Sure, there's Alan Keyes. But he's--how is most people refer to him? Oh yes--"bugf*** insane." And I'm sure there's a few still-angry PUMAs out there in Birther land, but they would be, what, 0.01% of Democrats? And some people made a point about McCain being born in Panama during the campaign, but it didn't go far because it was idiotic. McCain was born of American parents, serving overseas in the Canal Zone, making him obviously a citizen. Just like Obama.

But who's putting in this bill to demand birth certificates in Congress? Republicans. Who gets a birth certificate demanded of him, for the first time in American history? The black guy. Who's showing up at the Birther rallies? Angry white people.

More importantly, who's making absolutely no sense whatsoever, requiring us to speculate about their motives? Angry white Birthers.

Oh, and jerseygirl7?

Better to talk about those crazy Republicans. Maybe people will compare the crazies to the failure [Obama] and the failure will still look better.

Well, yes, that actually works. Don't like it? Stop encouraging the crazies. Either disown this movement, Republicans, or you're going to own it for all time.

Sounds logical, Xanthro. Let's extend the principle:

Our roads are not your roads. Stay off them.

Our Fire Department is not your Fire Department. Don't call them.

Our Police Department is not your Police Department. Don't rely on them.

(Say, since you won't be depending on the police, or our system of justice, anymore, where do you live, again?)

Our public schools and universities are not yours. Don't hire their graduates; we paid to educate them.

Our publicly-funded medical research is not yours. Don't use the new medical breakthroughs we paid for.

Of course, if you believe in something called "the public good," then none of the above should be any problem, and you should pay your fair share. A "fair share" is going to be higher for you, because you can afford it with less pain. There's no fairer tax than a progressive income tax, whatever Steve Forbes may imagine.

Oh, last but not least (and most difficult of all for us 99%): Our government is not yours alone. Stop trying to control it.

All the vindictiveness and ruthlessness of Nixon, one-tenth the intelligence.

Judging by their track records, say, of the Neocons, or the Masters of Wall Street, they look pretty danged inferior. I don't know that much about Irving Kristol, but his son Bill has never impressed me as being very bright. He's a legacy hire who's proved the downside of that practice.

It's not about Wise Patriarchs making frightful decisions for our benefit. It's all about making the second tier of American society untouchable; making them a new Aristocracy. To those ends, they have to go back to the old ways: rolling back habeas corpus, encouraging "newsmedia" that's loaded with irrelevant nonsense, addling the Rubes with religion. They must roll back the Enlightenment.

Celebrate the birthers. They are the embodiment of the First Amendment.

Bullshit. They have an absolute right to say what they want, but they have to be countered, mocked, ignored...whatever it takes to make sure they have no influence.

Democracy requires an educated, clear-thinking citizenry to maintain itself; that requires a commitment to starting with verifiable evidence. In other words, you can certainly come to any conclusions you'd like about any topic, but we must start with the same factual information about the world.

This Enlightenment-based way of thinking has been under attack by the Right in recent years. Yes, attacks on rationality have appeared on the Left, too--the Truthers, the Science Wars, etc--but the Right has waged war on reality as a basic part of "Movement Conservatism" since Reagan. It has produced a third of Americans who will not believe basic facts unless they come from Fox News. As a result, instead of dealing with the problems we face, half of our nation's political conversations revolve around never ending attempts to refute professionally-produced bullshit.

Yes, Obama's birth certificate is real. So is evolution. And so is Anthropogenic Global Warming.

Get your snoot out of the air, pally. If you can't point out that Glen Freaking Beck is a couple of tacos shy of a dinner plate, then you have no right to be "respected for [your] political commentary."

Sorry, but Teh Crazy has become a major part of the GOP "base" these days.

There's a far better analysis of the polls at Washington Monthly (link at sig). Basically, people are lost in the weeds over the (changing daily) reform efforts, and not paying a lot of attention.

Oh, and that healthcare legislation? It's written by Congress, not Obama. Yes, Obama will get the credit or blame if it wins or loses (and, if it wins, whether it's actually "reform" or an insurance co. handout), but he's not running the process. Or do you want another Imperial Executive already?

Oh, and as for much-needed bitchslapping, Pelosi delivered one today to the insurance companies for their propaganda campaign, adding "I am for the strongest possible public option." (It's over at HuffPo.) So that's encouraging. Let's see if she holds to it. (Note: a little encouragement or damnation towards your Congresspeeps over the recess wouldn't hurt!)

in the South, it's a different story...only 47 percent of respondents said they think the president's a citizen

Umm, of which country, the United States or Confederate States?