Obama Releases Birth Certificate

Finally this one doubt can be put to rest. I think Obama was waiting until a formidable Republican candidate stuck his neck out and challenged him just to gain some political advantage. Whatever the reason, the Republicans can get off this minor issue and challenge Obama on things much more substantial.

Excerpt:Saying he has long been “bemused” and “puzzled” over the fascination the controversy surrounding his birth certificate, President Obama said he released the long-form version of his birth certificate in order to help get the nation’s attention back on the “enormous challenges” facing the country.

Obama noted that during a recent stretch where he and Republicans were laying out their budget visions for the future, the primary news story has been about the so-called “birther” controversy.

“We’ve got some enormous challenges out there,” Obama said. He said he was “confident” about the ability to meet those challenges but added, “we’re not going to be able to do it if we are distracted.”

Trump also questioned why it has taken so long for the White House to release the document. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said “the President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country.”


Pfeiffer said the president asked his counsel to go through the legal options of asking the state of Hawaii to make an exception to release a form of birth certificate not normally made public. Pfeiffer said the state agreed to do so, “in part because of the tremendous volume of requests they had been getting.”

Read MSNBC release here.