Obama releases birth certificate to quiet critics like Luke Scott

The White House released a copy of President Barack Obama's long form birth certificate Wednesday, a week after Orioles slugger Luke Scott stood by his offseason comments that questioned whether the president was born in the United States.

Sure, it was pressure from presidential hopeful Donald Trump, not Scott, that got Obama to release his birth certificate. But Scott had received national attention for his stance, and it was mostly negative. In some cases, it was extremely negative.

"The President believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement. "It may have been good politics and good T.V., but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country."

Was it distracting Scott? Probably not, but he is batting .240 this season with two homers and four RBI.