haven't heard enough about this, but it really makes sense. He'll just be old enough in 2012 and would speak to the "identity" aspect of the campaign in a better way, perhaps, than palin did this time around. As I've written elsewhere, I actually wouldn't mind a "west wing"-type debate between two principled opponents on the issues in 2012, and I'm hoping we can get that. For that reason alone, I really don't want to see Palin again, because she and her supporters seem constitutionally incapable of such a debate.

I still think Democrats win that debate, by the way, but the dream of a legitimate political discourse in this country is one that I continue to harbor.

Thanks for becoming a real-life cartoon!

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp

I know, I know -- this proves nothing. Facts prove nothing. The truth is in the pixels, right?

Keep talking -- you're bound to make some friends.

Shouldn't Obama's codename be "That One"?

...and saw her soul, right Camille?

I thought your last column couldn't be improved upon in terms of obtuse blather, but this hits all the low notes you didn't quite reach last time. The Weather Underground? I've seen the documentary too, and it doesn't exactly blow the lid off anything. Your birth certificate musings and Palin worship belong (far down) in the letters thread of Joan's column, not taking up precious eyespace above the fold.

It's extraordinary to me that this woman, who just lost a national campaign, is not only refusing to step off the national stage, but going out of her way to court more coverage and make her voice heard. If she really wants to "put the campaign behind her" and do what's right for the country, why can't she start by doing the decent thing and shutting the hell up? With all the appearances and coverage, you'd never know who won and who lost the election. Seriously -- I thought there was time-honored tradition in this country of election-night losers allowing the winning party and administration-elect to sort of, you know, dominate the news cycle for a while.

And by the way, I'm sure Americans will be turning for guidance -- on issues like health care reform, the economy, national security -- to that state that's always been a leader in these things: Alaska.

But if Mussina gets in, Jack Morris should be there too. To me, their stats don't look all that different; 20-some more wins for Mussina and a slightly better ERA, but throw in Morris's three 20+ win seasons and a couple of World Series titles, and in my book they're about equal. And Morris has something Mussina's resume lacks: a signature baseball moment, his 10-inning win in the 1991 World Series vs. Atlanta. Remember that?

Not to mention the all-time great quote re. female reporters in the locker room: "The only time I talk to a woman when I'm naked is when she's on top of me or I'm on top of her." Not a politically correct guy, Mr. Morris...

terrible idea trying to go after this right away, though i agree that it, and defense of marriage, are horrible laws that will ultimately go the way of the dodo bird. nothing could derail momentum faster than the new administration fulfilling the deepest fears of the evangelical right by pouring salt on this festering wound. which is not to say that it shouldn't be addressed. just has to be done smarter and better than clinton tried to do it.

i think change, on this issue, has to come from the ground up. if nothing else, prop 8 and the various other state bans have proved that. that means people going out knocking on doors, talking to neighbors, changing hearts and minds block by block, town by town. sacrifices will have to be made, pavement pounded. the gay rights movement likes to compare itself to the civil rights movement; clearly, we have not come close to the mountaintop and there's still work to be done. i don't know when, as a society, we came to expect that our leaders would simply legislate away laws we didn't like, without any effort on our part besides voting for them. laws reflect moral beliefs, and only change when those beliefs change.

this is not meant as a slight to those activists who have been putting their heart and soul into these issues for many years -- for them i have the utmost respect. but as i say, clearly there's more work that needs to be done.

and it's coming from your drawers.

listen, chucklehead, whether obama decides to fork over the "real" document or not, as alex and all these experts report, it's not going to make one jot of difference to rush, corsi, and morons like you. you will see some one-tenth of a millimeter misalignment between the letters "o" and "a" and decide it's proof of forgery all over again. or that he flew to hawaii to secure said forgery (this, to me, is almost too funny... obama waits till the EVE OF THE FUCKING ELECTION to suddenly fly home and PERSONALLY OVERSEE THE DIABOLICAL FORGING OF HIS B.C.!!!).

let's examine what's really at work here: it's nothing less than the last, desperate, twisted iteration of the "Obama is Other" meme. Obama is black, therefore he will govern in the interests of black people. Obama is a secret Muslim. Obama "pals around" with terrorists. Obama is a marxist-socialist. None of these lies stuck in the run-up to the election, so this is the only one left. Even if, as others have speculated, we could obtain actual video of Obama being born with fucking coconut trees swaying the background, and run it in a constant loop a la Bill Viola, it wouldn't sway the hard-core theorists, who are driven by a fear so deep it makes them blind to everything else; or, they would simply move on to the next theory.

Enjoy your psychosis.