Orange You Glad He's Fighting The Birthers?

Orange Julius may be Speaker of the House, but it's "not his job" he said on Meet The Press to tell the Republicans in his own caucus that lawmakers have to stop with the Birther crap.

GREGORY: Do you not think it’s your responsibility to stand up to that kind of ignorance?

BOEHNER: David, it’s not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people. Having said that, the state of Hawaii has said that he was born there. That’s good enough for me. The president says he’s a Christian. I accept him at his word.

GREGORY: But isn’t that a little bit fast and loose? I mean, you are the leader in Congress and you are not standing up to obvious facts and saying these are facts, and if you don’t believe that it’s nonsense?

BOEHNER: I just outlined the facts as I understand them. I believe that the president is a citizen. I believe the president is a Christian, I’ll take him at his word.

GREGORY: But that kind of ignorance over whether he’s a Muslim doesn’t concern you?

BOEHNER: Listen, the American people have the right to think what they want to think. I can’t — it’s not my job to tell them.

Sure, they have the right to think Obama's the Antichrist, or that he's a Kenyan/British citizen, and it's not his job to tell Americans what to think.  Apparently, like evolution, global warming, and the Earth being millions of years old, Obama being an American citizen is just a theory, and opinions differ.

Also, next time Orange Julius tell you what to think, remind him it's not his job to tell you want to think.  Steve M. points out the obvious here about the rise of Birtherism at the GOP state level:

But if birtherism really is so embarrassing to "Republicans averse to conspiracy theorizing," then why don't Democrats somehow force Republicans to take a stand on it -- say, in a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate? Why not take a birther bill, force it to the floor, and let the D.C. press corps and angry birthers watch how GOP senators vote? Shouldn't that be lose-lose for Republicans? Either they alienate the birther crazies or they demonstrate to the Village that they stand with those crazies?

Oh, yeah, I forgot: if Democrats ever tried doing that, the issue would be what a low, mean trick the Democrats were playing. Republicans would just take their ball and go home -- they'd shut down any negotiations they're involved in on what little legislation they'll let pass in this session. They'll snivel to their friends in the press that the Democrats are being mean to them. John McCain will get that world-weary tone of quietly righteous indignation on a Sunday morning talk show (or two, or five). It'll be a cheap stunt. It'll be all about Democratic "childishness."

Even worse, Republicans will say that by allowing a vote on a Republican birther bill, the Democrats are the ones giving credence to these rumors while at the same time they'll say that clearly this stuff is on the mind of the people and shouldn't the President really take responsibility for putting these questions to rest?

Naah, birtherism will continue until Obama's gone.