the Pentagon had compelled a private military contracting firm to fire an employee Army Reservist who had challenged his military deployment orders on the grounds that Barack Obama had not yet proven that he is a “natural born citizen”. The comments were unanimous in their approval of the Pentagon’s action and derision of the soldier in question and his attorney.
More broadly, the “birther movement” is seen by progressives as a complete joke at best, and at worst a racist, even treasonous bunch of far-right xenophobes who cannot accept the fact that a black man with an African father could actually be elected President of the United States. There is never any acknowledgment of even the remotest possibility that there is any merit whatsoever to the cases being brought about this issue.
Nowhere in the progressive blogosphere have I seen anyone ask in an honest way the question of whether or not the birthers actually have a point. That kind of lack of intellectual interest and curiosity always raises red flags for me. For those who care to explore the merits of the case without screaming like banshees, please follow . . . but remember, “be excellent to each other . . . or else”.