“Let’s suppose that right up to this very day Obama is refusing to take the oath of office publicly. Let’s suppose that he said he made his oath in his bedroom sometime before Jan 20, 2009; he says it’s recorded but he won’t allow anybody to hear the recording because it would be embarrassing to him.
Would Obama be able to issue orders for a troop surge in Afghanistan? Who would decide that and how?”
If all 50 states recognized him as President, and Congress without objection recognized him as President, and the Supreme Court recognized him as President, then yes, he could.
The problem is one the founder of this site pointed out to you - individual officers don’t get to determine who is President. Lakin was NEVER the right venue.
How do states, Congress, and SCOTUS officially “recognize him as president”?
Besides that, the Constitution says that the POTUS can’t execute the office of the presidency unless and until they have made a specific oath. Everybody in the world could recognize him as president whether or not he makes the oath, but he would not Constitutionally be able to execute the duties of the office until he’s done the oath.
He refuses to show any proof that he’s done it. Says he did it privately without witnesses and won’t show anybody the tape. Who would decide whether or not the requirement of the oath had been made? What procedure would be used to decide that? Where is that procedure authorized?