In a saner time, Trump would be dismissed as the carnival barker Obama implied he is. People would have recognized Trump as a self-aggrandizing megalomaniac and put a period at the end of the sentence. Not remotely would his name be followed with this phrase: “who is leading other Republican candidates in polls.”

Which, at the moment, happens to be true. Indeed, Trump is enjoying a resurgence of self-regard, awarding himself accolades for forcing Obama’s hand.

To answer my own question, I honestly don’t know what to make of Trump’s popularity nor of the continuing belief that Obama wasn’t born in the 50th state. Yet even otherwise rational people continue to carry on and react as though facts were irrelevant. Even as the president spoke at a news conference to dispel remaining suspicions, the Twitterverse confirmed that nothing had changed. The conspirators conspired; the rueful rued.