A look back at how we got to this apex of the "birther" movement and — more frightening still — a road trip into the heart of Obama hater country. Part one in a two-part series.


This is the most frightening thing I have heard in a very long time: According to a poll conducted by the Daily Kos, which I fervently hope is wrong, 28 percent of Republicans believe that President Obama is not an American citizen. Another 30 percent are undecided. A wider survey to be released tomorrow takes that 58 percent of potential "birthers" nationwide up to nearly 70 in Virginia alone. And this is not in dispute: Ten Republican congressmen have now signed on to a bill demanding that Obama prove his citizenship.

If a majority of our conservative population and that much of its elected leadership think that even some of this "birther" stuff is remotely possible, some very dark times may be heading to this country. Early this spring, I spent two very long days traveling around Kentucky with Orly Taitz, one of the leading "birthers" in a nation full of them. So I can tell you with confidence — and show you later in this week's column and next — that this is much, much crazier than most people imagine — and alarmingly in sync with the "tea parties" and wild accusations of socialism that seem to define the current "conservative" opposition.

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Others argue that the whole thing is getting overblown because it's August — the "silly season" for news — and because the more reasonable and mainstream Republicans don't want to take a stand that will further alienate part of their base. This is probably true. But it also obscures a troubling truth: By focusing on the "news hook" about our president's birth certificate, we are ignoring the broader mixture of paranoid apocalyptic fantasies that feed this troubling — and growing, perhaps into the tens of millions — group of people. People who told me they're not just looking for the president's birth certificate. They're looking for his death certificate.

Bear with me before I introduce you to them, because the litany of events that got us to this point in American history should give anyone with a conscience cause for concern — or at least a moment's pause.