Last week the White House released a long-form official Hawaiian birth certificate purporting to lay to rest ongoing controversy regarding Barack Hussein Obama II's qualification by birth to fill the office of president of The United States of America. At the heart of the matter has been rampant speculation that the conditions of the birth of the 44th president did not satisfy requirements set forth in the supreme law of the land, The Constitution of The United States of America.

Shortly after the release of the document, President Obama appeared before the White House press corps, and berated them all for focusing on, and these are his words, "...this silliness." He began by singling out NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd he who has unashamedly been the president's No. 1 cheerleader since the former United States senator from Illinois declared himself a candidate for our nation's highest office.

Why the president would jump on NBC, his hand-picked publicity outlet, is still a mystery.

Be that as it may, the funny thing is that news correspondents and associated talking heads in their respective studios across the nation and around the world bought into what President Obama said.
They smiled, shrugged shoulders, rolled over and went quietly into that good night.

Listen here!

The president said, "I do not have time for this silliness."

Well, there would never have been any "silliness" and the entire issue would never have been an issue to begin with, if Obama had disclosed the long-form official birth certificate two years ago when the question was first raised.

If the president had simply produced the document when it was asked for the first time, none of this ongoing controversy would have ensued.

Which brings me to this, folks. I've studied President Obama enough to know that he is not stupid. Nobody gets elected in Illinois, represents the power of the established Chicago political machine, then gets elected president of The United States of America by being stupid.

If Barack Hussein Obama II is stupid, to paraphrase an old cliche, he's stupid like a fox.

This man does not do anything without a reason. He released that certificate and concocted the attended frenzy for a reason.

And that reason most likely had something to do with diverting attention from some other event, to keep eyes and ears focused on the non-event of his natural-born United States citizenship.

The moment the entire affair erupted last midweek, I took a hard look at everything else going on in the world involving America; I asked what it could possibly be that the president does not want our attention focused upon right now.

Could it be the economic situation?

The fact that unemployment for African-Americans has soared to an all-time high since the Great Depression?
Despite the influx of government monies specifically targeting improving the economic situation of blacks, the unemployment numbers for that minority has approached a staggering 20 percent.

Could it be the USA's entry into an undeclared war in Libya?

The committing of America's armed forces to help a rabble of insurgents unhappy with the governance of a sovereign foreign land overthrow that dictator is, to use one succinct and legally binding word, unconstitutional. Yet President Obama unilaterally sent our forces into action by executive order.

Could it be the sudden upheaval and armed demonstrations erupting in Middle East countries?

Is it possible that America has covert action under way in those nations to undermine those governments, as well? With Syria's declared intent to ask Iran to help quell Syrian demonstrations, could it be that President Obama wants to divert our attention to "silliness" regarding his birth certificate instead of asking the hard questions about what America's response will be if Iran sends armed forces into strategically vital Syria?

Could President Obama's carefully timed release of the long sought hard copy of his legitimate birth be purely political diversion, to keep our citizens from pondering other circumstances?

America is at war in Afghanistan and still fighting to implement an exit strategy in Iraq. Our drone aircraft are conducting missions in Pakistan and Libya. Our Navy has resources dedicated to combatting Somali pirates in waters off east Africa. Our economy is in shambles. Our people are unemployed. The president's health care plan and most of his other promises for "hope and change" have met with disaster. Yet Obama has declared for a second term as president.

"Beltway Barry" was right about one thing last week: America has no time for further silliness.
We need real leadership in the White House, not someone who releases important documents whenever it suits his political purpose.

Every American must focus, anew, on these crucial issues. We must not be diverted by further "silliness."

Nat Harwell is a Covington resident. His column appears Sundays.