A Letter To America: Time To End 'Birtherism'

There is no question that for a very long time, I wanted to see President Obama’s “Live Birth Certificate.” I did not want to see this to prove one way or another his citizenship rather wanted him to be treated like every other President and U.S. government employee who was forced to show proof of citizenship. Today, that proof has been identified and released.

“Individuals who are born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and individuals born in certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States are citizens at birth.” (Title 8 U.S. Code Chapter 12 Subchapter III Part 1 sect. 1408a.)

Now that we have proof of a citizen by birth holding office, it is prevalent that American’s who doubted his legal status need to move forward. Many who believed he was not a citizen are upset–they are upset because they were wrong (unless of course the document turns out to be a fraud which it does not appear to be).

Part of me wishes the President was not a citizen of this nation; however, the other part of me is elated knowing that he is because it would be more than disheartening to see such subversive infiltration into the highest of government office. I am not angry about this discovery and nor should anyone else.

Every day I encounter someone who is simply angry in this nation. We have a lot to be angry about–politics, energy, unemployment, foreign policy, etc. Sadly, “We the People” are responsible though for our own nation’s shortcomings. We blame our politicians, media, and big government; shoot, we even blame musicians and professional athletes for anything we can find to put blame on. We have become a nation to blame everyone but ourselves. It is time that we sit back and reflect and start holding ourselves accountable–no one else.

Have we succumbed to become the nation of anger? Even when activities occur that we do not like or want to believe, we find a way to continue with immature baby nonsense. We now live in a nation where children can back talk their teachers, spit on law enforcement officials, and virtually get away with murder because they are learning from us and we are enabling them through our own actions.

If we dont like a specific politician, vote them out. If you dont like an athlete, dont pay to watch them. If you dont like the education your child is obtaining, do something about it! We have options in this nation and those options must be leveraged to assist what “We the People” desire. Simply pointing fingers and being angry will not resolve this nation’s greatest issues.

Today, rather than being angry that President Obama is a citizen of this nation, embrace it. Embrace this fact and let’s move forward to bring America back. We can only do this though if we accept our own flaws and grow a bit of thicker skin and hold ourselves accountable and responsible for the decline of this great nation.

P.S. America, next time you begin to cry about unemployment, high gas prices, and food costs watch a professional sporting event on television. Don’t watch the game itself; rather look into the stands–they are still sold out. It’s amazing that we fight the wars we fight today but we find a way to support multimillionaire athletes playing a game we could watch elementary aged children play for free. Fellow citizens, I just wanted to throw that out there to chew on a bit.

Kerry Patton has served in the U.S. Defense and Justice departments, and as a contractor within the Homeland Security and State departments. He has worked in South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, focusing on intelligence and security interviewing current and former terrorists, including members of the Taliban. He is the author of “Sociocultural Intelligence: The New Discipline of Intelligence Studies” and the children’s book “American Patriotism.”