Separated at Birthers

As an Australian I am a fan of the United States. For all its faults it is still a shining beacon in a world that is still largely impoverished, corrupt and undemocratic. The world needs a strong and vibrant America, if you think I’m wrong imagine what would happen to the world’s economy and security if America was to fold under the wait of its trillions of dollars of debt.

Having said that, there are parts of the America and in particular its political discourse that just flabbergast and leave me worried about the direction the US is heading. One example was the healthcare reform debate colloquially known as “Obamacare”.

Most first world countries view healthcare as a fundamental human right and as a result have created health systems that have a significant public health component, in Australia’s case public health (Medicare) is the hub in which the rest of the health system revolves, while still allowing consumers to choose from a reasonably competitive private health insurance industry.

Therefore the fierce debate that took place on whether 150 million additional Americans have access to that fundamental human right was absurd in the extreme from an Australian perspective.

Another debate that is absurd from any perspective is the rekindled debate on the President’s place of birth. As with seemingly all contentious debates in America, this was has generated its own movement known as “Birthers”.

The movement has been emboldened in recent weeks by statements made by on again off again Presidential nominee and reality tv celebrity Donald Trump. The Donald has bought into the argument put forward by the Birthers saying, “I want to see the birth certificate, how come his own family doesn't know which hospital he was born in? How come-- forget about birth certificates. Let's say there's no birth certificate. How come in the hospital itself, okay? This is one of the...in the hospital itself, there's no records of his birth. In other words, it doesn't say how much they paid, where is the doctor, here's your room bill.”

It is most likely that Trump is doing what he does best and that is generating self-publicity. I can help Mr Trump. Click here for Obama’s birth certificate.

Then you go, done and dusted, end of story, we can all go home now and concentrate on some real issues…but no.

Not only is it amazing that the Birther movement exists it is even more staggering that the movement continues to gain momentum ably supported and abetted by a number of Republican’s and the usual shock jocks and hack pundits.

Maybe it’s just another side affect of the 24 hour perpetual news cycle, or maybe its just another example of the passive racism that Obama has been subject to since his ascendency to the Presidency.  Whatever the motives and the carriage of the issue, it is a nasty and vindictive movement that fuels the political vitriol that has resulted not only in the dumbing down of important national debates but has also lead to more tragic ramifications as scene recently in Arizona.

Surely the American public and the global community deserves more from the leaders of the free world. It seems that the US political scene is allowing itself to be captured by fringe arguments generated by extreme elements.

The birther movement shows that elements of Obama’s opponents are bereft of ideas and genuine counter arguments to the President’s agenda. With America gearing up for what is likely to be one of the most heated Presidential election campaigns in a generation, let’s hope the level of national discourse can lift itself out of the gutter and into the hearts of minds of the American people where it belongs.

Comments

[Cin Langston]

I thought in your intro you were going to say something like, "Imagine what would happen to the world’s economy and security if America was to be run by the likes of the fools who believe in and make these signs." =) Nice post. It's interesting to see what other parts of the world think of our nonsense.

[Daniel James]

One thing is for sure Cin, if you take an interest in America, you’re very unlikely to have many dull moments!