Reply #3: That's just the problem

[gratuitous]

These cowardly bullies were never brave; yes, they were above-board when they controlled congressional seats and Senate offices, governor's mansions and sheriff's departments. But as soon as their grip slipped (or more accurately, when their bigoted blood-stained fingers were at last pried or snapped off the levers of power), they had to learn new ways of expressing their hatred and calling to each other in the lonely watches of their eternal night. The "birther" movement is one such manifestation: They can't very well go around saying that Obama isn't legitimately president because he doesn't look and act like "us." That would get them dismissed as racist kooks in a heartbeat. But gin up a fake controversy about being born in another country (like, you know, John Sidney McCain III), and you get to call Obama an alien or an outlander without looking quite so racist. And there will be plenty of people to make excuses for you, opine that you never actually called Obama a nigger, and paint it as some form of honest disagreement, well within the usual bounds of political discourse in our country.