In the face of growing publicity over the birther issue, the White House has taken the step of releasing President Obama’s long-form birth certificate, which can be viewed here.

“At a time of great consequence for this country – when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue, White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on the White House blog. “The President’s hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country.” Obama plans to address the issue at a 9:45 news conference. And it really can’t be better timing for him. With low approval ratings, skyrocking gas prices and deep debt, this actually allows the White House to change the topic. With Congress out of session, the rest of the week’s news will be dominated by the idiodic birther issue.