Via Johnathan Chait, six states are considering legislation inspired by the claim that our current president was not born in the United States.
Chait points us to Arizona’s proposed legislation in their House that stipulates:
if the secretary of state has reasonable cause to believe that the candidate does not meet the citizenship, age and residency requirements prescribed by law, the secretary of state shall not place that candidate’s name on the ballot.
Why is this particular brand of public “nut-job-ism” gaining traction in state legislatures? Because according to a new New York Times/CBS poll, 42% of Americans either do not believe or are not sure that President Obama is a U.S. citizen…this percentage is no doubt higher in places where the public mix of ideology, education level, and attitudes towards race make this particular myth more appealing.
I understand that wacky conspiracy theories are significant part of our politics. Remember, Clinton was a drug dealer? Bush was a cocaine addict? Loose change? A 2006 Scripps/Howard poll found that 36% of Americans thought that the federal government knew about the 9-11 attacks.
Great. Fine. Have at it. Normally, I’d give little thought to “fringe” opinion in the U.S. polity. But when a “fringe” opinion coalesces into a movement and is taken seriously by mainstream media, then I think there’s room to worry. In a liberal, democratic society, nut-jobs should add comic-relief to public discourse, not drive legislation!
Comments 2
Jacob — April 21, 2010
Amen, their crazyiness has really gone too far. It's becoming more and more obvious that this is more than just about policy disagreement: http://www.coffeehousetalks.com/2010/04/another-venture-into-tea-party.html
Kenneth M. Kambara — April 21, 2010
My thoughts. Well, I think the White House should put his birth certificate on tour, like the BODIES exhibits. Charge admission & have other supporting documents on display. Anyway.
This does bring up an interesting point about policy formation and how certain issues resonate and get traction without any real basis. On my other blog, I did a post on the localvore movement {production/consumption of locally-grown/raised foodstuffs} and carbons. Many of the detractors and the media focus on the lower carbon footprint issue, which is a complex one to say the least.