Do Obama "Birthers" Care One Whit About Evidence?

From Sodahead -- January 3, 2011:

Will Evidence Make Obama 'Birthers' Finally Give Up?

You’d think that after two years in office and a slew of historic legislation aimed at getting the country back in the black that the Obama birthers would give up their pursuit of proof that the president was not born in the United States.

And while solid evidence to the contrary hasn’t swayed them yet, Democratic Hawaiian governor Neil Abercrombie is determined to shut down the movement once and for all. ABC News reported that just three weeks into his first term, Abercrombie said that ending the conspiracy theories about Obama’s birthplace is one of his priorities.

A friend of Obama’s late parents, Abercrombie has said in a number of interviews that he has a personal interest in closing the debate, which is why he’s instructed the state attorney general and health department director to look for ways to let the facts about Obama's birth prove his origin once and for all.

"It's an emotional insult. It is disrespectful to the president; it is disrespectful to the office," Abercrombie told The New York Times. "There's no reason on earth to have the memory of his parents insulted by people whose motivation is solely political. ... Let's put this particular canard to rest."

One reason the so-called birther debate has had such long legs is that long-form birth certificate for Obama with the name of the hospital and the doctor, his or her signature, the baby's birth weight, and the national origin of the parents has never been made public. During the 2008 campaign, the Obama camp released a short-term copy of a "certification of live birth,” which has the same legal weight as the longer one.

Birthers weren’t swayed by that, though, complaining that the document – which has the embossed seal of authenticity from the Department of Health -- only listed the date, hour and location of Obama's birth and the names and race of his parents. They are convinced that the withholding of the original birth certificate is part of a conspiracy to cover up the president’s ineligibility to hold the nation’s highest office.

Whether you’re the president or a sun-kissed surfer nobody, Hawaiian state law prohibits the release of original birth records to persons without a "direct and tangible interest” and only the president, his wife, children, relatives, parents or lawyers have such an interest, according to the text of the law. And so far, none of them have given their consent for the document to be made public. Regardless, the Health Department reports getting dozens of requests in November for the document and up to 50 in one month earlier this year, many apparently from the same person using different aliases.

Like the lingering false information about Obama’s religion, the birther debate has been sticky, with a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll finding that 14 percent of Americans saying they think Obama was born in another country.

Do you think Abercrombie’s actions will end birther debate?

Well, as someone has said, Evidence is for agnostics -- not for ignorant, racist zealots.