As former Clinton White House press secretary Jake Siewert explained to Politico early in the Obama presidency, "At some level, they're not that bad to have around because it reminds people that under the mainstream conservative press there's this bubbling up of really irrational hatred for the guy."

In a 378-0 vote Tuesday, the House passed a nonbinding resolution that asserts, in part, that "the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii."

Which, of course, only adds credence to the "birther" conspiracy.

It was reignited only recently, by populist CNN anchor Lou Dobbs. After taking a call from a listener on his radio show who claimed that Obama is a Kenyan, Dobbs replied, "Certainly your view can't be discounted."

Yes, it sure can be discounted. A "view," if you want to be taken seriously, needs to be buttressed by a fact or two, if at all possible.

Then again, this conspiracy movement, like others before it, should be placed in its proper context, which is to say, it never should be taken seriously.

I always think of the results of a poll conducted not too long ago in which we found out that a surprisingly large number of Americans believe it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that the U.S. government is "withholding proof of the existence of intelligent life from other planets."

Let's just say that with the dearth of that particular brand of life-form around here, maybe we should be hopeful that participants are correct.

We could use the help.