# Do conspiracy theorists like "birthers" damage the brand of their party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004 "2009-08-01T21:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/21 "2009-08-02T19:42:12Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > There are a lot of conspiracy theorists out there. Many of them can’t really be tied to a single party. Moon landing deniers, Kennedy conspiracists, e.g. > > Others are, fairly or unfairly, tied more to one party or another. E.g. 911 truthers are linked to the left. Holocaust deniers are linked to the right. Whatever “links” some ascribe to either major political party are extremely dubious. Holocaust denialists, for example are a species of slime largely independent of mainstream identifiers like party affiliation. You can find [Democrats](http://www.democracyforums.com/showthread.php?p=2030) who go for this stuff as well as Republicans, but that’s only because you can’t vote for or run as Venomous Turd Party candidates on the typical ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/22 "2009-08-02T19:50:38Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > No. Just that the followers of any organization or event do influence my opinion of the organization. Like I’m repeatedly told that when a demonstration include a non-trivial number of conspiracy whack-jobs, I’m supposed to just ignore that and focus on the remaining. It doesn’t work that way for me. This statement is disturbing to me! You imply that you are willing to cast aspersions on the Democratic party for the whack jobs who protest the G8 summit and are busy “_digging up photos of Sarah Palin’s and her daughter and closely studying and discussing the size of their bellies and breasts and what not_.” So you won’t mind if I associate the Republican party with the KKK and other white supremacist groups and assume that racism is the official stance of the Republican party. Hell, the former [Grand Wizard of the KKK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_duke) was even a Republican member of the US House of Represtatives. There are [other](http://www.cafepress.com/rightwingstuff.9176725) right wing Republican party members that want to bomb France. Can I assume this is an official stance of the Republican Party also? Or should I ignore these whack jobs and focus on the remaining? Personally, I have never seen leftist whack jobs in large numbers and Democrat party campaign events or sponsored town hall style meetings. II have seen them at anti-war and anti-globalization demonstrations, but these are not endorsed by the Democratic party, so why are you connecting them? Should I associate all Republicans with the Klan because a bunch of assholes had a Klan rally and a lot of people there also happen to vote Republican? Look, I know you are not an American, but you sure have expressed strong opinions on American politics here in the past. You seem to assume all Democrats are the same as the worst Leftist but most Republicans are as good as the best Conservative. I am an independent, but I have voted almost entirely for Democrats since 2000. Please don’t smear me with the droppings of those Leftist whack jobs, and I won’t assume you are a racist war mongering psychopath. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/23 "2009-08-02T20:29:12Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I am staggered that 23% of Americans are at least doubtful whether Obama was born in the US. There are two internet ‘rules’, that, while humorous, like Murphy’s and Sturgeon’s laws, are worth keeping an eye on, in situations like this. And no, I’m not talking Godwin. The first, of course, is the famous John Gabriel Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. > **[Green Blackboards (And Other Anomalies) - Penny Arcade](https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/green-blackboards-and-other-anomalies)** > > Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary. The second, and lesser known, but more pertinent to this issue is John Rogers’ Crazification Factor theory. > **[Lunch Discussions #145: The Crazification Factor](http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/10/lunch-discussions-145-crazification.html)** > > John: ... I mean, what will it take? That last speech literally made no sense . It was crazy drunken bar talk! Islamic radicals are lik... > [@](#): > > I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population. > … > Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification – either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/24 "2009-08-02T20:33:17Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > There are [other](http://www.cafepress.com/rightwingstuff.9176725) right wing Republican party members that want to bomb France. Can I assume this is an official stance of the Republican Party also? Oh, hell! **I** want to bomb France. That sentiment transcends all party lines. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/25 "2009-08-02T20:53:00Z")
> [@fuzzypickles](#): > > Since when?? It seems to me that 911-Truthers are typically anti-semetic, which would make them lean more to the right than left. Your wish for it to be so doesn’t make it so. Truthers are associated with the left by pretty much everyone. And I have never heard of anti-semitism being associated with the right, mostly I have heard of it associated with the left these days. Generally the right is favorable to Israel in this nation. In otherwords this post was just too without merit to let pass. