President Obama Needs to Prove His Constitutional Eligibility to Be Commander-in-Chief

American Thinker ^ | April 08, 2010 | Terrence Lakin, MD

[neverdem]

Last week, I entered Walter Reed Army Hospital to notify the Department of Defense that I would refuse to obey any orders from my commanding officers -- including President Obama -- until the president produces his original birth certificate. After nearly eighteen years of wearing the military uniform of the country I have proudly served, including overseas assignments in imminent danger/combat areas in Bosnia and Afghanistan, I felt compelled to take this step. 

I made this decision from much deliberation, after lengthy consultations with many friends, family members, and colleagues, and I firmly believe that all servicemen and women, and the American public, have the right to know the truth about President Obama's constitutional eligibility to serve as Commander-in-Chief.

As military officers, we all take a solemn oath upon commissioning into the Uniformed Services. In this oath, we swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Upholding the law is an essential part of our role as citizens; in the military, we are the ultimate protectors of that law. The Constitution is our social compact, which safeguards all of us and ensures the "equal rights" that we are entitled to as American citizens. 

Since Nuremberg, My Lai, and even Abu Ghraib more recently, the military has been taught the hard lessons of following illegal orders. Any reasonable person looking critically at the information and evidence currently in the public domain about Obama's birthplace would have questions about President Obama's claim to be a natural born citizen. I made the decision to disobey all military orders, including my deployment order to Afghanistan, in pursuit of the truth of whether President Obama can legally occupy the high post that he holds today and which entitles him to send servicemembers into harm's way. 

The United States serves an example to the rest of the world of a stable, civilized, democratic government, where all men are equal under the law and the rule of law is cherished and obeyed. The U.S. military teaches and promotes the rule of law and civilian control of the military to many other nations and military forces around the world. Every soldier learns what constitutes a lawful order and is encouraged to stand up and object to unlawful orders. This is called the "duty to disobey."

My deployment orders for a second tour in Afghanistan included a requirement to bring copies of my birth certificate. I would be glad to obey this order and provide a certified copy of my original birth certificate with common, standard identifiers, including the name of an attending physician and a hospital. Every day in transactions across the country, American citizens are required to prove their identity; standards for identification have become stricter since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Since fall 2008, I have been troubled by reports that the president's original birth certificate remains concealed from public view along with other records which, if released, would quickly end questions surrounding his place of birth and "natural born" status. Many people mistook the online Certification of Live Birth for an original birth certificate. Until the summer of 2009, the Hawaiian Department of Homelands would not accept this Certification of Live Birth to determine native Hawaiian identity -- the Department insisted upon also reviewing an original birth certificate. 

Many do not understand that the online document was from 2007, generated by computer, laser-printed, and merely a certification that there is something on file which may or may not be sufficient proof of a birth in Hawaii. An original birth certificate could be the underlying document that presumably includes a hospital and attending physician's or midwife's name. Such a document should lay to rest the "natural born" dispute. This controversy was further escalated by media reports that gave two different hospital names for Obama's birthplace -- even today, the public does not know what doctor delivered the then-future president or which hospital was the site of his birth. No eyewitnesses have stepped forward to affirm that he was born in Hawaii in 1961. Under immigration laws in force at the time, if born in Kenya to a father who was not a U.S. citizen, Barack Obama had no right to American citizenship of any kind, and he could never qualify as "natural born." This is why determining his actual birthplace is crucial.

In 2008, after pressure from news media, President Obama's rival, candidate McCain, produced an original birth certificate from the Panama Canal Zone; a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examined and affirmed his "natural born" status and constitutional eligibility to serve as president. The U.S. Senate was strangely silent about President Obama's eligibility despite statements from Kenyan citizens that he was born there, evidently including his paternal grandmother and the Ambassador from Kenya to the U.S. during a November 2008 radio interview. Hawaiian state officials claim that they cannot release an original birth certificate without Obama's consent, declaring that the public has no "tangible interest" in seeing this vital birth record.

I attempted without success through my chain of command for over a year to get answers to the questions surrounding the president's eligibility. I was told that I have no standing to make this inquiry, and moreover, that no one in DoD could answer this question. I made inquiries, unsuccessfully, through my congressional delegation, which simply referred my questions back to DoD. No one I spoke to was able to offer any evidence that the president is "natural born." The burden of proof, it seems, must rest with the White House-- with president Obama himself, as these records are his, and he has chosen to conceal them at considerable legal expense. Remarkably, there is no enforcement mechanism for the Constitution's Article II, Section 1 requirement that the president be a "natural born" citizen -- voters have largely relied on an honor system and a free press to vet candidates for the highest political office in the nation.

While President Obama's records remain hidden, public consternation is growing. The American people have the right to know that their president is constitutionally eligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief and thereby may lawfully direct servicemembers into harm's way. I will be proud to deploy to Afghanistan to further serve my country and my fellow soldiers, but I should do so only with the knowledge that this important requirement of our Constitution is respected and obeyed. Those in uniform who continue to risk their lives and give the ultimate sacrifice to the service of our country deserve to know that they do so upholding their vows to the oath of office and to the Constitution.

Until an original birth certificate is brought forward that will validate the Commander-in-Chief's constitutional eligibility and put to rest the reasonable questions surrounding it, I cannot in good conscience obey any of my military orders. Unless it is established (sufficient proof that should be easily within the president's power to provide) that he is constitutionally eligible to serve as president and Commander-in-Chief, I and all other military officers are at risk of following illegal orders.  

There is no legitimate privacy right to information necessary to prove that President Obama is legally eligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief. 

