Birther Be Wary

Now that President Obama has released his birth certificate in long form, can we now move beyond the controversy over his place of birth? Not a chance. Like any conspiracy, even when faithfully debunked, it will persist forever in the annals of U.S. history. Is he a foreign-born, and thereby an illegally-elected, president? Do his sympathies lay with a foreign nation? Is he a foreign agent positioned as part of a foreign plot to overthrow the United States? And so forth.

Obama Releases Long-form Birth Certificate (USA Today)

Obama's McCain Resolution Demands 'American' Parents (World News Daily)

Was Young Obama Indonesian Citizen (World News Daily)

The Birther Movement:  Immune To Facts? (CNN)

This recent controversy/conspiracy goes beyond the current president though. The concern, while legitimate, should not be whether President Obama was foreign born or at one point held foreign citizenship. There is the broader issue of presidential candidates’ birth certificates not being released publicly in the first place when running for the office. After all, American citizens – whose birth certificates must be presented in certain instances for even the mundane – essentially are electing the foremost citizen of the nation in the president. Should it not be a requirement that their “natural-born” citizenship, and that of every federal officeholder, is publicly verified before holding such a key position of power and authority?

©2011 Steve Sagarra