Sometimes It's Better to Give In

Quite frankly, I've been trying to avoid presidential politics for awhile now. I'm not impressed with Obama, even less now than I was when he took office. And I'm already dreading the 2012 presidential race-- I don't see a chance of even getting to vote for someone that I can believe in, and I loathe the divisiveness and mudslinging and vitriolic speeches that come with a major election. But I am not completely cut off from the world, so when I heard on the radio this morning that Obama has finally released his long form birth certificate, my interest was piqued.

I'm not among those who were sure his long form contained some kind of proof that Obama wasn't born in the US. (Or that there was no long form because he wasn't really born in Hawaii.) Frankly, it didn't interest me. Obama's mother is indisputably an American citizen, so the whole issue seemed stupid to me. But I was curious as to why he wouldn't release the long form before now. It is such a simple thing to do to stop the lawsuits and conspiracy theories. (Do you know how much money has been poured into this issue? What a waste!)

Anyway, I looked at the birth certificate this morning online. I love looking at birth certificates of all kinds; it's one of the things I enjoy quite a bit about family history. Obama's was no less fascinating for the family history aspect alone. But let's face it, otherwise it was BORING.

There was not an interesting scrap of information on the piece of paper, except maybe the name of the hospital where he was born. (And that his mother's first given name is actually "Stanley." Who does that to their daughter????) It made me wonder why on earth the president waited so long to release it! For privacy issues? Was it really a big deal that people find out the name of the hospital he was born at or the name of the doctor who delivered him?

Look, I'm all for trying to keep your private life private. Unfortunately, when you become president of the United States, you lose the option of behaving like everyone else. People tour the house you're living in, secret service agents tail you everywhere you go, and yes, the public is going to demand to know things about your life. Even things you believe are insignificant. For my part, I wish Obama had just gracefully released the long form back during his original campaign. Then we wouldn't have had to hear about it all this time.

And even better, we wouldn't have to hear Donald Trump crow about having "forced" Obama to release the birth certificate. Gag. (If Trump runs against Obama in 2012, I will have to vote for Obama. I respect Trump fathoms less than Obama, and that's saying something!)