Almost since the day Barack Obama announced his run for president, a "cult of stupidity" developed around the idea that he in fact wasn't born in the United States, but was a "Kenyan." (We'll leave it to your imagination what that was a code word for.) The idea was so preposterous that it seemed destined to remain confined to the lunatic fringe. After all, there was more than enough proof that Obama was born in Hawaii -- including official state documentation, and birth announcements in both of Honolulu's newspapers at the time.
Stunningly however, this cult of stupidity -- the "birther" movement -- has grown larger and larger over time, gradually swallowing up an ever increasing chunk of the Republican base:
• Among those who voted Republican in 2010, 64% said it was not clear Obama was born in the US (source: PDF)
• Among those who watch Fox News on a daily basis, 63% said it was not clear (source: PDF)
• At least a dozen members of the House GOP caucus reportedly believe this as well.
And yet, the whole time this racially-charged stupidity was growing, the Republican leadership in Congress either turned a blind eye to it, or stoked its fires. Knowing full well the value of "useful idiots," they chose not to speak the truth, but rather stand by idly.
This reached a peak recently, as a birther started shouting out this nonsense in the House of Representatives itself -- ironically, as the Republican members were reading the Constitution.
It's time for this to stop. It's time for the GOP leaders, Boehner and McConnell, to denounce this nonsense, and to do it clearly and unambiguously on the floors of the House and Senate specifically. If the stupidity has echoed through a Congressional chamber, that's where it needs to stop.
Write McConnell and Boehner today, and demand they do this, and do it immediately. Tell them that winks and nods are no longer acceptable, and that it's time to directly confront these rumors, and the ugly racism that clearly underlies much of them.
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