Karl Rove didn't think birther issue was settled until yesterday (Jim Bourg/Reuters)
“The president himself has hoped Republicans would continue to talk about it, thereby damaging their own credibility,” said Republican strategist Karl Rove. “It was a useful diversion.
“But take a look at recent polls,” Rove added. “The problem was the view was taking hold among independents. He got worried it was about to spin out of control.”
The Republican suggested it was cynical of Obama to wait until now to disclose the long-form.
“He had the ability to release it last year and end the issue, but he wanted to play rope-a-dope with Republicans,” Rove said.
It's hard to believe these guys keep on saying such stupid stuff. Yesterday it was Jonah Goldberg. Now it's Bush's brain. The thing that neither of them realize is that Barack Obama does not control the Republican mind. Even if he did, don't you think he'd have used his Jedi powers to get some support for health care reform, the stimulus, and maybe even climate change?
More importantly, both of them believe that before yesterday's release of the long-form birth certificate, it was legitimate to wonder if Obama was in fact born in the United States...and that's as nutty as birtherism! Releasing this additional piece of paper doesn't settle anything that wasn't already settled.
The facts is we already knew that President Obama was born in the United States beyond any doubt. We already had his certificate of live birth, not one but two separate birth announcements in local papers who printed birth announcements from hospital records, witnesses who had seen this original birth certificate, and of course also the fact that his mother was an American and his grandfather fought in World War II.
The release of yesterday's document shouldn't make you any more convinced that President Obama was born in Hawaii than you were previously, because even before the release of the long-form birth certificate, there was no rational basis upon which to doubt his place of birth.
To put it differently, no self-respecting birther should be any less convinced today than they were two days ago. Two days ago, birthers were living in a fantasy land. And today they are too. And if you don't realize that before yesterday it was crazy to believe anything but the fact that Obama was born in Hawaii, then you're as disconnected from reality as the birthers. And there's a good chance your name is Karl Rove.
