Well, it's finally happened. The president has caved into the demands of fundamentalists. No, not Al Quaeda. I'm talking about the Birthers, those who deny the overwhelming evidence that Barack Obama was in fact born in Hawaii, is in fact a naturally-born citizen, and legitimately fulfills the obsolete constitutional requirements to hold the office of the president.
Obama has officially released for public scrutiny his long-form birth certificate, which the Birthers have been demanding for two and a half years. My opinion is that this was a stupid, stupid move because the Birthers will inevitably find some anomaly to bitch about, will grow even they'll more vocal, and now it gives a political victory to Donald Trump.
It won't work because the Birthers' objections were never based on reasonable or rational concerns in the first place. Take this radio discussion with a Birther who, despite having it explained to him how Hawaiian birth certificates work, there was no moving him.
What makes anyone think it will change now? Do creationists change their mind when presented with facts that prove them wrong? No. Do they exploit the illusion of a controversy to their advantage? Yes. Same here.
Trump says they'll need to examine it closely, and they'll ultimately find some silly reason to declare it a forgery. Actually, the Birthers already have., asking why now and not back during the election? They'll also begin to anomaly hunt for details in the document that they find suspicious and which everyone else will find utterly absurd. Again, this too has already happened (Exhibit A, Exhibit B & Exhibit C).
And of course there will be plenty of moving the goalpost, as is evident from this clip of Joseph Farah, author of "The Tea Party Manifesto" and editor of The World Net Daily making up excuses for why he still won't pay the $15,000 he promised to the hospital where Obama was born when Obama released the long-form birth certificate.
As Jefferson said, ridicule is the best weapon against unintelligible ideas. Taking those ideas seriously only creates the illusion of legitimacy.
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