A supporter of Barack Obama appears to be the source behind a document touted by right-wing conspiracy theorists that the president was born in Kenya, not America, according to Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent. Though reactions have yet to trickle in, the discovery undoubtedly gives ammunition to those who say the left has a vested interest in pushing the "birther" stories for political gain.

The Atlantic Wire reported on this debate Wednesday when Jamie Kirchik of the New Republic argued that the left was to blame for all the attention "birthers" have been receiving. Kirchik was seconded by the National Review's Jonah Goldberg. Newsweek's Howard Fineman wrote that the Obama White House thinks the more "birthers" are talked about, the better it is for the president because it makes Republicans look unhinged. Against these views, FireDogLake argued that no matter how the left promoted "birthers" the GOP was still their home territory.

As it develops, we'll report how the apparent double-cross forgery shifts the debate.

Update: As it turns out the three combatants from the Birther debate we tracked have stayed silent on the apparent forgery. However, TalkingPointsMemo's Eric Kleefeld notes that two Birther activists are fighting each other. Orly Taitz gets knocked by Andy Martin for taking the bait over the fake Kenyan birth certificate, while Taitz said Martin and Obama himself are behind the Birther story. Martin said there are still legitimate about Obama's birthplace that shouldn't be discounted because Taitz endorsed the fake certificate.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jumiller at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.