Barack the American
Published in L'Express
(France) on 28 April 2011
by Philippe Coste (link to original)
(France) on 28 April 2011
by Philippe Coste (link to original)
Translated from
by Mylène Perdreau.
Edited by Nathan Ladd.
Sorry, but the United States hit bottom today. It even hit rock bottom when after almost two years of rotten conspiracy theories and two months of Donald Trump's campaign — during which he kept fiercely claiming that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and so could not sit in the Oval Office — the President had to ask his attorneys to obtain a copy of his birth certificate from the state of Hawaii and release it on the Internet.
Clearly tired, bitter, and even looking incredulous, Obama delivered a short speech in the White House press room to express the obvious: The two weeks he spent struggling against the outrageous House Republican budget were simply hidden by the terrible controversy over his nationality. He had to take action. He had to look as if he had lowered himself to the level of the infamous "birthers" — this far right movement that denies Obama's legitimacy —instead of letting this absurd controversy be the focus of public opinion. Today, only 38 percent of Republicans are convinced that the President was indeed born in their country.
The xenophobic and racist whiffs of this whimsical story conjure up a well run putsch, an exciting delegitimization carried out by a fringe of the population who will not identify itself with a black man, an intellectual urbanite at the pinnacle of power. This very insurrection is sending shivers down our spines.
The media was pathetic as it tried to boost its ratings by acting offended at Donald's rants, which were turning more and more cynical. Then they realized what trap they had fallen into. By then, they had hit bottom.
Clearly tired, bitter, and even looking incredulous, Obama delivered a short speech in the White House press room to express the obvious: The two weeks he spent struggling against the outrageous House Republican budget were simply hidden by the terrible controversy over his nationality. He had to take action. He had to look as if he had lowered himself to the level of the infamous "birthers" — this far right movement that denies Obama's legitimacy —instead of letting this absurd controversy be the focus of public opinion. Today, only 38 percent of Republicans are convinced that the President was indeed born in their country.
The xenophobic and racist whiffs of this whimsical story conjure up a well run putsch, an exciting delegitimization carried out by a fringe of the population who will not identify itself with a black man, an intellectual urbanite at the pinnacle of power. This very insurrection is sending shivers down our spines.
The media was pathetic as it tried to boost its ratings by acting offended at Donald's rants, which were turning more and more cynical. Then they realized what trap they had fallen into. By then, they had hit bottom.