Article II, Section 2: “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States”
“He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Adice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whos Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law”
Article II, Section 1:
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
Amendment XII
“The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted”
Article I, Section 8:
“The Congress shall have Power... To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces (BDZ’s note - like the rules which prompted the manual OWS quoted to say that lowest-level orders are an execution of the orders down the chain of command, which begins with the Constitution that names the President as CINC)...To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States or in any Department or Officer thereof.” (BDZ’s note - such as the laws requiring objections to be called for when the electoral votes are counted)
Amendment XX, Section 3:
“If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become Prsident. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.”
A note about Article II, Section 2:
One of the “Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law” is the Secretary of Defense, a cabinet position. By law the Secretary of Defense maintains the military and provides for movement orders, etc. BUT THE POTUS IS THE ONE WHO APPOINTS THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND ALL OTHER OFFICERS REFERRED TO.
Article II, Section 2 says the President SHALL (must)appoint these officers.
You seem to think that the president, any president, it a generalissimo, strutting around and ordering the military to do his bidding come what may. That can’t be further from the truth because in order to accept your view of the presidential powers you must ignore the Constitution, specifically the clause in Article I, Section 8: “Congress shall have the power to make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces?” That is the relevant clause here, not Article II. That is where Colonel Roberts and Colonel McHugh and Lieutenant Colonel Judd got their authority to order Lakin to report to his brigade commander and to report for duty with the 101st. Not from Obama or any other occupant of the Oval Office, legitimate or illegetimate. But from the rules and regulations adopted by the Army under the authority granted them by act of Congress. That’s why people can be ordered to fill sandbags or stand a post or report for duty. That’s why the orders of the three officers were lawful. That is why Lakin will be convicted, cashiered, and probably jailed for his actions regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen to Obama.