Kobach's 'birther' joke is no laughing matter

Kansas Secretary of State candidate Kris Kobach told a not very funny joke the other day at a Republican party event in Tonganoxie. According to the Lawrence World:

Kobach asked what Obama and God had in common. He said neither had a birth certificate.

Kobach tried to talk his way out of this mess, by saying he was just joking and had the gall to accuse Democrats of lacking a sense of humor. Joking about Sarah Palin's teenage daughter is not funny. Joking about bombs in an airport is not funny. And joking that President Obama is not an American citizen is not funny.

It's Kobach who lacks a sense of humor and a sense of responsibility.There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of jokes about Obama that can be found on the internet (here and here.) So why did Kobach pick this distasteful and dangerous one?

What Kobach seems to have been doing was pandering to the worst sort of ignorance and prejudice in the GOP ranks. The crazy idea Obama was not born in Hawaii or the US, but is some sort of Manchurian candidate is just plain nutty, but it is widely held in a certain GOP and right-wing circles. James Von Brunn, the DC shooter was apparently a birther.

On the other hand, Kobach put; his legal talents at the service of the racist FAIR and is basing his Secretary of State campaign around the far-right conspiracy theories that there is widespread voter fraud and the registration of illegal aliens has become pervasive.

The conservative talk show host Michael Medved has referred to the birthers as "crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters" who are "the worst enemy of the conservative movement."

News reports said that were Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, and Rep. Todd Tiahrt were present at the BBQ. Apparently, none of them was troubled by a joke premised on the falsehood that our President is not an American citizen.

Comments (1)

max

It's spelled Kobach and he's running for Secretary of State, not Attorney General.

Posted by max | July 16, 2009 11:34 PM

Posted on July 16, 2009 23:34

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