The Rebirth of Birtherism! Perry & Trump's Unracist Thinking

It's not easy to speak truth to power or long-form birth certificates. But Rick Perry is up for the challenge. Last week, when he was asked if he believed the president's birth certificate was real, Perry responded, ""Well, I don't have a definitive answer... I don't know." Perry substantiated his doubt by citing scholar and intellectual heavy weight Donald Trump: "I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night... That came up... He doesn't think it's real."

Hallelujah ! We are witnessing... a revival... a reawakening... a renaissance... a rebirth of birtherism! Birtherism is being reborn. We are living a rebirtherism. And it is a fun rebirth! Perry himself explained this week that "It's fun to -- to poke... him a little bit and say, 'Hey, how about -- let's see your grades and your birth certificate.'" Let the good times roll!

Like birthers, these rebirthers are dismissed as using smear tactics. But people like Perry and Trump are the midwives of freedom, delivering a rebirth of birtherism, helping birtherism re-rear its beautiful head. The only thing these rebithers are smearing is a placenta of patriotism, all over the country.

Birthers are marginalized as racists. But when it comes to Perry and Trump, race-card dealers are barking up the wrong and totally not racist tree. Just ask Donald Trump, who is keenly aware of his excellent rapport with black people: "I have a great relationship with the blacks. I've always had a great relationship with the blacks." He's so down with black people, he gets to call them "the blacks." Though he can't make the claim that some of his best friends are black, Trump can state that some of the people with who he has and has had a great relationship are black. And if that's not proof of non-racism, I don't know what is. Rick Perry's relationship with "the blacks" blows Trump's out of the (Wade in the*) water! Only a man with a lot of black friends gets away with calling his hunting camp "N*^#&$ Head Rock"! This guy has cred! And though he's too modest to say it, Perry has a very special relationship with "the blacks," and offers them that special southern hospitality; he provides them with shelter, food, routine and structure as they await their executions! Of the 321 people on death row in Texas, 126 are black. That's 41%, even though African Americans make up 11.8% of the population of Texas! Perry makes sure the blacks, disenfranchised and under-represented in so many ways for so long, are finally over-represented on death row.

*Some of my favorite songs are black!

 

Follow Katie Halper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kthalps

Comments

[Judith Jaehn]

11:44 AM on 11/01/2011

Perry and Trump need to climb back under that rock that Trump crawled out from under! They both disgust me!!! They are such an embarrassment to mankind!

[aphunkyphish]

06:40 PM on 10/31/2011

Birtherism is being reborn? I don't think it was ever born as a racist issue. Trump simply brought out what most people were curious about a president who revealed very little about himself. He sealed his academic records and none of his papers are available for review. Except what he wrote in his books, we know very little about a man who rose to power so quickly. We don't know exactly how he got to school, what were his grades, who were his clients or even if he has a license to practice law. He never ran a business or accomplished much besides community organizing in Chicago. He was a senator for a short time before running for president. Through no fault of his own, his parents are dead and we know nothing from them or his grandparents about his background being raised in a foregin country. Except for his association with Reverend Wright, we know nothing about his religious background or beliefs, his ex-girlfriends, the extent of his drug use or other habits he may have had, good or bad. Here is a man, with so little experience who rose to the most powerful position on the planet and you think people are racist because they are curious about him?

[martman1]

11:42 AM on 10/29/2011

Trump may have a great relationship with "the Blacks" but few people know that "the Blacks" are a white couple that live in his building.

[gavrielle]

08:32 AM on 10/29/2011

Grades? I thought grades and education didn't matter to conservative republicans when it came to electing representatives to government. What happened to the philosophy that being too intellectual is a drawback in a President? That anyone should be able to do the job, because it's really more about gut instinct, since you have "people" to do the reading and analyzing for you. Which is it? Intellect or gut? Or does that really matter anymore? Because as we all know (sarcasm intended) no one of color could actually make it to the top on their own merit. Certainly not a black presidential candidate.

Which reminds me, I want to see Herman Cain's birth certificate and school records. He had to have been just a token at the Federal Reserve and had silent (white) partners really running the show at Godfather's Pizza.

[ShinjiIkari]

05:17 PM on 10/31/2011

Perry wants to see President Obama's bc and college transcripts just to create the im[ression that President Obama is being sneaky and has something to hide. You know--like Hermn Cain's courtship rituals.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lNUZljJ_f0&feature=fvsr

[James De La Cruz]

02:52 AM on 10/29/2011

It must be sweeps time again. Pay no attention to Donald Trump or the network that airs his program.

