"Birther" Doc a No Show At Campbell

military.com ^ | 4/12/10 | Bryant Jordan

[jamese777]

An Army flight surgeon apparently is sticking to his vow not to deploy until he is satisfied that President Barack Obama is a "natural born" citizen.

Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin did not report for duty at Fort Campbell, Ky. as ordered today, and a spokesman for the post said it's not likely he will.

Lakin's failure to report essentially dares the Army to bring charges against him for being an unauthorized absence.

Margaret Hemenway, a spokeswoman for a group called the Patriotic American Foundation, which is supporting the 18-year officer, said the Army should not expect Lakin to report unless he sees an original birth certificate showing that Obama was born in Hawaii.

The Army has not said yet what it intends to do about Lakin. Calls to his unit -- Headquarters Company, Medical Brigade, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington -- were not returned by post time.

To this point the Army has ducked taking serious action against the decorated flight surgeon, claiming his public statements and threat to disobey orders did not constitute any punishable offense. On March 31 -- the day after the video was released -- he was given a letter of counseling. In the letter, his commander at Walter Reed warned him against not reporting for duty as ordered.

The orders, Lakin was told, "are presumed to be valid and lawful orders issued by competent military authority." The letter warned Lakin that not showing up at Campbell could result in his facing AWOL charges, as well as missing movement, willfully disobeying a lawful order and showing contempt toward officials. A conviction on any of the charges could mean a dishonorable discharge, imprisonment and loss of all pay and allowances.

[STARWISE]

God bless and protect LTC Lakin!

[Thunder90]

I still have my doubts with the birther movement, even if it is legimitate.

The only way Obama can be removed from office is impeachment. Even if he is found to not be “natural born” the SCOTUS and Congress would give him dispensation and reinterpret “natural born” to be born to an American anywhere in the world. And if he was found not to be from America, we still would have to impeach him and convict him, which will not happen unless we manage to win 26 seats in the Senate this fall (which is mathematically impossible).

[Uncle Chip]

Margaret Hemenway, a spokeswoman for a group called the Patriotic American Foundation, which is supporting the 18-year officer, said the Army should not expect Lakin to report unless he sees an original birth certificate showing that Obama was born in Hawaii.

Well it seems that the ball is now in Obama's court ==

[gruffwolf]

Isn’t his “senior” (never superior) officer taking orders from Obama (acting as CIC)?

I’m pretty sure that every chain of command outline I’ve ever seen has the President at the top of the chart.

[Las Vegas Ron]

Even if he is found to not be “natural born”

There is no way his presidency could survive the revelation of his illegitimacy, he'd have to either step down or be impeached.

[STARWISE]

YOU CAN'T HANDLE MOMBASA!!

[onyx]

God Bless Lt. Col. Lakin! A real American Patriot!

[little jeremiah]

Defeatists waving the white flag sicken me.

[Drew68]

He has sworn an oath to the Constitution. He CAN’T follow illegal orders.

Lakin will soon learn that there is nothing illegal about being ordered to deploy.

He has tried to follow orders. He tried to get confirmation from his superiors who then referred him to his representatives.

There's a chain of command in the military. I'm in the navy and when my LPO orders me to do something, I can't go above his head to my chief or DIVO asking, "do I really have to do this?" Chain of command is the backbone of military structure. The CO gives orders to the department heads who give orders to the division officers who give orders to the senior enlisted who give orders to the E-6s and all the way down the line.

Lakin isn't disobeying an order from President Obama, he's disobeying an order from his immediate senior officer and when he finds his career in smoldering ruins, President Obama's eligibility will never have been a factor. You can wish it were different. You can wish that Court Martial proceedings would demand the President's birth certificate but it just ain't gonna happen. Lakin has torpedoed his career and President Obama will never as much as know his name.

[Gay State Conservative]

Outside? Definitely.

Outside is just as good.In fact "outside" is more important than "inside' for the sake of this discussion (assuming that Court Martial transcripts can't be published...I honesty don't know if that's true or not).The more it's in the press the greater then chance that Hussein could see this as a source of embarrassment.And if that's what happens he,as part of the Presiding Officer's chain of command,will "suggest" that the case is dropped...or never taken up in the first place.