I remain at risk of arrest and court-martial, but am mindful always that my oath of office is to the Constitution. It fills me with great sadness that on 31 March, I declined a direct order from my Medical Brigade Commander. This is a man I honor and wished to meet in order to thank him for his unquestionable valor and courage, and yet I could not obey his order. Now, he could order my arrest at any time.   

I hope that President Obama will demonstrate his respect for the U.S. Constitution and release his original birth certificate. My bags are packed, and I look forward to joining my fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, but I will deploy only with the knowledge that I am following legal orders under a lawful Commander-in-Chief. 

For those readers wanting to follow my ongoing story, the American Patriot Foundation has set up a legal defense fund to help me, and they tell me that they will be posting up-to-date information about my case. Their website is .

Dr. Terrence Lakin is an active duty Lieutenant Colonel who serves as Chief of Primary Care at the Pentagon's TRICARE health clinic; he has been selected for promotion to Colonel.

[panthermom]

My son is 19, he just returned from his PT training and got Future Soldier of the week!! So proud of him, he has changed significantly since MEPS! So excited to see what he will become after basic! That child has about killed me since the day he was born....nothing so horrible but enough to give me gray hairs!!! He was definitely made for the military!

[little jeremiah]

If you’ve got dementia, I must be in a coma.

[LibertyRocks]

ARGHH! HOW frustrating — sorry, I know this is a pet peeve of mine — but what will it take for people to STOP referring to America as a “Democracy” or a “Democratic Nation”??? We are a Constitutional Republic - FULL STOP. We have a Democratic ELECTORAL SYSTEM, but we are NOT a DEMOCRACY — 51% support does not a law make!

OK, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest —

BRAVO to LTC Lakin! I support him 100% - I wish we had more men of honor willing to put it on the line as he is. He is in my prayers, and I continue to pray more will join him and do their duty of protecting our Constitution via whatever legal means are available to them at this time. (I also hope that ALL Officers remember that THEIR oath doesn’t include “Obey the President”).

[stephenjohnbanker]

That should cover it. I can just imagine that creep spokesman in the White House...

I never saw the letter.

How do you know there IS a letter?

Who would write such a letter?

My mother would frown if I wrote such a letter?

I don’t think such a letter was written?

The President never saw such a letter!

If there is such a letter, that must be some letter!

If the President received such a letter,I am unaware of it.

Well, anyone can write a letter. People often do it.

I don’t want a copy, I’ll wait for the REAL letter.

SJB does Jackie Mason)

[Natural Born 54]

In any case, with a real American in the office of the presidency, the international court, the UN and whatever other freedom hating group wants to pipe in will be told that their proceedings are irrelevant; that they have no standing in the matter. And by the way, how would they like to kiss their American funding goodbye?

[verity]

IGAF.

[LibertyRocks]

Interesting... You seem to talk like you know a lot about the military, but yet you can’t spell COURT MARTIAL??? You may have been here since ‘98, but have you learned anything in that time? Surely just being AROUND here at FR for almost 11 years you’d think you’d know how to spell THAT by now... Just makes me wonder.

Oh, and an LTC demanding proof of Constitutional Eligibility of the CIC is WAY different than some Pfc. who is out to cause trouble politically. This officer took an oath to defend the CONSTITUTION — NOT to obey the President, and ESPECIALLY not one for whom there continue to be questions regarding his eligibility.

Now, the real question is — if this is such a waste of time and effort... why are YOU wasting YOUR time and effort coming on this thread just to say that???

[LibertyRocks]

It’s obvious he was never in the military — he can’t even spell Court MARTIAL.

[verity]

Continue giving him your love and support. He will do well.

[LibertyRocks]

Never really thought of things that way, but you’re right...

[El Gato]

So we can only comment on threads if we agree with the intent or message of the poster?

No, but it's a tad hypocritical to complain about a waste of time, and then waste your own time on the threads.

[El Gato]

If you follow baseball you will have many times seen a situation where a pitcher has a potential base stealer standing on first. The pitcher looks to third then throws to first hoping to catch the guy off the base and get an out. It never works. It’s been tried ump-teen million times, and it never works

Two points.

Actually it does occassionaly work, in the sense of the runner getting tagged out.

But that is not the point of the attempt. The point is to force the runner to not lead off so far as to make a successful steal likely. Getting him out with the throw to the first baseman is just gravey, when it occurs.

In this case, we really do want the runner picked off, but just keeping the issue in play, is also useful.

[mojitojoe]

He could put an end to it all for 15.00. He could release his school and medical records. But he won’t. Why? WHY??? I don’t think he can. I think he attended Occidental as a foreign student. THEY work for us, we don’t work for them even though they are damn sure trying to make us their little ants while they steal our hard earned money to spend on their Marxist handouts to lazy fks. I want to see the damn BC or I want HIM to say WHY he refuses.

[mojitojoe]

Agree

[mojitojoe]

He so disdains our country and the Constitution, he takes pleasure in thumbing his nose at concerned citizens.
____________
THAT is just as bad, just as bad. He is a despicable, lying SOB.

[rxsid]

"51% support does not a law make!

Unfortunately, it does now!

Preciously the point, I know. I hear ya though.

[txnuke]

Bump.

[conservativegramma]

Sounds good to me! I’ve been preaching to stop the funding for years now.

Seriously, with trillions of dollars of debt why in the world are we sending $$$$ overseas anyhow????

[mojitojoe]

He was terrified the night he was elected. It was his OH SH*t what now moment. He knew he wasn't qualified. He didn't seem that happy either. I think he loved the race, not the job. MO was giddy, almost ecstatic, thinking of all the goodies she would get. She is a repulsive pig. Election night 11/2008:

[conservativegramma]

IGAF.

When it comes to the consitution - Res ipsa loquitur.