Robert F Kennedy Jr: Mitt Romney's Test of Moral Fiber

[Divine Discontent]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Mitt
Romney's Test of Moral Fiber
snip of longer article

January 9, 2012 08:42:03
I was surprised when Mitt Romney's son,
Matt, resuscitated the "birther" issue in New
Hampshire on December 29. Speaking at a
campaign event, the young Romney
deflected a question about his father's
refusal to release his income tax return by
citing a proposal that President Barack
Obama should first release his own birth
certificate. Mr. Romney, who has since
retracted his statement, apparently did not
realize that, at White House urging, the state
of Hawaii released the president's long form
birth certificate on April 25, 2011.
The White House deemed that action
necessary to quiet a noisy debate that was
distracting the country and damaging the
national interest. The basis of the tempest
was the Constitution's Article II Section 1,
which seems to prohibit anyone except
"naturalized American citizens" born in the
USA from serving as president. A small
group of conspiracy crackpots, theorizing
that the president was lying about having
been born in Hawaii, found a bullhorn for
their quackery on Fox News and hate radio.
Like milk on a hot stove, the bizarre
obsession of a lunatic fringe suddenly grew
to envelop even the rational remnants of the
Republican Party, drowning sane discourse
on vital issues of public import. It was
apparent from the outset that the topic's
steroidal appeal was its dog whistle
usefulness in highlighting the "otherness" of
America's first African American president;
there was no appetite among these
conservative cohorts for applying the Article
II Section 1 prohibition against the GOP's
2008 candidate, John McCain, a white man
born in Panama .

www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=1193612