We’re better than this

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer told CNN today that the birther controversy "is leading our country down a path of destruction and it just is not serving any good purpose." The nation will survive this bout with madness, but Brewer is spot on about its utter purposelessness. But what does it say about America today – a nation that incubated the genius that resulted in the Constitution, built a nation across nearly 4 million square miles, survived near-destruction by a great civil war, emancipated a race (and itself) from bondage, overcame a depression, won two world wars, expunged Jim Crow and extended civil rights, invented the world’s greatest economic engine, and ultimately spawned a people who could elect an African American to the presidency – that so much attention has been given to the fevered fantasies of a Pied Piper with bad hair and his deluded followers? I suspect it is mainly a reflection of a rudderless, ratings-crazed news media and not that of most Americans. As our history shows, we are so much better than this.