With one very loud exception, finding someone who deems the release of President Obama’s long-form birth certificate a proud moment in American history is near impossible. But while many merely note how unproductive the “birther” issue has been, some Democrats are just sad to see an easy target go. As Fox News Democratic analyst Kirsten Powers explained tonight, all Republicans have wanted was “for this to go away.”

The rise and fall of the “birthers,” America’s foremost conspiracy theory punchline, has been a veritable goldmine for the nation’s comedy industry. And as with all goldmines, people get possessive about who is encroaching on whose land. Earlier today, Bill Maher objected to The Onion stealing a joke about “afterbirthers” demanding to see the President’s placenta– a joke The Onion printed six months before Maher’s performance.

Ann Coulter made an appearance on The O’Reilly Factor this evening to lend her voice to the discussion of today’s big media story: “The birth certificate thing.” Host Bill O’Reilly asked Coulter whether she could put the issue in “any kind of context that matters.” Well, said Coulter, “we were right, they were wrong,” meaning that the conservative establishment has long been denouncing the “birther” movement as a distraction and a non-issue. So, then, who’s to blame for this movement blossoming under the watchful gaze of so many television sets?

We’ve been closely following MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell‘s coverage of Donald Trump and the would-be Republican candidate (or not, if you’re inclined to agree with O’Donnell’s assessment of the situation) and we were keen on seeing what he’d have to say about Trump tonight in the wake of the White House’s presentation of Barack Obama‘s birth certificate. And O’Donnell did not disappoint.

You know, sometimes people hating the president so much that they refuse to even believe he’s even an American can lead to good things. It’s rare but it happens. Take for example the family of Dr. David A. Sinclair who had no idea until a few hours ago that his name was on President Obama’s birth certificate. Ivalee Sinclair, the doctor’s widow, woke up this morning to discover that her late husband was the one who delivered the future leader of the free world. Talk about a nice surprise. TMZ interviewed her today and it’s clear that this was quite a charming little surprise.

Rush Limbaugh was certainly tickled pink by today’s developments, reveling in the fact that a “reality TV star” had “forced Obama’s hand.” “Trump has a new catch phrase!” he exclaimed. Chuckling, Limbaugh explained that Donald Trump can now add “I won” right next to “You’re fired.”

Whoa. In just this five minute clip of The View, there were enough soundbites for about 10 posts. Yes, folks, this is why the media is so in love with the Birther issue. As Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and Sherri Shepherd all railed against the topic, they took Donald Trump and the Birthers to task for a number of things, accusing him of alternately of racism, insulting the President, and hurting the country’s reputation.

Within seconds of the most embarrassing presidential press conferences since Abraham Lincoln was forced to prove he was really dead by not breathing for 12 hours, the reaction on Twitter became the most interesting thing going. Everyone’s Twitter feeds had instantly been filled with a flurry of “certificate talk” (except for mine since I only follow the soothing thoughts of Taylor Swift). Some people were lamenting the time wasted, some were parsing President Obama’s words, and, amazingly, some already seemed to be questioning the document’s legitimacy. The amazing part, of course, isn’t that people were doing that. In fact, no one expects the certificate’s release to really change anything. The amazing part is who was questioning it.

With this morning’s shocking revelation by the White House of the long form birth certificate confirming that President Barack Obama was in fact born in Hawaii (gasp!), Fox News turned first for political reaction to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (gasp!) for his thoughts on this historic day when the entire nation can rejoice and celebrate the legitimacy of our president (hooray!) However, Mr. Cantor chose not to see this day as one to celebrate, rather, he shockingly took the view that President Obama should not be wasting the nation’s time on such a silly non-issue (gasp!)

The White House released Barack Obama‘s birth certificate earlier today sending the opinion media news all atwitter. Who did the cable news channels go to for the initial reaction? None other than presumptive GOP presidential front runner Donald Trump, who has made this a tiny bit of an issue in the last few weeks. Trump made the following comments covered live on all cable news outlets as America waited for the president to address the nation over a fake story.

You may recall that, last Friday, Bill Maher invited MSNBC host Ed Schultz and former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele onto his show to yell over one another as viewers clapped in delight discuss proposed Medicare vouchers.

On his program, Schultz kept that discussion going.

If one needs any further proof of just how much Donald Trump gets under Lawrence O’Donnell‘s skin, look no further than a segment where O’Donnell praises Karl Rove and Michele Bachmann, and claims he has no idea who Bret Michaels is. O’Donnell delivered his latest anti-Trump screed tonight in response to news that Jerry Seinfeld refuses to do charity events with Trump, and encouraged all “decent” people to do the same.

Chris Matthews is absolutely convinced that the once great Republican party has now been completely changed into the Birther party, and Matthews claims that now the poll results back him up. Potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wrote in USA Today that he is eager to talk about many other issues; however, Matthews concludes this is only because Trump has already succeeded in converting the Republican party to the party of Birthers.

