Remember when popular Christian radio personality Harold Camping predicted when the world was going to end a few months ago? He developed a loyal group of followers, some who had quit their jobs and wholeheartedly believed that what this man said was the truth.
But Camping was so, so wrong. After three failed predictions prior to the one in October, it just goes to show that people are easily influenced and carried away.
The same can be true about what's happening in American politics today.
In the midst of the heated Republican presidential primaries and reelection tactics brought on by Obama's electoral team, the long-winded "birther" debate has been brought up once again. The debate questions the validity of Obama's natural-born citizenship and qualifications to be president.
Recently a Georgia judge required Obama to make an appearance to one of the birther hearings. However, I believe the president should not be defending his citizenship status when he has other priorities such as running the country for instance.
With the upcoming presidential election pushing forward, our country does not need to be distracted by pointless, irrelevant lawsuits when there are real issues that need to be discussed instead.
Similar to Camping, a lunatic named Orly Taitz has been the birthers' leading woman in the birther debate. In this quest to remove Obama from power, Taitz is trying to inform the public of Obama's unconstitutional position in office. However, she does not seem to do so with grace and tact.
You may have seen this woman with her bleach-blonde hair, dark eye makeup and high, ear-piercing voice butcher interviews on MSNBC or CNN. Eventually the interviewers seem to lose hope in her due to her never-ending babble and tendency to not answer any of their questions.
Mind you, this same woman has been previously fined $20,000 for a "frivolous" suit in which she tried helping two soldiers from getting deployed. Their reasoning: They didn't believe Obama was qualified to be president due to his birth status.
People like Taitz need to realize that groundless lawsuits only distracts the people of America and wastes our president's time when he has more important problems to deal with.
It doesn't matter whether you're a Republican, Democrat or neither; what matters are real issues that actually carry substantial weight. Such issues are jobs, withdrawing troops, gay marriage, healthcare and taxes. Not birth certificates. Ever.
Even though Taitz may have garnered a following, Camping did as well. We all know how that ended … or should I say didn't end.
Jaime is a junior majoring in English education.