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/26 "2009-08-02T20:55:27Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > In the 1980 campaign, Reagan made a few pointed comments about the Trilateral Commission. The Trilateral Commission isn’t a conspiracy theory, at least not by the **FinnAgain** view of it. Because the Trilateral Commission really exists and really tries to influence national policy in America, Europe and Japan. The Trilateral Commission stuff isn’t baseless. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/27 "2009-08-02T21:07:43Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Your wish for it to be so doesn’t make it so. Truthers are associated with the left by pretty much everyone. > > And I have never heard of anti-semitism being associated with the right, mostly I have heard of it associated with the left these days. Generally the right is favorable to Israel in this nation. The theory that Bush arranged for the 9/11 attack didn’t come from the right, that’s for sure. And I thought republicans have generally been more Israel-friendly than democrats 😕 I don’t think the loonies on either side hurt their parties very much. Who takes people who are still trying to work out how Palin’s son Trig is really her grandson despite her daughter being pregnant at the same time or people who can’t figure out that even if Obama was born abroad he would be a US citizen anyway due to his mom being an American seriously anyway? Besides other like-minded folks, that is. Their ideas get press, but repect? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/28 "2009-08-02T22:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes. That’s right. I never paid much attention either way. Just found it hilarious how a large part of the blogophere was digging up photos of Sarah Palin’s and her daughter and closely studying and discussing the size of their bellies and breasts and what not. > [@](#): > > I don’t think the loonies on either side hurt their parties very much. Who takes people who are still trying to work out how Palin’s son Trig is really her grandson despite her daughter being pregnant at the same time Just to clear this up: this was a story in the lefty blogosphere for about 12 hours, if that. Someone put together what appeared to be a very good case for Bristol being pregnant instead of Sarah, but it didn’t take long for other evidence to show up making it clear that Sarah really was pregnant. Shortly after that was when Sarah had her press conference to announce that Bristol was pregnant. The main nexus of speculation was a thread at Daily Kos, which was deleted later that same day. Some people have continued to ask questions about the Trig’s birth, primarily about the wildly irresponsible trip she took back to Alaska from Texas after her membranes had ruptured. The Palin campaign’s answer to any question about it has been to wail and gnash their teeth about how evil the liberal media is to her precious, precious family. But no one seriously believes at this point that anyone other than Sarah gave birth to Trig. That’s why, as conspiracy theories go, it isn’t in the same universe as the Birthers–it wasn’t impervious to evidence. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/29 "2009-08-02T22:29:21Z")
Heh well, to put it into perspective. 9/11 Trutherism will get you banned from the Daily Kos and laughed at on the SDMB, two major bastions of the left-wing blogosphere. Birtherism on the other hand gets prime time coverage on Fox News. Just sayin… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_McAwful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@Larry\_McAwful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_McAwful)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/30 "2009-08-03T01:23:19Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > And I have never heard of anti-semitism being associated with the right, mostly I have heard of it associated with the left these days. Generally the right is favorable to Israel in this nation. Hmm… anti-Semitism involves opposing, defaming and defiling Jews at every turn. Support or opposition toward Israel is not the same thing. Many on the right in America only favor Israel because they believe that Biblical prophesy says that once Israel is unified, there will be a war in Armageddon and Jesus will return. That sounds more like they view Israel as a pawn than as a country they support. What people who are interested in more than just throwing invective around associate the American left with anti-Semitism? Or, for that matter, the American right? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/31 "2009-08-03T02:55:26Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Birtherism on the other hand gets prime time coverage And now they’ve come up with what they’re claiming is [Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate](http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764). ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_McAwful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@Larry\_McAwful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_McAwful)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/32 "2009-08-03T03:10:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And now they’ve come up with what they’re claiming is [Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate](http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764). Jesus Christ! What the hell is wrong with these people?! They grouse about how Obama’s Hawaiian birth certificate was generated post facto, but say nothing about how this one was generated two and a half years after Obama’s birth! Now I’m just waiting to see how they explain away the birth announcement for Barack Hussein Obama II in the Hawaiian papers within days of his birth in 1961. That should be interesting. Worse, though, is that I think they’re actually going to come up with something to explain it away. Does the Trilateral Commission have control over Hawaii’s newspaper archives? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/33 "2009-08-03T03:31:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And now they’ve come up with what they’re claiming is [Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate](http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764). Good quick reply from this DalyKos diarist: > **[Why the "Kenyan Birth Cert" is a fake](https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/2/761117/-Why-the-Kenyan-Birth-Cert-is-a-fake)** > > The Old Redneck has sipped a couple of gin and tonics and has taken a long look at the "Kenyan birth certificate" recently released by Birther-in-Cheif Oily Tits. > > It's a fake. > > Because: > [@](#): > > It’s a fake. Because: > > 1. Says “Republic of Kenya” but is dated February 1964. Kenya did not become a republic until 12 December 1964. Ooops. > > 2. The document is dated 5 August 1964 – a Saturday. From what I can find, Kenyan guvmint offices close early on Friday and are closed on Saturdays. Oooops. > > 3. And did you notice the document file number at the top of the page? 47,044. Obama is 47 years old and is the 44th president. > > 4. Check out the name on the certificate, Signature of Registrar: E. F. Lavender. E. F. Lavender is a common soap in Kenya. Heh, heh. > > 5. This piece of paper certainly looks nice and new to be 45 years old – unless the Kenyans were using acid-free paper back in 1964. Heh, heh. > > 6. Finally, Officials of Coast Province General Hospital reported: “We do not have computerized records going back to the 1960’s and can only sort through our archives by hand,” Dr. Christopher Mwanga, an administrator at the Mombasa hospital tells GLOBE. “We have searched for all the names of babies born on Aug. 4, 1961, and have not found the name of Barack Hussein Obama. That is all I can tell you.” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/34 "2009-08-03T03:43:02Z")
[Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate surfaces.](http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764) Oops, beaten to it. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/35 "2009-08-03T03:48:59Z")
Yep, in these times World Nut Daily can get debunked almost in real time. 🙂 The real test now will be if Fox or other media outlets dare to touch this. I bet that it will be presented by right wing sources with their almost patented weasel question mark at the end of the headline, just as WND did there. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/36 "2009-08-03T07:02:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > And now they’ve come up with what they’re claiming is [Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate](http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=105764). I have never laughed so hard reading the dope! I love it! ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/37 "2009-08-03T07:30:03Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > This statement is disturbing to me! You imply that you are willing to cast aspersions on the Democratic party for the whack jobs who protest the G8 summit and are busy “_digging up photos of Sarah Palin’s and her daughter and closely studying and discussing the size of their bellies and breasts and what not_.” So you won’t mind if I associate the Republican party with the KKK and other white supremacist groups and assume that racism is the official stance of the Republican party. Hell, the former [Grand Wizard of the KKK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_duke) was even a Republican member of the US House of Represtatives. There are [other](http://www.cafepress.com/rightwingstuff.9176725) right wing Republican party members that want to bomb France. Can I assume this is an official stance of the Republican Party also? Or should I ignore these whack jobs and focus on the remaining? Personally, I have never seen leftist whack jobs in large numbers and Democrat party campaign events or sponsored town hall style meetings. II have seen them at anti-war and anti-globalization demonstrations, but these are not endorsed by the Democratic party, so why are you connecting them? Should I associate all Republicans with the Klan because a bunch of assholes had a Klan rally and a