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Step up to the plate "birther" nutters

Leaving aside whether Obama demeaned himself by going on TV to "prove" his birth, as an American, in Hawaii, one might have thought - wishful thinking? - the "birthers" might slink off into then dark with their tails between their collective legs. No such luck! They are now buoyed with new questions.

"It proves nothing. It could be fake. It’s all so fishy. Aren’t there multiple layers on the scanned document released by the White House? Why did it take so long to produce?

The people who do not believe that President Obama was born in the United States showed Wednesday that a good conspiracy theory is like a coal mine fire: something that can’t be doused in a day.

The president, pestered by “birthers” since he began running for the White House, finally felt compelled to try to put an end to the controversy, providing his original birth certificate for the first time.

“Yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital,” Obama told the White House press corps, before going on to demand an end to the “silliness” about his birthplace that he fears has distracted the country from urgent policy matters involving wars, the federal debt and the economy.

But he added, “I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest.”

Correct. The birthers, far from chastised, found themselves newly energized and freshly suspicious.

“It raises far more questions than it answers,” said Joseph Farah, editor in chief of WorldNetDaily and birther extraordinaire, almost breathless between media interviews.

Farah, whose online publication has run hundreds of articles over the past couple of years questioning Obama’s citizenship, professed delight at the latest development. So did real estate tycoon Donald Trump, who has found that raising questions about Obama’s legitimacy is political jet fuel for someone pondering a presidential run."

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