The sideshow should end

Thursday, April 28, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

In an effort to put an end to the ludicrous notion that he wasn’t born in the United States, President Barack Obama on Wednesday released his original birth certificate, which once again proved he was born in Hawaii.

In a short statement, the president said he wanted to put the focus on the nation’s problems. Calling it a distraction of “sideshows and carnival barkers,” Obama said he was puzzled by how the controversy over his birthplace has stayed alive. He has good reason to be puzzled.

During the 2008 campaign, Obama released his birth certificate, called a certification of live birth. Although it is the standard form Hawaii issues and is proof of citizenship, right-wing conspiracy theorists claimed it wasn’t “official” because it wasn’t the original, or “long-form,” birth certificate. They also alleged, without proof, that Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia and they painfully tried to explain away facts like the birth announcements printed in two Honolulu newspapers following his birth.

Sadly, it wasn’t just the fringe elements making those claims. There were members of Congress and high-profile Republicans questioning the president’s citizenship.

But nothing galvanized the insanity like real estate mogul Donald Trump, who made Obama’s birth a centerpiece of his flirtation with a run for president. He went so far as to question whether the president was hiding his “real” birth certificate, speculating it might show he was a Muslim.

Although the birth certificate contradicted Trump’s claims, he stood undeterred on Wednesday. He claimed victory and said he was “very proud of himself” for forcing the issue. He also joined in the chorus of critics who attacked the president and said he should have released the birth certificate “long ago.”

But given that there was no evidence to dispute the fact that he’s a natural-born American, why should he have released it “long ago,” much less at all? Anyone can claim anything, as Trump and the so-called “birthers” have demonstrated. Their campaign was based on rumors, speculation and made-up “facts.”

Unfortunately, it’s doubtful this is over. They think they won, and that means they’ll find more ridiculous allegations to try to undermine the president. They’re already on a new wild goose chase — Obama’s academic career.

Trump says Obama was a “terrible, terrible student” and questioned how he got into Columbia University and Harvard Law School. Conservative pundit Pat Buchanan has claimed that Obama’s entrance into the Ivy League schools was “affirmative action all the way.”

Once again, there’s no proof offered. Worse, the ugly undertone of these claims insinuates the president’s success was because of his race. That’s disgusting. Obama proved himself academically — he was the president of the law review at Harvard and graduated magna cum laude. He also taught at the University of Chicago’s law school, one of the best in the nation, for 12 years.

But what would it matter if he had been a poor student or had been helped by affirmative action? Obama has been successful in life and has a track record in public office. Obama’s far-right critics could talk about the issues, but instead they chose to let baseless conspiracy theories run loose. Too many Republican leaders, fearful of the Tea Party, didn’t renounce the lies and those who spread them.

The result? According to a poll released last week, 1 in 4 Americans and nearly half of all Republicans didn’t believe that Obama was born in the United States.

So much for American exceptionalism.

Trump and his colleagues shouldn’t be proud of this. If they had any sense of decency, they would be deeply ashamed. This whole situation is a national embarrassment.