[Red Steel]

I’m pretty sure [to Jamese777] that every chain of command outline I’ve ever seen has the President at the top of the chart.

Without no doubt.

[Drew68]

Well it seems that the ball is now in Obama's court

No, it's not. You will see. Obama's eligibility will not even be a factor in whatever punishment is awarded to Lakin.

[phockthis]

ping

[AFret.]

I retired as an LTC. Believe me he probably will be offered an Article 15,non-judicial punishment, in lieu of a court-martial. If he refuses the Art15, next stop, Court-martial....and discovery. The beauty is that he can have civilian council,not military, if he wishes. That may be his intent...Bottom line, as an officer, he can DEMAND a court-martial. He cannot be quietly slipped over the side. I admire him...He should be wearing 4-Stars.

[Red Steel]

The bigger picture. From a BP2 post.

- - - - - - -

Monday, April 12, 2010 12:40:52 PM · 649 of 697
BP2 to verity; jamese777; LorenC; curiosity; BuckeyeTexan; Fred Nerks; null and void; stockpirate; ...

How does this relate to Lafkin’s refusal to deploy?

Because in high profile cases, especially involving politicians, the reality is that the Court system often follows the lead of the Court of Public Opinion.

ASK Nixon, Bill Clinton, Blaggo and many others. They could no longer dodge the Courts (i.e., Political Question) when their approval ratings were low. The public complains to their other elected politicians and FORCE Court action when there was Court INaction. Truth be known (no matter how unsavory as it may sound): Judges and prosecutors generally don't go after popular (thus powerful) politicians.

Furthermore, Lt Col Lakin's case has the strong potential to be the case that focuses the efforts of MILLIONS of very vocal Americans who question Obama's Eligibility.

And seeing how Obama's approval rating downward-spiral to 43 percent shows NO signs of abating, he has a decreasing amount of Political Capital to fend off those who want to see him GONE, regardless of the means of removal.

Despite the circumstantial evidence that Obama has LIED about his past, let's just say FOR ARGUMENT'S SAKE, that this is ALL a misunderstanding ... a growing number of people won't believe him anyway, regardless of any proof he were to cough up.

Some on the Left (and Right) have suggested that Soros or someone else will come forward with an October surprise this year, to somehow embarrass the GOP in the eyes of the MSM and Moderates and steal the 2010 election ... a two-year-old, Rovian-type of pre-planned sucker punch, aimed first at the Hillary campaign, climaxing when Obama whips an Original Birth Certificate out of his back pocket, forever proving he was born in Hawaii.

LOL — we've seen the bungling Team Obama in action in the White House ... they're not that sophisticated. They're delaying & obfuscating, not springing a two-year-old trap.

Regardless, MILLIONS would STILL NOT believe anything refuting Obama's claims at this point, even IF it WERE somehow true.

IF SOMEHOW TRUE, Obama's so-called Eligibility "hoax" has now become a self-consuming monster and a self-perpetuating truth, forever working AGAINST Obama, not FOR him. An unintentional backfire if ever it was a plot.

As Lenin himself said:

"A lie told often enough becomes the truth"

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[Non-Sequitur]

Would this be considered “AWOL?”

At the very least.

[Non-Sequitur]

Didn’t someone already go through this and they were reassigned ?

Captain Connie Rhodes tried it and they shipped her sorry ass over there anyway.

[Non-Sequitur]

Army Chief of Staff General George Casey is NOT in Lakin's chain of command.

He is long before Obama is.

[Non-Sequitur]

But would Hussein (or his handlers) really want a court martial here?

Why not? Make an example of him to discourage any others who might have similar ideas.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

Here’s a novel idea.
Why doesn’t the Commander in Chief order the state of Hawaii to release his sealed birth certificate and
the “ other vital records “ they also have under seal ?
If for no other reason than human decency to reassure Lt Col Lakin and other members of the military that as they go off to war ,
he is their legitimate and Constitutional CINC .
It’s beyond bizarre that the Commander in Chief would allow any member of the military in war time to have doubts about his legitimacy ,
when he could so easily settle the issue.
An honorable and ethical man would bend over backwards to erase the doubts of his troops , even if it was one solitary soldier.
Whether the law required him to or not.