There was a time when someone could perhaps justify sitting on the fence on the matter of Barack Obama's birth certificate.  There were those on the left who could chalk doubts about its authenticity up to conspiratorial internet paranoia.  As for the right, there was every reason to worry about being the victims of an Alinsky-style setup designed to marginalize opponents.  In other words, let the other side double down on an incredible claim, and then, at the most opportune time (October surprise?), provide irrefutable evidence to the contrary and make them look like deluded wackos.  So, for a long time, there might have been reason to watch, wait, and let the wheels of investigation render their judgment.

That judgment is in, and the time for waiting is over.

With the results of Maricopa County, AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio's "Cold Case Posse," an incredible claim has become an incredible situation: a team of professional investigators, commissioned by a major law-enforcement agency, has determined that the alleged birth certificate produced by the president of the United States is a probable forgery.

Process that for a moment.  The regime of the world's most powerful nation -- a republic that prides itself on adherence to the rule of law -- is likely peddling a forged document.  What say you, citizen?

Note that I didn't claim that the president isn't natural-born.  Rather, I claim nothing but am only stating a fact: there is now no denying that the birth-certificate matter warrants further investigation, and it is time for other law-enforcement agencies and the media to show due diligence.  And I will spell out the possibilities here:

1. The Arizona investigators are correct.
2. They are mistaken.
3. They are lying.

For the record, I don't believe the last for a moment, but I do want to cover all the bases.  And home plate is this: the answer may be number one or two, and it's incumbent upon us to find out through further investigation.  And, for those who dislike Sheriff Arpaio, what if the answer is three?  Well, if a major law-enforcement agency is producing fraudulent evidence for the purposes of damaging a sitting president, wouldn't that warrant investigation, too?  The undeniable, irrefutable fact here is that there is smoke.  And we need to find out who started the fire.

In response to these facts, the left will sometimes mount an argument for why Obama is, in fact, natural-born.  But this issue is at the moment secondary.  And about it I will merely state that there are only two possibilities.  First, if the allegedly forged birth certificate relates to the president's natural-born status, then it's clear that the Obama administration is concerned about that status.  And what if it doesn't relate to whether the president is natural-born?

Then it relates to something else.

You don't present a forged a document for no reason.  Again, the undeniable, irrefutable fact here is that there is smoke.  And we need to find out what is feeding the fire.

Remember, too, that document forgery is a crime.  If you were found benefiting yourself through it, you'd be prosecuted.  Should the president be held to a lower standard?

In point of fact, on the part of the media and citizenry, he must be held to a higher one.  We're not talking here about some kid who forged an ID so he could drink at 18 in a bar.  This is the most powerful man in the world, who, it appears, is passing off a forgery for some mysterious -- or not so mysterious -- reason.  This mystery needs to be solved.

Also consider the consequences of allowing this alleged high crime to go unanswered.  If Obama is willing to fob off a forgery on the American people, what else is he capable of?  If he gets away with it, what else will he do?  Remember that in every case in history in which a leader amassed more power for himself by gradually undermining his nation's democratic system, he had millions of enablers.  These were the crowds Cicero spoke of that cheered "ambitious scoundrel" Julius Caesar as he paved his way to dictator.  These are the "good men" Edmund Burke referred to who do nothing in the face of evil.  Sometimes, of course, they're simply scared.  Other times they may not want to seem like a nutty Chicken Little saying the sky is falling.  Or they may not want to accept that the sky actually is falling, so they rationalize and dress the naked emperor with their eyes.  After all, when a problem is daunting or scary, the self-delusion that allows one to ignore it can be appealing. 

Most people also don't want conflict; they may fear a constitutional crisis.  But know that if Obama is peddling a forged document, it may simply be another example of how we already are in a constitutional crisis.  The only question now is whether we're going to fight the fire or continue to fiddle while the Constitution burns. 

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