How to deal with the birthers............

[inthebrain]

I say encourage them.

Let these people show themselves as the true paranoid xenophobes they are. The more they are in entrenched in this crap the harder time all of em have establishing or advancing any kind of agenda. Right wingers have talent for wasting everyones times. Their weakness is that they never recognize when they are wasting their own time.

[zipplewrath]

1. John Birch

The current birther movement reminds me of the GOP in the '50s or so when it was dominated to some extent by the "Birchers" and similar isolationist leaning movements. It was also the time when McCarthy was running around arguing about "who lost China". The thing to understand though is that the modern conservative movement moved into the main stream in part by divorcing themselves from the nut balls. In the end, it actually helped them organize because to some extent it was a desire to distinguish themselves FROM the nut balls that also helped them organize. It's what worries me about the birthers. As much fun as they are to watch, someone is going to use them to help redefine the GOP, and probably by marginalizing them. To the extent that we help marginalize them, we help the reorganization of the GOP.

The GOP is floundering right now not so much because of the whole nutball/birther/Palin crowd. They are floundering because they are the "Old White Guy" party. They have been getting there for the last decade and it has come into full swing. The nutballs stand out not because they are leading or dominating the party. They stand out because no one else is. But if a Jindal or someone as yet unnamed takes the lead in the party, they can wipe out the "Old White Guy" aspect of the party and the Birthers will just disappear, just as the Birchers did so long ago.

The Birthers are great comic relief, but they aren't anything to be "dealt with". What we must watch out for is the rise of a new breed of conservative/neocon/right wing. One that can operate outside of the "Old White Guy" structure. That is my daily worry.

[Catshrink]

2. McCarthyism

I was watching the Cronkite thing last night on Discovery and saw the part about the McCarthy era. Damn. It seems like McCarthyism is about to rear its ungly head again in the persons of Palin, Rush, Beck, Dobbs, etc.

[LynneSin]

3. You know the guy that open-fire at the Holocaust museum was a birther...

These people have guns and aren't afraid to open-fire on a bunch of innocents.

Best we give them as little press coverage as possible

[inthebrain]

5. I'd rather they rile themselves up out of power

than let them have the presidency where they have a national stage to do it.

[WeDidIt]

4. ABSO-FRIGGIN-LUTELY!

Beyaond that, get every last Republican Congresscritter on record about it, too.