Via Breitbart, a lecture on civility from the leader of a party whose elder statesmen have lately started dropping “teabagger” references into their fundraising e-mails. It’s newsworthy as a rare example of The One addressing Birthers directly and as proof of how useful this dopey controversy is to him, letting him take the high road — during a speech about faith, no less — vis-a-vis opponents looking to discredit him by all available means. The citizenship line is delivered almost as an afterthought, but I doubt it was unscripted: Remember, Birtherism is part of the Dems’ midterm strategy, to frighten indies into believing that the GOP’s too fringe-y to be trusted with governance. Expect more in this vein from The One as November approaches, especially if the economic recovery is sluggish. In that case, nothing less than full Bambi victim mode will do.

Exit question: Are there more Republican Birthers than there are Democratic Truthers? Hmmmm.