Birther Of A Nation, Again

It's one thing to be a nutcase like Orly Taitz and make a cottage industry out of suing the President over his "long-form birth certificate" and whatnot, and people like Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin, who chose to face court martial over not believing his Commander-In-Chief was born in Hawaii.

But it's entirely something else to see a retired three-star general like Tom McInerney back the crazy.  Dave Weigel:

How wild is McInerney's statement? This wild:

[I]t is my opinion that LTC Lakin's request for discovery relating to the President's birth records in Hawaii is absolutely essential to determining not merely his guilt or innocence but to reassuring all military personnel once and for all for this President whether his service as Commander in Chief is Constitutionally proper. He is the one single person in the Chain of Command that the Constitution demands proof of natural born citizenship. This determination is fundamental to our Republic, where civilian control over the military is the rule. According to our Constitution, the Commander in Chief must now, in the face of serious-- and widely held-- concerns that he is ineligible, either voluntarily establish his eligibility by authorizing release of his birth records or this court must authorize their discovery. The invasion of his privacy in these records is utterly trivial compared to the issues at stake here. 

And is McInerney a serious person? Yes. He's a West Point graduate who ran the Alaskan air command during the Exxon Valdez disaster. As recently as August 5, he was featured on Fox News and referred to as a network contributor -- he's typically referred to as a network military analyst. He writes and comments fairly frequently about how America could bomb Iran. Point is, he's not some kook, and now he's staking his reputation on... this.

This is now getting beyond crazy deep into dangerous territory on the birther stuff, folks.  Orly Taitz was a harmless annoyance.  Generals doubting Obama is ineligible for command authority over the military is a serious, serious provocation.

It's not a game anymore.