[bushpilot1]

Please tell us why Congress..authorized the President.. the authority to convene Courts Martial.

Was it because his orders and the officers and NCOs representing him are followed.

It is law all orders and regulations represent the President.

Perhaps this is their goal.

We who are retired can speak this..those on active duty must hold their voice.

LTC Lakin crossed the Rubicon..now we are in dangerous territory and you know it.

If an innocent LTC Lakin is convicted to protect an illegal obama there may be collisions.

[tired_old_conservative]

Lakin is probably going to be convicted unless his new attorney has some crackerjack procedural moves in the bag not related to the Obama eligibility question. If Lakin gets a stiff penalty, that will be a sad outcome for what otherwise seems to be a decent guy. But it will be because he got bad advice from his first lawyer.

History Lesson:

The Framers of the Constitution were cognizant of the power struggle between Parliament and the King regarding the powers of the military. Many of the Framers were combat veterans from the Continental Army and understood the demands of military life and the need for a well-disciplined fighting force. The solution to the government of the armed forces was a classic balancing of constitutional interests and powers. They assured that Congress - with its responsiveness to the population, its fact-finding ability, and its collective deliberative processes - would provide for the government of the armed forces.

The Framers of the Constitution had a great respect for the value of separation of powers. One of the primary goals of the Constitutional Convention, in remedying the defects of the Articles of Confederation, was to create a government in which separate branches of power served as a check and balance against the other. Principles of separation of powers also applied to the military. The Framers vested power in the executive and legislative branches, but left the judiciary with only a collateral role in governing the armed forces.

By distributing power over the armed forces between the legislative and executive branches, the Framers "avoided much of the political-military power struggle which typified so much of the early history of the British court-martial system." Moreover, the Framers made it clear that while the command of the military lie with the executive, the military would be governed and regulated according to the law handed down by the legislative branch. Therefore, the government of the armed forces would always reflect the will of the people as expressed through their representatives in Congress.