Mark, the challenge for gaining political traction, I expect, will be overcoming the inertia from people like me who accept as fact that Obama was born in Hawaii. We are satisfied with the evidence at hand, therefore, the onus is on the birther movement to provide credable evidence that Obama was born elsewhere. Sans that, I don't see momentum building from folks that don't perceive a problem.

For me the statement of the director of the Hawaii department of health is end of story.

But I go on. Long before Obama was of consequence, he traveled abroad. I do not have reason to believe he traveled under another passport than a U.S. issued passport. If that was the case, someone in the state department was convinced he was born in the U.S. to issue the passport. If not, one more paper trail the birthers could follow.

Was an eighteen year old girl, in the early sixties, really concerned about preserving her black son's chance to be president? Doesn't seem likely to me.

I understand others want more proof. I'm not one of those.

From MARK again:

Dave, You well describe the cause of the inertia that's prevailed about this among conservatives, but you underestimate the intelligence of the sceptics.

Example: "Was an eighteen year old girl, in the early sixties, really concerned about preserving her black son's chance to be president? Doesn't seem likely to me."

Doesn't seem likely to me either. You can see the announcement here.

It doesn't say "born in Hawaii" which is the point at issue. There's no dispute that Obama was born or that his grandparents lived at the address in the announcement. It's not known who made the announcement- his parents, his grandparents or whether it was automatically triggered by a birth registration at Hawaii Health Bureau. The column's headed "Health Bureau Statistics" atop a sequence of identically worded announcements. A similar announcement appears in another paper. Long/short - the birth announcement is evidence that Obama was born into a family resident in Hawaii. As the father of children born outside America to an American mother and me, a British-subject father - just like Obama's parents - I can testify to the incentives to notify the US authorities of the birth.

But, why, why, why are we parsing this? He should just produce the birth certificate. The reasonable explanation is that he can't and that's why liberals bluster - because they suspect and fear that he can't show that he's a natural born citizen.

I won't rehearse the other problems here, such as the Health Director's varying statements, but if you're curious you can catch up at wnd.com , or if you find them partisan (they are) read the more judicious Andrew McCarthy.

DAVE: The Andrew McCarthy post is a good read.