What a weird world we live in. Since President Obama became the candidate for President of the US a few years ago, there has been a group of people who think he that he wasn’t born in the US. These so called birthers are the mouth breathers of US politics, a group that makes Sarah Palin supporters look bright. They ragged on about the birth thing, called Obama a Kenyan, pointed out his middle name is Hussein (trying to paint him as a hated Muslim, which he is not), and so on. They were a persistent, annoying circus, egged on by the Republican leaders and conservative media types who would sidestep the issue and by their silence, encouraged the wingnuts to keep up their crusade. Donald Trump, seeing this as a chance to ride the wave, took the concept very public, and attacked Obama about his failure to release a birth certificate.

Of course, all of that changed a couple of weeks back when Obama’s Birth Certificate was released. Suddenly, the birthers were left out in the cold, Trump was busy eating his words, and the nut jobs didn’t have anything to rag on about anymore. The more extreme went into the last defensive position that it took 2 years for them to fake the birth certificate, and in the end, the release of Obama’s birth certificate pretty much shut up the birther movement and made them useless.

Skip ahead a few days, and Osama Bin Laden gets taken out by US forces. Now it’s a double down time for Obama, not only did he shut up the birthers, but he accomplished the very mission that Bush and the Republican’s could not do, taking out the biggest terrorist target in the world. What does that get us?

The birthers were reborn, this time as deathers. Yup, now that Osama Bin Hiding is now Osama Bin Killed, the wingnuts are on the warpath, alternately claiming that Bin Laden isn’t dead, was killed for no reason, was killed illegally, or was in fact killed years ago and that Obama is just trying to get a boost by killing his ghost.

Some people will never be satisfied.

The most worrisome for Americans is the closer relations between Russia, Cuba, and now Venezuela, where near dictator Hugo Chavez pretty much does whatever he can to piss off Americans. So two stories that show that Russia is considering using Cuban airbases and that Chavez has offered the Russians space in Venezuela is enough to raise some concern in the west. The only good news is that all three of the countries involved are suffering greatly from the downturn in oil prices, they need prices nearer to $100 to support all their socialist and military aspirations, which means that oil in the mid $40 range isn’t enough to keep them at this level for long. Russia in particular has been flexing it’s muscles mostly because the US is current over engaged in Iraq, which makes it difficult for them to put up any major resistance to Russian moves. That will change as the US leaves Iraq, which is likely why the Russians are working so hard now to build up their bases. It also adds strength to the reasons why the US needs to work to bring Cuba back into the western influence, Read the stories here and here.

While there are plenty of implications here politically, it is actually a pretty shrewed move. If Cuba ends up a little more dependant on the US (specifically for food and for business) they might not be quite so likely to lean on Hugo Chavez for support. Chavez is having his own problems with a downturn in the oil market, and it might be the perfect time to move Cuba a little closer politically to the US. It would also be generally a popular move, allowing cuban americans to possibly see family back in Cuba or to help them out financially without having to risk prosecution. For Cuba, it would potentially open up a huge tourist market that has been barred from visiting the island nation. Potentially, oil and gas companies may want to work with Cuba to develop it’s resources.

Read the full story here.