Birthers - The New Black Box Cynics

When Bush was running for re-election, many conspiracy minded liberal dems were on the war path. No matter how we voted, the election was going to be stolen because these new-fangled black boxes (they are just touchscreen computers, but "black box" sounds so sexy) were going to be rigged.

Their proof? Some numbnuts from Diebold told Bush on a stump speech that "Diebold would bring the votes for Bush". A lot of people took that literally. When you pour a little gas on a fire, it doesn't take much for the fire to spread. Soon, people were convinced that Diebold's boxes could be hacked and elections thrown.

This was nutty - first, Diebold wasn't and isn't the only supplier of voting machines. Second, each machine was generic. It had to be configured for a certain election. And lastly, each voting precinct had both democrat and republican workers overseeing the voting process.

Today's birthers are the right's version of the black box cynics. No matter what the evidence, they cannot be convinced.

I work with a couple BushBots - the 28 percenters who think Bush did a good job. I talked to one about Obama's birth and his reply was, "Obama received financial aid in the US as a foreign student! I don't think there is much you can say to dispute that!".

Obviously, that entire point was found to be a hoax - fabricated by other birthers. No matter, they still don't beleive the certificate of live birth - something most of them probably have - is real. The attorney general of Hawaii and other fact check organizations are lying. Further, Obama's mom put notices in the newspapaer to make sure Obama would be a citizen. Their heads explode when you point out the health department did this on their own - his parents had nothing to do with it.

It doesn't matter what you show, they won't believe. Obama could hand carry his original birth certificate to them and they would still demand more evidence. They are nuttier than the back box people by a long shot.

When you hear people say there is not a dime's worth of difference between liberals and conservatives, here's your proof - both sides have a fair amount of whackjobs on their side.