In case you missed it, in the run-up to Christmas, and again in the Christmas-to-New Year’s interlude, newly elected Governor Abercrombie, a Democrat and a personal friend of Obama’s parents when they lived in Hawaii, says he is going to do something about settling the matter once and for all that Barack Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, as Obama claims, and not Kenya, as many others assert. In a Los Angeles Times story entitled, For Hawaii governor, discrediting anti-Obama ‘birthers’ is a top priority, dated December 24, Times reporter Michael Memoli said Abercrombie "left little doubt that torpedoing the conspiracy theorists was a priority."
"More than demonization — this is self-evisceration of politics," Abercrombie told the Times.
A few nights later, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews brought up the matter (see video below) on his "Hardball" program and strongly advocated that Governor Abercrombie release the official "long form" version of Obama’s birth certificate, since the authenticity of the "certificate of live birth" released by Obama has not been independently verified and does not include signatures of attending physician, nurses, or hospital administrator. It also has been challenged as a forgery by independent forensic document examiners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3FDz6HNKSE
Matthews, who is one of President Obama’s most fervent supporters (his over-the-top fervor perhaps best illustrated in his ecstatic comment, "My, I felt this thrill going up my leg," when he heard an Obama speech) let it be known that he does not doubt that President Obama was born in the United States within the definition of "natural born citizen," as required by the United States Constitution (Article II, Section 1), which states:
No person except a natural born Citizen … shall be eligible to the Office of President.
Matthews: "I Am Not a Birther"
In a discussion with Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Paige and Mother Jones reporter David Corn, Matthews pointed out that 43 percent of Americans polled in a New York Times survey either believe that Barack Obama is not a legal citizen of the United States or are unsure.
"I am not a birther, I am an enemy of the birthers," Matthew said. However, in the next breath he asked a question that has crossed the minds of most reasonable people: "Why has the President himself not demanded that they put out the initial documents?"
Paige and Corn, both of whom are Obama supporters, dismissed the notion, commenting that no amount of evidence would ever convince the Obama detractors. But Matthews persisted, saying Obama should demand the release of his full birth certificate.
"Don’t we want to know if he can find it?," Matthews asked. " I don’t know why the governor doesn’t say, ‘Snap it up, whoever is there in the Department of Records, send me a copy right now,’" he added. "And why doesn’t the President just say, ‘Send me a copy right now?’"
Finally, after multiple attempts by Matthews asking "what could be the harm" of releasing the documents, Paige and Corn agreed that Obama and Abercrombie should release the original birth certificate. Both commentators also agreed with Matthews’ assertion, that the release would do little to satisfy those who question his legal eligibility to hold the office of President.
There is no news thus far as to whether White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs or other Obama administration officials have called Matthews, Abercrombie, Corn, and Paige to tell them to drop the matter, but there can be little question that Team Obama is less than pleased that some of its most avid supporters have helped re-ignite this issue.
