Punking the Obama ‘birthers’

It looks like Orly Taitz and her fellow Obama “birthers” have been “punk’d” by an Obama supporter, said David Weigel in The Washington Independent. An anonymous blogger posted four photos apparently showing the creation of the “infamous” fake Kenyan Obama birth certificate touted by Taitz, along with a “mocking” itemized list, MasterCard-style, that starts with “Fine cotton business paper: $11” and ends with “Punkin’ the Birthers: Priceless.”

The 1961 Kenyan birth document released by Taitz “is probably not authentic,” said Jerome Corsi in WorldNetDaily. Certainly it “shows distinct differences” from an authentic 1961-era birth certificate procured by WND. Still, our sources in Nairobi “do not rule out the possibility President Obama may indeed have been born in their country.”

After she was “punk’d” by the Kenyan birth certificate, Taitz has “become too much even for the Birther movement,” said Eric Kleefeld in Talking Point Memo. Even “the apparent godfather of Birtherism,” Andy Martin, is asking his fellow conspiracy theorists to “disown this ‘nutcase’ Taitz.” Of course, he also thinks the media is focusing on such an “obvious crackpot” to discredit the movement.

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Martin isn’t the only media critic of the birther movement, said Mark Silva in the Chicago Tribune. According to a new Pew poll, 41 percent of respondents who’ve heard of the birthers say the media is paying too much attention to birthers’ claims, compared with 28 percent (and 39 percent of Republicans) who say they’re not hearing enough.