On Monday's edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews, the MSNBC host addressed himself to Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie's one-man crusade to prove that Barack Obama was, in fact, born in the United States. In 2008, the Obama campaign released a "certification of live birth," but Abercrombie hopes to bring about the release of the president's original long-form birth certificate, a document that is not considered a public record under Hawaii law. Matthews, along with Clarance Page of the Chicago Tribune and David Corn of Mother Jones, wonders why no one has done this before.

"I am not a birther," says Matthews in the clip below. "I am an enemy of the birthers." But he goes on to ask, "Why doesn't the president just say, send me a copy right now? Why doesn't Gibbs and Axelrod say, let's just get this crappy story dead? Why not do it? ... If it exists, why not put it out?"

From there, Matthews and his guests ruefully conclude that no matter how much official state evidence is produced, a certain number of people are just never going to believe that Obama was born in America. Matthews notes that the already-available certification of live birth is "the same document which would be adequate if, say, you wanted to join the CIA," and guesses that even if Abercrombie gets the long-form certificate released, polls a week later would show that "20 percent believe everything's bogus, including the fact that anybody who says anything on television is a liar." He adds, "I'm sure we've gotten to the bottom of this as much as mortal men can."

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