After all, that's why it's called a conspiracy theory. Over the years all the great ones (9/11, Whitewater, JFK and the grassy knoll) have all shared a common bond, which was the realization that facts were irrelevant to the pursuits of conspiracy theorists.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had it about right yesterday when he stressed that it didn't matter what he said, or if there were DNA evidence to put this who-dunnit to bed, the whole point of a robust conspiracy theory is to make sure that facts don't get in the way of anything. And speaking as someone who spent 30 minutes this morning taking calls from birthers on a Denver radio program, I know from experience.

That's why this kind of context, from ABC's the Note, sort of bugs me [emphasis added]:

Surely this will quiet the birthers: “I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barrack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen,” reads the new statement put out by state officials Monday.

I don't know, maybe The Note was being tongue-in-cheek and actually gets the joke that nothing will quiet the birthers. But I wish journalists would be more straightforward in making this point: the facts don't matter. Period.