Let me begin by saying I am not a "birther."
In spite of their general left tilt, I believe our national news media sufficiently micro-examines presidential candidates. Perhaps with prompting from their few conservative members, the media would have reluctantly told us by now if Barak Obama was not constitutionally qualified to be president of the United States.
As of yet, they have not. Today, the White House finally released what has to be seen as the definitive document proving that the president indeed is U.S. citizen by birth. Case closed, he's qualified.
But is he "qualified?" Heck, no! He's the most inept president since Jimmy Carter (for whom, I confess, I voted and later regretted). But that' fodder for another time....
When I learned his people had released his Certificate of Live Birth, which shows he was born in Kapiolani Maternity & Gyn. Hospital in Hawaii, my first thought was, "What the heck took so long?"
The fact that the president has watched this controversy and until now only fought release of information speaks volumes. By his own admission, the question has been floating around for two-and-a-half years! You'd think that at least ONE of his advisors/handlers would have noticed that it had legs, as they say in spin circles, and was not gonna go away.
At this morning's announcement, however, he noted that he'd watched with "amusement" and was "puzzled" by the controversy. But why wouldn't people want to know, once the question was raised? Think about it. He was the first candidate for U.S. president -- at least in the modern era and maybe ever -- with strong blood ties to a foreign nation, and the first one who spent a significant part of his childhood outside the U.S. Why wouldn't we want to make sure he was constitutionally eligible?
Rather than addressing the issue head on, Mr. Obama danced around it, then later bowed up and refuse to produce any acceptable evidence. This morning, he called any interest in the question "silliness" for which we had no time. The whole thing was propagated, he indicated, by "sideshows and carnival barkers."
Granted, most people probably accepted that he was, indeed, legally eligible for the presidency. And he was right this morning: now, we can go on and deal with the nation's business. Still, the question had been raised, and it should have been answered definitively. Silliness? Perhaps, but not to a significant number or Americans who hold the Constitution sacred. We legitimately wanted to know.
His attitude toward the whole controversy was dismissive and arrogant. Even this morning, Mr. Obama's comments spotlighted his total disregard for people's concerns. His is a let-them-eat-cake mindset -- and his stubbornness regarding his citizenship questions has been an irresponsible waste of time, effort, and worse, taxpayers' money.
I had prayed after he was elected that Mr. Obama would grow into a competent and excellent president. That has not yet happened. He showed that at today's announcement. Once again, he showed us his nature: the typical two-bit pandering, ward-heeler Chicago politician.
Maybe he'll change. I hope so. We need a good president. But if he does not, I guess I'll just dance....
