Best. Maury Povich Show. EVER.
Now that hopefully this "birther" nonsense has been laid to rest, I'd like to consider some of the aesthetic reasons that, IMO, it's a FAIL as historical legends go. It's batshit insane, of course, especially as one goes further and further down the rabbit hole trying to explain why there was already an international conspiracy surrounding the birth of some college kids' kid back in 1961. But it's not batshit insane enough--it's not just that it doesn't hold water, but it also doesn't have enough symbolically-resonant absurdity to make really good conspiracy fiction. Even Robert Anton Wilson couldn't have done much with it.
If you want an example of a whackjob theory that has literary legs, this one is just about my favorite:
Is George W. Bush Really a Grandson of Aleister Crowley?
Did you ever lose a night's sleep wondering that? Now you will. You're welcome.
Yes, this is a real thing, as things go: (warning: links lead to crazycakes)
http://truthalliance.net/Archive/News/tabid/67/ID/336/font-color0079D4Is-Aleister-Crowley-the-Father-of-Barbara-Bushfont.aspx
http://www.moneyteachers.org/Aleister+Crowley+Barbara+Bush.htm
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=39&contentid=4506
http://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=30953
Behold the face of the New Aeon!
Spew What Thou Swilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law
(Now, in reference to this post, if I were writing historical fantasy fiction about the 20th/21st centuries two hundred years from now, this would totally be true in my fictional world.)
If you want an example of a whackjob theory that has literary legs, this one is just about my favorite:
Is George W. Bush Really a Grandson of Aleister Crowley?
Did you ever lose a night's sleep wondering that? Now you will. You're welcome.
Yes, this is a real thing, as things go: (warning: links lead to crazycakes)
http://truthalliance.net/Archive/News/tabid/67/ID/336/font-color0079D4Is-Aleister-Crowley-the-Father-of-Barbara-Bushfont.aspx
http://www.moneyteachers.org/Aleister+Crowley+Barbara+Bush.htm
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=39&contentid=4506
http://forum.davidicke.com/showthread.php?t=30953
Behold the face of the New Aeon!
Spew What Thou Swilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law
(Now, in reference to this post, if I were writing historical fantasy fiction about the 20th/21st centuries two hundred years from now, this would totally be true in my fictional world.)