lot of people there also happen to vote Republican? > > Look, I know you are not an American, but you sure have expressed strong opinions on American politics here in the past. You seem to assume all Democrats are the same as the worst Leftist but most Republicans are as good as the best Conservative. I am an independent, but I have voted almost entirely for Democrats since 2000. Please don’t smear me with the droppings of those Leftist whack jobs, and I won’t assume you are a racist war mongering psychopath. That’s not what I wrote. I said the followers of an organization or event. If people protesting at G8 summits or pouring over pictures of Sarah Palin’s belly are Democrats, then it will influence my view of the Democratic party and if a non-trivial portion of an anti-war demonstration carry on with dumb-ass stupidity then it will influence my opinion on the demonstration. To the extend that it is beyond marginal fringe and given acceptance by the main. If some other non-Democrat people do some other silly stuff, of course this will not influence my opinion of the Democrats. And of course I have said nothing at all about individuals. You will only be judged by your own actions. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_McAwful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@Larry\_McAwful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_McAwful)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/38 "2009-08-03T11:30:24Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Good quick reply from this DalyKos diarist: > > [Why the "Kenyan Birth Cert" is a fake](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/2/761117/-Why-the-Kenyan-Birth-Cert-is-a-fake) Good list. Here’s another problem with that document, nicely explained by a poster on the DailyKos: > [@](#): > > [Debunking the unbearably stupid](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/2/761144/-Debunking-the-unbearably-stupid) > > The curious inscription 7s. 6d. appears in the upper left hand corner of the document. At first glance, this would appear to be a price: in British usage, s. and d. are common abbreviations (standing for the Latin solidus and denarius, respectively) representing shillings and pence (pennies). > > So presumably 7 shillings and 6 pence was the price one paid to get issued this document; or perhaps an internal price used within the government related to the production or distribution of the document. > > Why 6d.? Well, in the pre-decimal coinage of the United Kingdom (i.e. before 1971), a shilling was worth exactly 12 pence (12d.) A “sixpence” was a common coin worth half a shilling. So a fractional price between whole shilling values would very often be set at 6d. > > That makes the price a very plausible one – for Great Britain. Unfortunately, the document was supposed to have been issued in Kenya. Between 1921 and 1966, the Kenyan currency was the East African shilling – used in the British colonies of East Africa, including Kenya, Tanganyika (now the larger part of Tanzania) and Uganda. And the East African shilling was divided not into 12 pence – but into 100 cents, like the American dollar. It was replaced in 1966 by the Kenyan shilling, also divided into 100 cents. A document priced at seven and a half East African shillings would have been labeled as 7.50, not 7s. 6d. > > Something is wrong here. I do not know what, but I can guess one of two things: first, that the document is not Kenyan at all, but is an altered British document, with superficial changes to make it look Kenyan; or it is a Kenyan document, that at some point or other was being sold or offered for sale to a British market. But the price is certainly not a Kenyan price. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/39 "2009-08-03T13:01:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m using the birthers as the example, but any conspiracy theory’s damage or boost to a party is a welcome topic. I don’t think it does. Sure, the birthers are an embarassment to the Pubs, but the Dems have similar numbers of people who believe Bush Jr. knew that 9/11 was going to happen. What’s worrisome is that both parties seem to be retreating ever more deeply into their own parallel universes that have nothing to do with reality. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004/40 "2009-08-03T15:44:23Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > I don’t think it does. Sure, the birthers are an embarassment to the Pubs, but the Dems have similar numbers of people who believe Bush Jr. knew that 9/11 was going to happen. I keep hearing this as the counter (don’t know if it’s true or not either) but I think the principle difference here is “mainstream” vocalization. Between taking over town-hall meetings, support from TV and radio personalities and continual lawsuits, I think the level of Birther noise is what makes it a danger to the party. It’s a look of legitimacy within the party, that this really is what a “lot” of GOPers believe. Sure, the Truthers have given us crap like the Loose Change video but I don’t think it compares to Lou Dobbs on CNN saying it’s a valid concern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-conspiracy-theorists-like-birthers-damage-the-brand-of-their-party/505004.md?page=3)