ReBirthers

I'm glad President Obama released his long-form birth certificate. I never thought there was anything to this "birther" issue and wondered why President Obama kept it secret for so long. One thing it does show is that all the president's loyal defenders who claimed that the president did release his birth certificate were wrong and that all those who wanted to see it are nuts. At worst, I thought there might be something embarassing on the long-form record that wasn't on the short version that proves his birth and citizenship. But it looks totally normal with nothing that would indicate why the president kept it private.

Of course, now the speculation about why President Obama held on to this for so long will erupt. Was it a deep plot to ensnare Republicans in birtherism conspiracy theories? If so, he unsprung it way too soon before the election season. Or was it sheer cussed stubborness by the president who believed he didn't need to release it and by God he wasn't going to give in to birther paranoia? If so, why relent? Really, by waiting so long he just gives the hard core birthers the new cottage industry of speculating about how a president in office for 28 months could surely get an intelligence agency to forge a document to look like a real long-form birth certificate. Look for the long essays and eventual books on what is wrong with the PDF image by the new and improved ReBirther movement. Or they will explain how the release is a clever Red Herring to distract us from the real issue of why he isn't eligible to hold the office of the president.

The president can't win with these birther people. And while most people will accept the release at face value, Instapundit notes that the long delay by the self-proclaimed most open administration in history has still left a taint of suspicion that won't be fully erased.

Still, maybe there really is something embarassing about this long-form document as I speculated might be the worst-case reason for keeping the long-form record private. As an Instapundit reader noted:

Now that Obama has released his birth certificate, it’s clear why he waited: there was no immaculate conception!

I actually did laugh out loud at that one. I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it first. I salute you, Dave Converse. Well said.

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long (via the Instapundit link above). So now we have to wonder whether there were changes; and if changed, why would the changes be so easily detectable? Still trolling for nutballs in the White House? Or couldn't the president's team get competent forgers? That would be really horrifying.

Sheesh, it will never end. One day it will be on the History Channel (or would that be A & E?) along with Truther and Ancient Astronaut shows.

UPDATE: A reasonable explanation. The issue is dead as far as I'm concerned. But then, it always seemed like a live issue only because of stitched body parts and electrodes to keep zapping it into staggering motion.

UPDATE: Wow, we even have a summary of the ReBirther views!