Governor wants to dispel birther theory

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HONOLULU, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie says he is determined to torpedo the conspiracy theory that President Obama wasn't born in the United States.

Abercrombie could also have another motive -- to dispel the view that Hawaiians aren't Americans in the same way as mainlanders, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Abercrombie knew Obama's parents when the future president was born in Hawaii in 1961 and has been frustrated with the so-called birther movement, which alleges Obama wasn't born in the United States.

"What bothers me is that some people who should know better are trying to use this for political reasons," said Abercrombie, 72. "Maybe I'm the only one in the country that could look you right in the eye right now and tell you, 'I was here when that baby was born.'"

While Abercrombie's goal is intended to support Obama, the White House put the issue to rest months ago when it produced the president's birth certificate.

Political extremists who propagate conspiracy theories view contrary evidence as part of the conspiracy, the newspaper said.

Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas. She met and married his father, also named Barack, when they were college students in Hawaii. Obama was born at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961.