GOP Picks One-Time "Birther" To Rebut Obama's Health Care Speech [UPDATED]

UPDATE: An eagle-eyed reader points out that Boustany, after espousing his "Birther" views on camera, below, caved and retracted his statement on a Louisiana KPEL radio show.

-------------

Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany will be delivering the GOP response to President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress tonight. The Washington Post says that it's a "somewhat surprising pick in that he is little-known nationally and not part of the Republican leadership in Congress."

What is known about Boustany is that he is a heart surgeon. Somewhat ironically, Boustany is also the co-sponsor of the "Life Sustaining Treatment Preferences Act of 2009" which would mandate that Medicare reimburse the cost of end-of-life counseling -- the so-called "death panels."

But the most "surprising" aspect to the choice of Boustany is the fact that he is a Birther!

Back on July 27, guerilla videographer Mike Stark posted a video on this site in which he sought out the "Birthers on the Hill." As you will see, Charles Boustany shows up at about the 0.27 mark.

WATCH:

BOUSTANY: Well, it's certainly being looked at.

STARK: What do you personally believe, I mean -- do you think there's a question here?

BOUSTANY: I think there are questions, we'll have to see.

Those who have followed the ebb and flow of the "Birther" movement over the summer recognize that it is the most extreme product of the right-wing fringe, so much so that the lion's share of respectable conservatives eschew this idiocy as a matter of course. That's why it makes so little sense that the GOP would choose to rebut Obama's health care address flying under the Birther banner.

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]