"Of Course" We Shouldn't Be Confused By Your "Legitimate" Questions and Pandering to the Birther Crowd

"Door Number One? Or Door Number Two?"

Imagine you're running for the United States Senate. A person asks you a simple question, "Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States of America?"

Here are two potential options. 

Option 1

1. Say, "Yes."

Option 2

1. Mumble, and avoid answering the very basic question.
    
2. Give a clever, "I don't have any reason not to believe he was not born in the United States" answer.
    
3. Immediately follow up your answer by inaccurately suggesting that Obama is hiding documents about his birth, and stating that the birther crazies are asking "legitimate" questions."
    
4. Demonstrate your ignorance of the basic facts concerning the widely, widely debunked controversy.
    
5. Just for effect, ask again why Obama won't produce a birth certificate.
    
6. When video of your conversation is posted online, have your spokesman incorrectly state that your comments were taken out of context.
    
7. The next day, when asked to clarify by a Washington reporter, have your spokesman refuse to answer multiple direct queries about whether or not Obama is a citizen.
    
8. Have your spokesman accuse the blogger who posted your statements of dishonestly editing your comments.
    
9. Watch the unedited version of the video, posted at your request.
    
10. After the full video is out, have your spokesman claim that "of course" you believe Obama is not an illegal alien born in Kenya or Indonesia or wherever.
     
11. Have reporters:
    • Remark that It "isn’t really clear from the interview" that you don't have doubts about Obama's citizenship, and
       
    • Remind you that this whole episode undermines your credibility, note that you're contradicting yourself on the easier pop quiz question of all time, and state plainly that your comments were not taken out of context

Those are two potential options for answering a basic, "Is Barack Obama a citizen?" question.

Given the fact that Roy Blunt chose "Option 2," I'm not sure how we're supposed to believe that "of course" he believes the President isn't an illegal alien who should be deported. 

Again: There's no middle ground here. It's July 2009.