Chris Matthews Recovering from Affliction of the Leg, Asks Logical Question

I am not a "birther", dear Readers.  But I am intrigued by the matter concerning President Obama's birth certificate -- and my intrigue was completely borne out of his thus-far refusal to release it.  Is it because he's just so offended that anyone would question his nationality and therefore, eligibility to hold his office?  If that's the only the reason, then he's an idiot, a prideful idiot.  The people have the right to question their leaders, even on matters that seem so outlandish.  President Bush made quite a few unforced political errors by retreating behind his integrity and refusing to answer his critics with reasoned and cogent arguments for his actions.  President Obama is allowing a conspiracy theory to grow and spread by refusing to humor requests for his birth certificate.  Honestly, owing to the fact that we do have a Constitutional requirement that our president be born in our great nation, I'm surprised that a presentation of candidates' birth records are not a prerequisite to running for the office.

The fellows that Chris Matthews is talking with about this issue are citing circumstantial evidence such as birth announcements and first-person accounts of news of the birth (I don't think any Wise Men were involved) in Hawaii to lay the issue to rest .  And I believe them, but why not release the piece of paper and end the speculation once and for all?  Why must we rely on secondary evidence when the birth certificate can be released?

I also think it's absurd that we spent the better part of the 2000 and 2004 elections comparing the freakin' grade point averages of the candidates and yet still, this president will not release the most basic of documents.  Who is advising him?  And what is their reasoning?