A Nation Depressed

I've never tried to dwell on birthers. Racism is still found in old, white ladies who grew up with the belief that white people are better than black people. Racism is still found in young men, who've grown up with racist parents. Racism is still found in much of the South, where people grew up believing that black people's brains are smaller. Racism is found in the workplace. It's everywhere. American ignorance drags us all down. But what is also incredibly bothersome is the fact that our media, let's just say it, is so STUPID and IGNORANT, that it can't see--or has been reluctant to acknowledge-- birtherism for what it is, that it can't see Trump for who he is. Why can't we just call Trump a bigot? Why can't we explore his bigoted past? I'm sure there is one. The media has been a birther mouthpiece. The media bought the birther propaganda that Obama needed to show additional proof of his birthplace. They bought into the lie that Obama's released 2008 birth certificate wasn't enough. The media promoted birtherism to sell "news." But then again, Sarah Palin got the most clicks, despite her clear ignorance on just about every topic, and "queen birther" Orly Taitz, as wacko as she is, is more known than some of our prominent authors of the day.
It strikes me that this is a sad time for our country in all ways. The fact that the President of the United States had to release additional proof of his Americanism just kills me. As a nation, we're not just economically depressed. But hopefully, it's the dark night of the American soul that will give way to some light and enlightenment. It took the NYT long enough:

....If there was ever any doubt about Mr. Obama’s citizenship, which there was not, the issue was settled years ago when Hawaii released his birth certificate. The fuller document that Mr. Obama had to request contains some extra information, including his parents’ signatures and the name of the hospital where he was born, but it was unnecessary to show his legitimacy.

So it will not quiet the most avid attackers. Several quickly questioned its authenticity. That’s because the birther question was never really about citizenship; it was simply a proxy for those who never accepted the president’s legitimacy, for a toxic mix of reasons involving ideology, deep political anger and, most insidious of all, race. It was originally promulgated by fringe figures of the radical right, but mainstream Republican leaders allowed it to simmer to satisfy those who are inflamed by Mr. Obama’s presence in the White House.

Sarah Palin said the birth certificate issue was “fair game,” and the public was “rightfully” making it an issue. The House speaker, John Boehner, grudgingly said in February that he would take Mr. Obama “at his word” that he was a citizen, a suggestion that the proof was insufficient. He said, however, that it was not his job to end the nonsensical attacks. “The American people have the right to think what they want to think,” he said at the time. That signal was clearly received. Lawmakers in nearly a dozen states introduced bills requiring presidential candidates to release their full birth certificates.

It is inconceivable that this campaign to portray Mr. Obama as the insidious “other” would have been conducted against a white president. Read the whole thing at NYT

If I had to diagnose Trump, leading in polls (which doesn't really say much given the republican field), I'd say he suffers extreme pathological narcissism:

a personality disorder marked by a grandiose sense of self-importance. Patients are preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. In spite of these fantasies, they are troubled by a sense of inadequacy and respond to criticism, defeat, or rejection either by indifference or by feelings of rage, shame, humiliation, or emptiness. Their relationships with others are disturbed by expectations of special favors, exploitativeness, overidealization and devaluation of others, and a lack of empathy. Medical Dictionary

If you haven't seen this powerful commentary, you should: