Officer to Army: Bring it on!
Bob Unruh - WND
Lt. Col. Terry Lakin is the highest-ranking and first active-duty officer to refuse to obey orders based on President Obama's eligibility. |
A decorated Army surgeon who is refusing to follow orders because of the president's decision to conceal documents that could show his eligibility to be commander in chief is telling the military to bring it on – by missing a deployment due date yesterday at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Lt. Col. Terry Lakin is facing imminent court-martial charges in the wake of the Army's demand he report for a Middle East deployment, and his decision to refuse orders until there are answers to questions about President Obama's eligibility.
"He has been informed through official challenges that he will be charged soon with missing movement and conduct unbecoming an officer," according to a statement released last night to WND.
The information was from Margaret Calhoun Hemenway, who is acting as a spokeswoman in the case involving Lakin.
Lakin is not the first military officer to point out that Obama has not documented his eligibility to be president and note that officers have an obligation to refuse to obey orders they believe are illegal.
New strategy unveiled on answering Obama's eligibility questions. See how you can help.
Others have included Army doctor Capt. Connie Rhodes and Army reservist Maj. Stefan Cook. But Lakin is the highest-ranking officer to raise the question.
His challenge to the president was posted online:
Hemenway told WND Lakin decided to abide by his announced decision not to obey military orders, "including orders to deploy for a second time to Afghanistan, and refused to be dispatched to Fort Campbell ... in preparation for the overseas assignment.
"LTC Lakin's own deployment orders to Afghanistan included a requirement for him to bring 'copies of his birth certificate,'" the statement from Hemenway said.
WND has reported on a multitude of cases that have been brought over the issue of Obama's eligibility. Some are by critics who have doubts about whether he was born in Hawaii in 1961 as he has written, and others are from those who question whether the framers of the Constitution specifically excluded dual citizens – Obama's father was a subject of the British crown at Obama's birth – from being eligible for the office.
The issue has prompted a number of state legislatures to work on proposals that would require presidential candidates to submit proof of their eligibility. And a similar proposal has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla.
The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "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."
However, none of the cases filed to date has been successful in reaching the plateau of legal discovery, so that information about Obama's birth could be obtained.
The White House has not replied to numerous requests for comment.
Lakin's YouTube statement, now viewed by more than 100,000 people, confirmed he was "inviting his own court-martial" over his public demand for confirmation of Obama's eligibility.
He said, however, he was compelled to act as he did because of his oath as an officer to "support and defend the United States Constitution," including the article demanding that only a "natural born citizen" can be president.
"As LTC Lakin faces court-martial, the preponderance of anecdotal information falls heavily on the 'born in Kenya' side of the debate; it will be critical to the LTC's defense that actual records are subpoenaed to permit him a fair trial. The American military, held so highly in the public's esteem, must protect this officer's right to self defense," said the statement from Hemenway.
The Safeguard Our Constitution website, run by the American Patriot Foundation, already was raising funds for his legal defense.
According to a report at Military.com, a spokesman at Fort Campbell said Lakin did not report and was not expected to.
The report explained that Lakin essentially was daring the Army to bring charges. Until now, the Army had taken no action and appeared to not want to do anything.
Lakin also posted online a letter explaining his reasoning. The Safeguard Our Constitution website describes how Lakin tried through his chain of command and his congressional office to get answers to questions about Obama's eligibility.
"You serve as my commander-in-chief. Given the fact that the certification that your campaign posted online was not a document that the Hawaiian Department of Homelands regarded as a sufficient substitute for the original birth certificate and given that it has been your personal decision that has prevented the Hawaiian Department of Health from releasing your original birth certificate or any Hawaiian hospital from releasing your records, the burden of proof must rest with you," he wrote.
WND has reported that the controversy raises the prospect that the government ultimately may not want to pursue a prosecution because a defense attorney could demand in court proof that the orders are issued by an eligible president.
One of the organizers behind the Safeguard Our Constitution website, serving in emeritus status, is John Hemenway, an attorney who previously fought in the U.S. court system on behalf of a retired military officer, Gregory S. Hollister, who also questioned Obama's eligibility.
The case ultimately was dismissed by Judge James Robertson who ruled that the dispute had been "twittered" during the 2008 election campaign.
In that opinion, Robertson sarcastically wrote: "The plaintiff says that he is a retired Air Force colonel who continues to owe fealty to his commander in chief (because he might possibly be recalled to duty) and who is tortured by uncertainty as to whether he would have to obey orders from Barack Obama because it has not been proven – to the colonel's satisfaction – that Mr. Obama is a native-born American citizen, qualified under the Constitution to be president.
"The issue of the president's citizenship was raised, vetted, blogged, texted, twittered, and otherwise massaged by America's vigilant citizenry during Mr. Obama's two-year-campaign for the presidency, but this plaintiff wants it resolved by a court," Robertson wrote.
The judge also suggested sanctions against Hemenway for bringing the case, and Hemenway responded that process then would provide him with a right to a discovery hearing to see documentation regarding the judge's statements – not supported by any evidence introduced into the case – that Obama was properly "vetted."
Hemenway warned at the time, "If the court persists in pressing Rule 11 procedures against Hemenway, then Hemenway should be allowed all of the discovery pertinent to the procedures as court precedents have permitted in the past.
"The court has referred to a number of facts outside of the record of this particular case and, therefore, the undersigned is particularly entitled to a hearing to get the truth of those matters into the record. This may require the court to authorize some discovery," Hemenway said.
WND columnist Vox Day earlier wrote about this very scenario, calling it a "Get out of war" free card.
The comments followed the case of Cook, the reservist who challenged his deployment orders over questions about their legality under Obama.
"Rather than contesting the suit," Day wrote, "the Army took the highly peculiar step of revoking the major's deployment order, suggesting that the Pentagon generals are not entirely confident that they can demonstrate the legitimacy of their purported commander in chief.
"The Pentagon's decision to back down rather than risk exposing Obama's birth records to the public means that every single American soldier, sailor, pilot and Marine now holds a 'get out of war free' card."
Obama's actual response to those who question his eligibility to be president under the Constitution's requirement that the U.S. president be a "natural born citizen" has been to dispatch both private and tax-funded attorneys to prevent anyone from gaining access to his documentation.
Besides Obama's actual birth documentation, the still-concealed documentation for him includes kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, his files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records, and his adoption records.
The campaign followed a petition that has collected more than 500,000 signatures demanding proof of his eligibility, the availability of yard signs raising the question and the production of permanent, detachable magnetic bumper stickers asking the question.
A new effort now asks those in authority regarding the nation's elections to demand the full proof.
If you are a member of the media and would like to interview Joseph Farah about this campaign, e-mail WND.
Note: A legal defense fund has been set up for Lt. Col. Terry Lakin.
April 13, 2010