[liberaltotalitarianism]

01:05 AM on 10/29/2011

You do not have to be born on US soil to be a natural born citizen. The fact that his birth mother was a US citizen is all that it takes to be a natural born citizen.
My sons were both born in the EU and are natural born American citizens with SSN# and US passports and will be eligible to run for president of the US when they meet the other requirements.
The real reason that they stalled in producing the long form is that he was listed as caucasian at birth which is irrelevant today.

[Josh Crawford]

05:49 AM on 10/29/2011

Were they born on a military base in the EU? I have a friend who was born in Okinawa in 1969 and he's a "natural born citizen". McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone and he's a "natural born" US Citizen. Whether on not he "mother" is a US citizen really has NOTHING to do with him being a "natural born citizen", as far as I know. But I may be wrong.... Can you give me a source for your ridiculous claim (and, no, your "personal experience" doesn't count!)

[ljb860ljb]

08:28 AM on 10/29/2011

All you need to be a "natural born citizen" is one parent a US Citizen. Location makes no difference unless both parents are not citizens, then your birth must be on US soil.

[oksuz]

08:36 AM on 11/01/2011

I was born abroad (not on a military base but in a public hospital) and I have a "Certificate of a US citizen born abroad" from the US embassy in the country of my birth. According to the US State Department, I was a US at birth.

[Andrew Kurzweil]

11:54 PM on 10/28/2011

Nein! Nein! Nein! Wouldn't the real news be that Perry & Trump think???

[thorolyfedup]

10:30 PM on 10/28/2011

Hyeah... never mind that fact that all presidential candidates are fully vetted prior to any major race.

[StacyJ]

08:58 AM on 10/29/2011

Who does the vetting ? The banks ? Wall St. ? The Mob ?

[ljkcan]

09:48 PM on 10/28/2011

They have a strange sense of humor. Barking up that birther tree is redundant, to extend it to grades says more about Trump and Perry than it does about the President.

It screams desperation.

[Fireslayer]

09:15 PM on 10/28/2011

The rebirth of Birtherism in Rick Perry's campaign is a sign of desparation as they struggle to glean support from the 25% of Republicans who still cling to this militantly ignoarant meme.

The fact of his 1960 Honolulu Advertiser Barak Obama birth announcement is insurmoutable proof that he was born in the US of A.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obama_birth_announcement.jpg

Forget them.

[Cory111]

09:02 PM on 10/28/2011

This is the desperation within the Republican Party. I think many would like to see Pee Wee Herman in the debates to add some major creditability.

[bowloforanges]

11:39 PM on 10/28/2011

I know you are, but what am I?

[James De La Cruz]

02:55 AM on 10/29/2011

That's right!!!

[Cory111]

07:58 AM on 10/29/2011

You posted: but what am I?”

Possibly a bowl of oranges?

[spud3]

08:56 AM on 10/31/2011

You know....if Obama had been up front from the very beginning about this topic none of this would be a topic now. A father who signed a document that the unborn child was going to be put up for adoption and then had a book written about him later by that unborn child . No college trasnscripts until it was convenient to share. No one really knows the facts about the person occupying the house at 1600 Pennslyvania Ave do we? Do you accept things you would like to believe as facts ?

[bowloforanges]

10:43 AM on 10/31/2011

Have you seen the birth certificates and college transcripts of every past president?

As a matter of fact, I have not seen one birth certificate nor any college transcripts of any candidate running for president.

Be pro-active do something now, before it is too late. Demand to see those documents.

And stop your whining.

[Cory111]

03:12 PM on 10/31/2011

Fact is you just don’t like this fellow, period. I think it’s not what he has or has not done it’s much deeper than that.
But the good news is after his election he will be announcing, “Fellow Americans there seems to be a segment of our country that has difficulty with one half of my nationality. So for the next four years I will be your white president.”
The skies over many states (I’ll omit mentioning which ones) will be beet red as the sun glares off the back of many bright red necks.

[arishaalboom]

07:54 PM on 10/28/2011

Trump and Perry are "political" bullies....!!!!!

[phal4875]

07:31 PM on 10/28/2011

Donald Trump proved his love and respect from those he calls "the blacks" by mentioning that he once met Sammy Davis, Jr. "The Donald" also said that he always liked Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's dancing and that he belongs to the same political party as Abraham Lincoln.

[Amazonia26]

06:39 PM on 10/28/2011

Most excellent!

[hipocampelofantocame]

05:22 PM on 10/28/2011

Clever to put Perry and Trump in the same bucket. It kind of points up the fact that the GOP's
having a hard time fielding candidates with any class to run in 2012. Talk about a disappointing
crew. I enjoyed the post.