Four Laughable Explanations for Mitt Romney's Birther Joke

[maddezmom]

"No one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate," he quips. "They know that this is the place that we were born and raised." Without using our powers of telepathy to read Romney's mind, it sounds like a classic example of the guy saying something that offends people without knowing why it would. Here's why: Romney's a white guy who grew up in Michigan, whereas Barack Obama's a black guy who spent some formative years in Indonesia.

It's a simple story. Romney made a joke that relies on a debunked conspiracy theory about the president -- a theory especially popular with people who don't like blacks and foreigners. Romney's crowd cheered. He probably opened up a pre-convention worm-can that he didn't mean to open. This, I think, is why we're already seeing the comment spun away. The four biggest spins:

It's just a joke. Well, sure, but who's the joke for? Since the summer of 2008, false rumors have circulated online, alleging that Barack Obama's pregnant teenage mother flew to Kenya -- or something like that -- and gave birth to a kid who wasn't eligible for the presidency. Starting that year, activists started filing lawsuits, full of false information, aiming to get Obama kicked off of presidential ballots. In 2009, somewhat surprisingly, the conspiracy theory became even more popular -- more lawsuits, members of Congress proposing legislation to require birth certificates from candidates, endless rumors at sites like WorldNetDaily that encouraged people to support soldiers who refused to serve under Obama. Even through this year, Donald Trump has continued pushing the theory and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has convened a "cold case posse" that produced evidence -- all bogus -- that the birth certificate is forged. Romney's been endorsed by both those guys.

It's fair play because Obama lowered the tone of the campaign by joking about Seamus. Okay. Mitt Romney once put his dog in a kennel on the roof of his car and drove to Canada. But Barack Obama wasn't actually born in Kenya. Spot the difference? I completely see the comparison between the Seamus story and Obama's story of eating "dog meat" in Indonesia. Both of those things are embarrassing and they happened.

more: http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/08/24/four_laughable_explanations_for_mitt_romney_s_birther_joke.html

[Bjorn Against]

1. It was not a joke it was a statement

The tone he said it in did not sound anything like a joke and I refuse to use that word to describe it.

[begin_within]

2. ...because nobody actually believes you'll become President, Mitt.

[ecstatic]

3. "Both of those things are embarrassing and they happened. "

Yes, but Obama's happened at 6 or 7 years old. Romney's happened at 30+ years old. "Spot the difference?"