Let's end the birther nonsense

Dear Editor:

The birther nonsense just will not go away. In all the years that I have followed politics, I have never heard of such a disrespectful and slanderous campaign against the president of the United States. Even Richard Nixon, the most railroaded president before Obama came along, did not experience such ignorant and distasteful conspiracy theories.

President Obama has released his long form birth certificate. The Honolulu newspaper published the birth announcement in one of its editions in August 1961. There is nothing to complain about and nothing to argue about. The president was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961, and that is a fact which needs to be accepted by the people who do not like him.

President Obama has done an excellent job in getting the economy moving forward on a slow, but sure, recovery. He has excelled in foreign affairs. He has appointed outstanding Supreme Court justices and federal judges. If his distracters disagree with him, that is fine. Let them present their plans for governing the nation and stop the innuendo about where the man was born.

Today's Republican Party has to stoop to historic lows in promoting birther nonsense because they have no plan, no platform, no ideas for governing. The old-time Republicans knew about compromising, nonpartisan cooperation and presenting sensible alternatives when they disagreed with the Democrats and others. Today's GOP leaders and their cohorts only know about mudslinging, intolerance, and closed mindedness which leads to un-American and unpatriotic birther rhetoric.

Sincerely

David Shipp

Castro Valley, Calif.