This ‘(non) issue’ has a lot of relevancy to the immigration debate which also.. is a hot topic down south.

In the past, I have commented in response to those wanting tighter immigration controls that when it came to ‘legal’ status, less was more. The less documentation you had the more like a citizen you were. All you need is a valid SSN. No really, thats all you need. So… my argument would proceed to ask those reading who are presumably to prove their ‘citizenship’. And… well.. a ‘birth certificate’ was an invalid…. read that again… an invalid piece of paperwork due to its very insecure nature. The long and short was that the only valid legal document establishing your citizenship came down to your passport which in essence is a document from the government validating that you are a citizen. Nothing about a passport discerns whether you are natural born or not.

So… this whole birther thing… for how stupid it is… is also fascinating because it has very real relevancy to the immigration debate. It seems to me that it could backfire on all those birthers too…. can they prove that they were natural born or even citizens? If they were to successfully invalidate the Hawaiin birth certificate, it has national implications for millions of folks and municipalities who keep these records.

Sorry to say this but my sense is that this is rooted in chauvinism and race. He isn’t white enough nor grounded enough in the American heartland for these people. The same crap is directed to immigrants, even naturalized legal ones. No amount of paperwork or proof will ever satisfy them. This is the real issue and it needs to be confronted head on.