The real conspiracy theorists

I'm accused of being a "conspiracy theorist" because I want to see Barack Obama fulfill his constitutional requirement to prove he is a "natural born citizen."

You know who throws those insults around?

People like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.

But get the two of them together on Fox News Channel and you find out who the real conspiracy nuts are.

They think Barack Obama is leading a conspiracy to promote questions about his eligibility status.

"I think the reason they didn't ever produce the birth certificate is because they wanted these loons out there," said O'Reilly in a conversation with Beck.

Apparently O'Reilly forgot, in a moment of rare candor, that he's been peddling the idea that Obama has released his birth certificate.

Beck dutifully jumped in to ensure O'Reilly was sticking to the script: "Hang on. I think he has produced the birth certificate."

Let the world know you stand with the Constitution and transparency. Display the "Where's the Birth Certificate?" magnetic bumper sticker.

"We have a facsimile," O'Reilly asserted. "But I want him to send (the original) directly to me."

Now, let's examine who the conspiracy theorists really are.

I believe Obama is hiding something. In fact, I don't know how anyone who has ever had a journalism assignment in his or her life could interpret any other way Obama's commitment to stonewalling on his personal documents. It is self-evident that he is hiding something. It doesn't require a "conspiracy theory" to know politicians lie, deceive and cover up the truth.

But look at the conspiracy tale the O'Reilly-Beck crowd develop around the birth-certificate issue. They believe Obama is directing a master conspiracy – leading suspicious and curious people like me who insist on seeing the Constitution observed, to serve Obama's political interests.

By the way, I would like to point out that Beck and O'Reilly (along with Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and others) are every bit as obsessed about the birth certificate as I am. They talk about it week after week, without, by the way, introducing any new information. The only difference is that their obsession is providing cover for Obama to keep his personal history secret from the American people, while my obsession is seeing the secrets revealed.

You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to believe in the Constitution and to observe that it is being cheapened by Obama, the Washington political establishment and the media every day when they insist that a fundamental, easy-to-understand requirement of the document be simply overlooked.

It's not a technicality that the Constitution requires the president to be a "natural born citizen." It is one of only three requirements – the other two being a minimum age of 35 and a stipulation of residency in the country for the last 14 years.

Are those difficult and onerous requirements? Are they outdated? Has this part of the Constitution been amended without my notice? Has the Supreme Court ruled these clear and concise eligibility requirements null and void? And how can we possibly know if Barack Obama satisfies these requirements without a valid, original birth certificate, signed by an eyewitness that reveals without doubt who his parents were and where he was born?

Accepting any less evidence as a starting point is irresponsible and demonstrates contempt for the Constitution.

This is not conspiracy mongering. It's good citizenship. It's good journalism.