Both Batman and The Joker said in the 1989 movie Batman, “you made me.” The arch enemies were responsible for who the other became. At least at the level of cartoon sophistication1 Obots and birthers are arch enemies, although only the Obots have the right to say “you made me.” I hope, however, that the Obots, and this writer in particular, are not simply negative reflections of the birthers, differing only in their opinions on certain questions of fact. I think that they actually differ in many substantive ways, and in particular how serious they are.
I hope I don’t take myself too seriously because despite the apocalyptic language coming from the birthers, I don’t really consider the birthers a serious issue. Sometimes I make fun of myself with silly pictures of me. Have you ever seen a birther making fun of himself? No, birthers are all dead serious in preparing for the national cataclysm that never comes, hoping for the denouement of Obama that never happens, and hoping for respectability and recognition that has never and will never be theirs.
Yes, birthers are dead serious about a conspiracy theory of Biblical proportions. I’m just trying to understand them, and if I never completely succeed, no big deal.
1OK, some cartoons are more sophisticated than that.
Ive noticed this too birthers seem to be serious as a heart attack. A lot of them get all threaty when you destroy their nonsense claims.
“…when you destroy their nonsense claims.”
.
I posted my story, which is actually true, on Orly’s site. There were no comments, no attacks, no questions, just deletion of the post.
here it is”
“I started University of Hawaii in summer session of 1961, while there I ate at the foreign exchange student cafeteria, it was cheaper, breakfast was 25 cents. I got to know most of the foreign students, especially the Kenyan from Africa. He had a white wife that was pregnant and due soon. When the baby came he took us (5 of us, we drove he didn’t have a car) to the Hospital to see the baby. I said “what a cute baby”. I forgot about this until my wife reminded me, what none of us knew was that we were looking at the future president of US.”
They’re not interested in the truth. I was again reminded of this by john a few days ago.
When Obama came on a state visit to France a few years ago, French channel canal-plus managed to find out a couple of hoteliers he’d stayed with on a tour of Southern France when he was student, who remembered the articulate young American (crushing the Indonesian passport silliness) and I’ve yet to see any birther site echo that (admittedly small) bit of news.
Nobody expects the Spanish… uh, I mean, no-one remembers Obama, you hear me? No-one! SCREEECH! 😉
Last week I posted a non-threatening note to Orly warning her that her New York State “whistleblower” is probably an Obot punking her, because Obama wasn’t eligible for financial aid from New York State. My comment never got out of moderation.
Now the “whistleblower” claims to be unable to send Orly copies of the records because “My scanner’s adobe features were affected by the virus and I have been working all weekend to fix it.”
“My dog is a registered Democrat, he musta’ve ate it!”
I’ve noticed that an utter lack of a sense of humor is common with both extreme right and left-wing nutters….
You have to remember that from their point of view, they are standing in the gap against the overwhelming evil forces, waging a 24-7 one-person battle to overthrow the enemy and save their people…they have no time for humor, let alone perspective or understanding.
The closest they come to having a sense of humor is hurling sarcasm at their enemies.
If you make a joke at or about them, they explode about “defamation.”
It makes them easy targets for pranksters, though.
I am convinced there is a psychological correlation between extremism and a lack of a sense of humor.
I’m with you on this. You are certainly not the only one who notices such an apparent correlation…
“Have you ever seen a birther making fun of himself?”
I think this is a rhetorical question.
Yeah, they do it unintentionally every time they post…
Humour means being able to reflect on yourself, seeing things in more ways than one etc. If people are able to do any of this, they can’t be wingnuts anymore.
They can still be extremists of another sort (even murderous dictators love court jesters), but not deluded nutjobs.
Very true…murderous dictators knew damned well that they were evil people, living sybaritic lives of pleasure and torture at the expense of their subjects. They are often cynical about it…winding up their careers of genocide by being flown into exile on their patron nation’s air force’s transport jet, with wife AND mistress, finishing their days in luxury behind armed security guards…Pinochet, Duvalier, Marcos, Stroessner, and so on…so, as Shakespeare wrote, “I can smile, and murder while I smile.”
Doctor Conspiracy wrote: “I hope I don’t take myself too seriously because despite the apocalyptic language coming from the birthers, I don’t really consider the birthers a serious issue.”
I take birthers very seriously insofar as they are doing so much damage to the Republican Party. Democrats couldn’t ask for anything better.
Birthers are laughingstocks, but worse: they represent enough of the GOP that they are catered to by candidates, which in turn negatively affects how the party is seen by everyone else, especially young people and minorities.
Birthers have done their darnedest to permanently wreck the relationship the GOP would like to have with a large chunk of the public.
I deeply appreciate everything you’ve done and continue to do to chronicle and dissect their antics.
Well, I always take my self seriously! And it pays off because serious people send me serious stuff on the QT. Like this EXCLUSIVE!!!
http://birtherthinktank.wordpress.com/2013/06/27/exclusive-how-they-really-got-darren-huff/
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Indeed, though I would be careful to cheer a development where a two-party system may effectively be reduced to a one-party system. At least one should hope the sane conservatives either take the GOP back or found their own party.
Plus, the Tea Party. The TP has given us candidates like Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell.
Don’t forget Michele Bachmann, a crackpot and a hypocrite.
Be Nice To Bigots – Republican leaders tiptoe around the smear campaign against Obama’s faith and citizenship.
The party that was supposed to stand up to President Obama can’t even stand up to its own fringe.
Read on:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2011/02/be_nice_to_bigots.html