Birthers Aren't Crazy - The Are Winning! - Are 58 Percent of Americans Insane?

 - by Joseph Farah

Are 58 percent of Americans insane? Or is 99 percent of the U.S. media so hopelessly out of touch with mainstream American opinion and values that they are missing one of the biggest stories of the decade?

I ask these questions because there is a disconnect between polls showing a dramatically increasing number of Americans growing deeply skeptical about Barack Obama's origins and his constitutional eligibility to serve as president and the behavior of the establishment press.

An August 2010 CNN poll shows 58 percent of Americans don't believe Obama's birth narrative. A new poll of Republicans shows 51 percent don't believe Obama was born in the United States - with only 28 percent thinking he was.

Meanwhile, in the eyes of people like Bill O'Reilly, if you are not sure about Obama's origins or think he should meet this growing public cynicism with some actual hard evidence, you should probably be living in a padded white room.

Let me say this plainly, as the only newsroom executive in the U.S. who has pursued the story of Obama's mysterious origins with vigor: These polls place me and World Net Daily in the mainstream of American opinion and the rest of the press way, way outside!

I'm a moderate on this issue - unwilling to conclude, despite Obama's obvious unwillingness to do the right and decent thing by releasing his real birth certificate, his educational records, his travel records and other documents he has sealed under lock and key like national security secrets - that he was, indeed, foreign born. I am increasingly suspicious about his constitutional eligibility, and I am certain he is purposely hiding something. Those are reasonable conclusions based on the established facts. They are also conclusions that place me somewhere in the middle of public opinion.

But the near hysterical bloviating of Bill O'Reilly and company place them at the extreme fringe - among people who would believe just about anything the president claimed. It's simply not healthy for a free republic to have a press that is in the tank for the most powerful person in the country.

Neither should it be a matter of opinion more than halfway through Obama's term of office whether he is constitutionally fit to serve. It should be a matter of absolute, undeniable, verifiable fact. And it is not.

Thankfully, those holding elective office, at least at the state level, are not intimidated by the conjecture and ridicule of the elite media.

That's why at least 11 state legislatures are currently working up legislation to ensure Americans never again have to endure this kind of doubt about the person serving in the White House. As WND - and only WND - has reported, officials all over the country are promoting laws that will require presidential candidates, beginning in 2012, to prove constitutional eligibility before they get on the ballots in those states.

This, of course, is a perfectly reasonable and appropriate measure. It should be without controversy. After all, who wouldn't want to ensure that future presidential candidates meet the minimal criteria of the Constitution before getting on the ballot?

Yet, it is very controversial in the eyes of the media. Instead of regulating the most powerful people in the country to ensure they are following the laws of the land, the establishment press is going ballistic over the fact that obscure state politicians are taking matters into their own hands to ensure the Constitution is followed.

What's wrong with this picture? It appears Obama is not the only one with something to hide.

Apparently, the major media also have a dog in this hunt. Could it be they fear they will be found out? Could it be they see their own futures caught up in Obama's spin? Could it be, having missed a huge scandal, they have a vested interest in that fact being concealed forever?

No, I don't think 58 percent of Americans are insane. But I do believe 99 percent of the U.S. media are so hopelessly out of touch with mainstream American opinion and values that they are now actively covering up one of the biggest stories of the decade.

Joseph Farah is the founder, editor and CEO of World Net Daily and author of the book The Tea Party Manifesto