Sigh. Is questioning the President’s validity like the new “get a reality show” for washed up celebrity has beens? Seriously, name any celebrity D-lister out there who desperately wants a taste of that sweet C-list glory and chances are good that they’re wandering around, yelling about birth certificates, and hoping there are cameras present. God, this is even worse than when the cool thing to do in Hollywood was obsessively kiss Obama’s ass. Anyway, here’s a news story that combines two of my favorite topics: Charlie Sheen and Birtherism. Allow me to expend the effort for which it is due.

Gov. Jan Brewer has vetoed a bill passed by the Arizona legislature that would require presidential candidates to present their long-form birth certificates in order to get on the ballet– a maneuver that would likely keep President Barack Obama from the ballot in that state. Calling it “a bridge too far,” the governor noted that she considered the measure too intrusive on a presidential candidate’s background with little payoff.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden appeared on The View today and one of the topics they discussed was how they handle the sometimes heated and personal criticism of their husbands. Jill admitted it hurts, but she was aware that “it comes with the territory,” while Michelle prefers to “think about all the good stuff.”

The Red Eye team is rarely one to run away from a circus (or a trainwreck), but when it comes to the latest hullaballoo surrounding Donald Trump‘s increasingly growing viability (?) as a presidential candidate in 2012, they had little sympathy, politically or otherwise. Saturday morning host Andy Levy kicked the crew off denouncing Trump’s insistence of “recycling falsehoods,” but by the end of the segment it was Bill Schulz who was going hair-to-hair against the Donald.

In a Friday appearance on CNN’s John King USA, Birther queen Orly Taitz rolled over the eponymous host, and beleaguered guest Cornell Belcher, like that boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Taitz emptied clip after clip of false and unsubstantiated claims at a helpless John King, but just when all seemed lost, King  fought back with his own daisy-cutter of crazy, suggesting that President Obama has been rebutting Birthers in code.

Donald Trump joined Rush Limbaugh via phone today and talked with him for 17 solid minutes. The conversation broached many subjects and, while it was a good interview, perhaps the most interesting note is what they didn’t talk about. Not once during the call did the subject of President Obama’s birth come up. Trump’s investigators in Hawaii must feel so insulted.

As the Republican candidates are forced by a few loud voices to split up down the Birther Battle Line, Glenn Beck and his co-hosts had some extremely harsh words for those that still believe that sinister secrets lie within the President’s birth certificate. “This is why Stu [Burguiere] hates, and I hate, and Pat [Gray] hates the Birther thing,” Beck began as he launched into a lengthy message explaining to Birthers why they’re missing out on a perfect chance to “show real differences between the right and the left” by instead focusing on a piece of paper.

Did you hear a strange, soft thud at around 11:15 PM ET Wednesday night? That thud, friends, was the sound of several thousand bags of Funyuns being dropped off futons at the same time. You see, Daily Show host Jon Stewart did something unexpected: He heralded Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly as a voice of reason.

Well, now: The Arizona Senate has passed a bill that would very likely keep President Obama off the state’s ballot for the 2012 election. The bill still awaits the approval of the Senate and the state governor, but, if passed, would require that each and every presidential candidate have a certified copy of his or her long form birth certificate, including that names of the candidate’s father and mother and enough information to “determine the citizenship of both parents.” Also required: The name of the hospital in which the candidate was born, the name of the attending physician (if there was one) and the signatures of any others who witnessed the birth.

The delicate dance between people who believe President Obama has illegitimately obtained his position as leader of the free world and Republicans who aspire to take that position away from him continues. Rep. Michele Bachmann visited Sean Hannity today to wink at supporters that she is considering a presidential run, and in an overt slap on the wrist to birther enthusiasts suggested all candidates should show their birth certificates publicly, too

Count Fox’s Shepard Smith among those who’d like to move on and stop talking about whether the “President is from the United States of America or not.” In a discussion on raising the debt limit with Wall Street Journal assistant managing editor John Bussey, who called birtherism a “big distraction,” Smith called the birther debate “stupid stuff.”

A lot of the times we miss out on the latest and greatest Barack Obama conspiracy theories that aren’t being promoted by legitimate presidential candidates. This is especially true ever since I started blocking emails from my aunt who was positive that Obama held a “Pimps and Ho’s Party” at the White House (Sorry, Aunt Becky. If you’re hosting Christmas this year, you’re gonna have to call me by phone about it). Anyway, thank goodness for Wonkette picking up on this article from The Daily Mail. You’d think we’d be annoyed at the British tabloid printing unsubstantiated rumors about our president, but how else would we know about Obama’s sinister brain surgery scars! Now that’s an awesome conspiracy.