April 28, 2011: Author: ‘Birthers’ Will Never Give Up Conspiracy Theories Because No GOP Figures Will Dare Denounce Them

Author and columnist John Avlon says the “birther conspiracy theory should now be placed on the ash heap of presidential derangement syndromes that date back to at least the John Birch Society’s founder declaring President Dwight David Eisenhower a ‘dedicated, conscious agent of the communist conspiracy’—or, a Soviet spy.” However, this will not happen, he predicts, because in part no respected Republican lawmaker or pundit will denounce it. “Today, because the fringe is blurring with the base, conservative leaders seem afraid to confront the unhinged extremists in their midst,” he writes. Avlon writes that the swirl of conspiracies and allegations contained in the “birther” controversy include a number of related conspiracies—Obama is a “Marxist Manchurian Candidate” (see May 7, 2010] and April 27, 2011), he is a “closet Muslim” (see October 1, 2007, December 19, 2007, Before October 27, 2008, January 11, 2008, Around March 19, 2008, April 18, 2008, and April 26, 2011), and others. However, he continues, “[i]t’s worth noting… that the birther equivalent of the Bush years—the 9/11 ‘Truthers’—would never have been allowed to make such inroads into national debates or presidential politics in 2004 or 2008, by Republicans or Democrats.” The recent “bump in the polls” earned by billionaire television host and rumored presidential candidate Donald Trump for his aggressive promotion of the “birther” conspiracy theory (see February 10, 2011, March 17, 2011, March 23, 2011, March 23, 2011, March 28, 2011, March 28-29, 2011, March 30, 2011, April 1, 2011, April 1, 2011, April 1-8, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 7-10, 2011, April 7, 2011, April 10, 2011, April 21, 2011, April 21, 2011, April 22, 2011, April 24-25, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 26, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, and April 27, 2011) worried some Republicans, including former Bush administration political chief Karl Rove. The polls reflected what Avlon calls “evidence of the real costs that came with encouraging Obama Derangement Syndrome for political gain—the inmates start to run the asylum.” However, the birther controversy will continue unabated, he writes, no matter what documents or proof Obama releases (see June 13, 2008, June 27, 2008, July 2008, August 21, 2008, October 30, 2008, July 1, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 28, 2009, July 29, 2009, April 11, 2011, April 25, 2011, April 27, 2011, April 27, 2011, and April 27, 2011). Now the birthers are moving towards Trump’s insistence that Obama is hiding something suspicious in his college records (see April 26, 2011), “an affirmative action dig that tries to deepen the narrative of Obama as a monstrous fraud.” Avlon concludes: “History will be more unforgiving and see the birther conspiracy more clearly than we have in our contemporary debates. It will be hard to miss the fact that so much time and energy was spent trying to prove the illegitimacy and un-American-ness of our first black president. It will seem shameful. And it is.” [Daily Beast, 4/28/2011]