Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

There is a difference between a birth certificate (a.k.a. certificate of live birth) and a "certification of live birth." The former is created at the time of birth; it is an original document. The latter can be produced at any time by state officials. The latter may purport to be a faithful reproduction of the former, but it is not an original and may leave out salient details. Why in the world has the president not released his birth certificate? Is he hiding something? It is disgraceful that anyone who so much as wonders about these things is dismissed as a lunatic. Every citizen should wonder about these things. Not doing so is evidence of gullibility.