More on the Birthers

In response to my latest piece in the Guardian on the Mike Castle/birther video, I received a lengthy e-mail from a reader, who thought I hadn't done my homework:

Tommy, I thought I might drop you a line and educate you a little, since you embarrassed yourself a little by not even knowing what you were writing about.

The writer complains that he and his fellow birthers are more nuanced than he believes their critics give them credit for. For instance, he points out that birthers don't question whether Obama is a citizen, just whether he is a natural born citizen. He goes on to suggest I look at the big picture:

Let's just forget the birth certificate, and utilize a "few" other tidbits that might help people like explain exactly how legitimate Obama really is. In fact, if you can come up with the following documents/records, you could pretty much be responsible for shutting down the entire birther movement. Wouldn't this be a feather in your dunce cap?

The correspondent lists a series of mostly private documents including family records and school records and concludes:

WHAT is Barack Obama trying to hide? WHAT is he afraid of? WHY doesn't he just release these documents to prove that he is a natural-born citizen and, therefore, qualified to serve as President -- especially his actual birth certificate?

It didn't take long for the comment thread at the Guardian to turn to other conspiracy theories, including detailed descriptions of the unsolved mysteries of 9/11 and mention of Jerry Falwell. But one commenter says, "the more whiny, deranged people that stand up and spout their dumb little theory, the less likely anyone within a stone's throw of either moderation or sanity is likely to want to associate or vote with the Republican party."