Back on February 4, I briefly mentioned the so-called “Birther” bill that was introduced in the Montana Legislature by State Representative Bob Wagner (R-Harrison).

At that time, I wrote “Barack Obama is the President of the United States. He was born in Hawaii. Hawaii is a state. It was verified several times. It’s time to get over it.”

By the way, I did not vote for Barack Obama.

I’ve also mentioned several times about the three-ring circus that goes on in Helena every two years for 90 days. This session, it seems the clowns are out in force.

Last night I happened to catch a Tweet from CNN’s Anderson Cooper saying that he was interviewing Montana State Representative Wagner about his bill, so I decided to watch the interview on CNN forgoing a few minutes of one of my favorite television shows, Southland. It was a sacrifice.

Here’s the video:

You can make your own decisions about the interview, but for me I was embarrassed for Montana, and especially for our state legislature.

I am terrified to think what Wagner meant when he said that the election process has to be “pure.” His comments about both parents needing to be born in the United States to make their children natural-born citizens were interesting. Obama’s father was not a U.S. citizen. Supposedly six other Presidents, who were born in the United States, had one or more parents who were not born in the United States.

Note to those who watched the interview: Not all Montanans share the views of State Representative Wagner.

There are more important things to discuss in this state and in this country than a Birther bill. Things like creating jobs, controlling spending, and providing a strong education so our children can compete in the world are just a few things that come to mind.

It’s a shame that the leadership of the Montana House of Representatives have let their members stray so far from the real needs of the state.