The Birther Movement Won't Go Away, and for Good Reason

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs got it right when he bluntly said that the deal is that the legions who are adamant that President Obama is an illegal alien and should be dumped from the White House will never go away. Not only won't they go away but in recent weeks they've gained even more steam, and they've gained it ironically with the unintended help of birther opponents. Every newspaper, magazine, talk show host that damns the birthers as a bunch of wacky, paranoid, Obama haters stirs the pot even more. They do it simply by acknowledging the issue with a column or a show. The birthers revel in that, and they should because there's a canny, calculated, and politically cynical motive behind their Obama birth certificate agitation.

The worst thing about the controversy over Obama's birth certificate is that none have connected the dots and seen the birthers as the shock troops to torpedo Obama's political agenda. Their hope is that by sowing enough conspiracy paranoia about him they can do just that.