Hawaii's New Governor Wants To But Obama's Birth Controversy To Rest

Enough is enough. Hawaii's new governor, Neil Abercrombie, wants to put to rest the so-called birther controversy, possibly by releasing additional information to confirm that President Obama was indeed born in the 50th state on Aug. 4, 1961.

Abercrombie, a Democrat who knew Obama's parents, has asked the Hawaii's attorney general and health department if more records can be made public to stifle persistent false allegations that the president is not a natural-born citizen of the United States, according to the New York Times and The Hill newspaper. To become president, an individual must have been born in the United States and be at least 35 years old.

"It's an insult to his mother and to his father, and I knew his mother and father; they were my friends, " the exasperated governor told the Times in a phone interview. "It's an emotional insult. It is disrespectful to the president. It is disrespectful to the office. . . . Let's put this particular canard to rest."

Abercrombie, who served 22 years in the U.S. House before his election as governor in November, told CNN he wants to do whatever it takes to quash the controversy and put the "birthers" in the "proper light, which is to say they have a political agenda not worthy of any good American."

"As quick as we can, we will" release more information, he said. "This is a transparent state in terms of our communication with one another. This is the Aloha state. We care for each other, we look out for each other."

Obama's parents are deceased. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya; his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, in Kansas. In 2008, the Obama campaign released a "certificate of live birth" for Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, CNN said. But critics -- who would become known as "birthers" -- demanded a copy of the actual birth certificate.

Abercrombie did not say whether he is considering making the birth certificate public, but he conceded he would not be able to convince some skeptics no matter what he put out. "Conspiratorial theorists are never going to be satisfied," he said. "This has gone into another area of political attack."

But he said he would press ahead because "it's a matter of principle with me."

The president and his family are spending the Christmas holidays on the island of Oahu, just outside of Honolulu.
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