Chal-Lunge!

I could not wait to write this...but if I did not know this previously, I am convinced that Barack Obama is an f-ing genius!

Yesterday, with the predictable fallout and hand-wringing over the release of his birth certificate to silence his critics, we all got hyped over the fact that he had to prove what we already knew.  And we were mad that he had to prove anything.  And while we all know that they will never accept his legitimacy and that there could be a range of reasons why (including race, fear of Islam, stupidity, etc.)...I just had an epiphany.

The birth certificate release was not done to silence the critics.  It was done to rally the troops.


As mad as we are about the act itself, angry about the implications, and frustrated why some folks just refuse to get it, we are missing a brilliant move.  Obama does not care about his critics.  He knows that they will dispute anything he says or does.  It is sunny outside right now, and if he commented on that, they would quickly retort that it had been raining this morning and that because he failed to mention that fact, he is a liar.  I could make up a hundred scenarios and the truth is that he is just that polarizing a figure (who thought anyone best Bill Clinton at anything).

So in a bold street savvy chess move, Obama said fine, here it is...and oh by the way, I've got better stuff to do than to worry about whether you believe me or not.  Did you hear that?  I'm the President, (dammit)!!!

And while they all work themselves into a lather over the authenticity of the birth certificate, whether he got into Harvard through affirmative action (which he probably did, but that is no shock), or whether he is a Muslim, he can go back to running the country.  And while we get ourselves into a lather about whether Donald Trump is a racist or just an asshole, Obama can get back to running the country...because he IS the President.

Magicians perform illusions that trick our senses into believing the impossible.  There are people who believe Obama is some kind of grand illusionist who tricked half the country into looking past his race, so every chance they get, they try to pull back the curtain to reveal that he is some kind of fraud.  Each and every time...he's still black and he is still the President of the United States. 

So bring it on!  And as for us--those who believe and whose anger has been chronicled by Facebook status updates and article comments and tweets and reposts of opinion pieces and on MSNBC, keep the anger and channel it into the very important job of getting the man reelected.  The haters will never be satisfied, but there is plenty of work to be done among those who want to believe again.

Yes. We. Can.