Trump takes credit

Out of Africa: With Obama's birth certificate released, did the idiot birtherswin?

A portion of Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate.
Donald Trump is taking credit for Obama's move.
Can the president move on from this ridiculous "controversy" now?
Photo by Pete Souza/The White House

Let me begin by stating the obvious: If you are a birther, or harbor any doubts at all that the president was born in Hawaii, then you are an idiot. A partisan hack, perhaps; a racist, possibly; and a conspiracy theorist for sure. But mostly an idiot.

This is what news anchors can't tell you, under the philosophy that objectivity means accepting all opinions despite overwhelming facts and evidence to the contrary.

So despite having an official Certificate of Live Birth posted publicly on the Internet since 2008, despite having independent observers like FactCheck.org travel to physically see, handle and photograph the document, despite the Republican governor of Hawaii verifying she'd seen the long-form birth certificate on file, despite a matching birth announcement found in a Hawaii paper by a Hillary Clinton researcher, still the birther movement continued to grow.

By 2011 a majority of Republican primary voters thought Obama was not born in America, creating an opening for a mainstream figure like "sucessful businessman" and possible Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to not just wink at the birthers, but dive head-first into their lunacy.

So while Trump is correct that Obama's releasing a long-form birth certificate Wednesday is a direct response to his mainstream birther campaign, it's going to be a Pyrrhic victory.

There will always be conspiracy theorists and crazies who believe we have a Kenyan in the White House. Do you think this guy is going to suddenly change his tune or accept documents as presented? Is World Net Daily going to shut down? Absolutely not. The Smoking Gun has already published a helpful guide of idiosyncracies in the new birth certificate to jump start birtherism 2.0, so I'll be looking for them to show up in chain letters from my great-uncle any day now.

But for the rest of the Republicans and Tea Partiers, it's now a lot harder to deny the president's legitimacy and be taken seriously. Let this be the end of the triangulating statements like "I believe he was born in Hawaii, but I understand why people have concerns," and "I take the president at his word" (as opposed to declaring it a fact).

Republicans can now throw in their lot with the birthers and be discredited by the vast, important swaths of people in the political middle.

Or they can stop pandering and move on.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”