On Obama's birth certificate

As a libertarian and anti-obama aficionado, I have to confess that I would relish seeing Obama's recently put out birth certificate exposed as fraud. It probably will be, even if his mindless cheerleaders refuse to accept it. And yet, one wonders what impact this debacle will bring in the long term, and whether proving Obama's non-American birthplace will be ultimately beneficial to America. On one hand, it can be reasonably said that the issue has been a costly one for Obama. It has simultaneously hurt his popularity numbers and fueled a Donald Trump campaign. Thereby insuring an Obama loss in 2012, although the extent this issue has costed Obama is not known.

On the other hand, a precedent has been set. And as anyone who has been paying any attention to American politics for the past 2 centuries will note, precedents invariably lay the groundwork for future action. Perhaps 20 years from now an Arab, or an Asian or African, will trample the American political scene and grab the election. And if anyone elects to doubt the newly-elected leader's legitimacy, then he will simply point out that it's all irrelevant; it's happened before.

Hence, we find ourselves in a catch-22, since not contesting Obama's legitimacy is hardly better than proving him illegitimate. The only thing that seems apt at this point is a complete blow up for the Democratic Party.