An insidious form of self-censorship has gripped not only the mainstream media but most of the conservative media as well. All Americans who believe in the quest for the truth should be concerned that a rigid taboo is being enforced to prevent the discussion of serious evidence that the President of the United States has presented documents that were constructed on a computer as his genuine birth certificate.

Friday, I wrote about the courage of Diana West, an established figure in the conservative literary firmament, who called out the "lapdogs" in the conservative media who are averting their eyes from the questions raised by Sheriff Joes' Cold Case Posse, made up of veteran law officers and attorneys.  Today, one of the most important and respected figures in American high culture, Roger Kimball, takes a stand in support of Ms. West, decrying "the most effective form of censorship" being applied to the troubling bogus document being passed off as genuine by a sitting president.

The most effective form of censorship is also the quietest. It operates not by actively proscribing speech but by rendering certain topics hors de combat, literally undiscussable. It does this by propagating an atmosphere of revulsion and taboo. Ordinary censorship prohibits the dissemination of particular opinions or bits of information. The more subtle engine of silence I have in mind goes further. It stanches not only the flow of speech but also the flow of thought. Ordinary censorship occupies itself with the results of human curiosity. What I am talking about attacks human curiosity itself.

If you don't know who Roger Kimball is, read this. When a man as respected as he calls the attention of conservative intellectuals to an important topic they are shunning because they are intimidated, it can have an effect. Real conservatives are not careerists, they believe in principles and integrity. Lest anyone forget, William F. Buckley did not hesitate to call out anti-Semites on the right, at a time when it was a taboo subject. Occupying the status of leading conservative publication or voice carries with it certain duties, including standing up to social pressure when important issues are being suppressed from discussion.

There have been far too many alarming signs that the official story of Barrack Obama is a sham. That he would go so far as to present a computer-assembled document as genuine boggles the mind. Those who wish to pretend nothing is amiss -- move along now! --are fooling themselves, but they are not fooling Roger Kimball, Diana West, or many AT readers.