Conspiracy theorists work to debunk Obama birth certificate
Good conspiracy theories don't die — they simply adapt. Shortly after the White House released President Obama's long-form birth certificate earlier this week — intended to offer more proof that he is a natural-born United States citizen — conspiracy theorists were working hard to "debunk" the document from the state of Hawaii. By Thursday, members of the so-called "birther" movement was asking at least a dozen new questions about the president's first days in the world. First off, the document is labeled "Certificate of Live Birth," which is the same as the label on the shorter-form document that Obama released during the presidential campaign, when these issues first surfaced. 2011 air max The online magazine Slate quoted Sharon Guthrie, legislative director for a Texas state legislator who has introduced birther legislation, as saying, "What I've seen online, what they produced today, still says `certificate of live birth' across the top. ? We want to see a 'birth certificate.'" Others insist that the certificate is forged. They claim that by using photo-editing software to examine the PDF file the White House released, it becomes clear that the document consists of several separate layers, indicating that it has somehow been manipulated. Other quibbles get even more detailed: Why is the "Date Accepted" on the certificate four days later than the "Birth Date"? Obama's father's race is listed as "African," but many argue that in 1961 the more likely term would have been "negro." The word "Caucasian" under the listing for Obama's mother's race looks too perfect to have been done with a typewriter from that time. Speaking of typewriters, others ask, why are the entries on the form centered instead of left-justified? And, because every good conspiracy needs a mysterious death, isn't it oddly convenient that the doctor who signed the birth certificate died eight years ago and thus cannot answer any questions? Sorry, President Obama. You gave the birthers exactly what they were asking for. And, now, they're running with it.