A person who avoids at all costs any possible contact with society's lunatic fringe. A berther intentionally establishes a wide 'berth' between him- or herself and groups like the birthers and other crazies.
The reasons for becoming a berther may include maintaining one's sanity, protecting one's self and others, including the lunatic fringe, and preserving one's faith in mankind.
Person 1: *eyes glazed over* "uuuggghhhh....uuughhhh.... I've just been reading the reader's comments on foxnews.com...." *collapses to the floor, twitching*
Person 2: "Man, you really should become a berther...that shit'll kill ya."
Nearby Scientologist: "Dude, you said it. What a bunch of crazies." *Sips the kool-aid*
Fogey/fogy /fougi/ sl. (early 18C+, orig. Scot) old-fashioned, stuck-in-the mud.
Person with old fashioned ideas which he is unwilling to change: Come to the disco and stop being such an old fogey!
You think me an old fogeyand an old tory, his thoughtful voice said. I saw three generations since O’Connel’s time. I remember the famine. Do you know that the orange lodges agitated for repeal of the union twenty years before O’Connel did or before the prelates of your communion denounced him as a demagogue? You fenians forget some things. (James Joyce, Ulysses. Penguin Books,1992. p. 38)