Of Henry Rathbone and the President

© David Hartman

     I have to be careful here, otherwise I could easily re-title this blog: "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned From 'Homicide: Life On the Street.'" But all the fuss over the Obama birth certificate brought this little exchange between Det. Meldrick Lewis and Det. Steve Crosetti to mind. And it made me chuckle.
     Crosetti, played by Jon Polito, is an avid Lincoln conspiracy theorist, and while they wait for a shooting victim to regain consciousness so they can interview her, Crosetti shares his latest theory with Lewis (Clark Johnson.)
     I'm frankly amazed that the whole Obama birth certificate mess ever grew to the proportion that it did. It was brought up before the election, and the opposing political party spent considerable effort then to prove that Obama wasn't a United States citizen. They couldn't do it. Now halfway through a miserable term in office, critics of the unpopular president are grasping for anything they can to run the man out of office, including resurrecting this non-story.
     More amazing to me though is that even after Obama released his birth certificate -- which he didn't have to do -- the issue hasn't died. Those who still don't want to believe claim the document is a fake. In their minds that makes Obama even more sinister than they originally thought and adds more fuel to their unquenchable fire to get the man out of office. They also want to question college transcripts and anything else they can think of to drive farther down the dead-end road of impeachment.
     And that's just sad.
     I'm not an Obama apologist. I'll go on record to say that I'm a Democrat who crossed party lines in the last presidential election for no other reason than to avoid voting for Barack Obama. But the man's not sinister. He's not trying to make America a Muslim nation. He's an American just like me. An American who loves his country, but is incompetent to lead it. That's no surprise to anyone who did any research before the election. His record in public office before the presidency shows a lot of base building toward a run for the presidency, but very little actual leadership in solving any problems. He's a fine orator, just not a leader. Too many Americans fell for the soundbites rather than looking at the record.
    Fool us once, Barack Obama, shame on you. Fool us twice....
    And that just may happen, despite the president's unpopularity at the moment. So here's a thought, GOP: rather than trying to undo history -- which isn't going to happen -- how about focusing your efforts instead on grooming a viable, electable candidate to oppose the president in the next election? Donald Trump? You're joking, right? Sarah Palin? Good luck with that.
     Time's a wastin'. Give me a better choice and I'll cross party lines a second time.
     But I'm not going to waste my time believing the impossible: that Barack Obama became president without having to show anyone his birth certificate along the way. Heck, I can't even get a job in a call center paying a lousy few bucks over minimum wage without having to show mine.